Running

I don’t think running is the pinnacle of human excellence.

Marathon running is very popular among top scientists. I used to run half-marathons – rarely in events, mostly for myself – somewhat regularly at one point in my life. I want to talk about my approach to running and the advantages, drawbacks and importance of running.

One drawback is that running takes a lot of time of the week. I never aimed for Marathons, which are another level of strain on the body: I like having functional knees, thank you very much. If you use running to chase the daily runner’s high, that does not sound like a healthy practice to me, and I have two colleagues who have long-term health issues from regular, extensive sports.

If you don’t have knee or weight issues, running isn’t that hard. You place one foot before the other, and choose a pace that you find interesting, and repeat. Running has the nice side effect that advancing is pretty quick: Muscles build up, coordination improves, weight goes down, streamlining the body, running gets easier.

What if you have a bad day and running is difficult? Some people choose to run at a fixed pace (x km/h), which is really hard if you have a bad day and almost too easy if you are having a good day. Some people choose to run for a fixed duration (30 minutes), which means you run less distance when things are not aligned, and more distance when you feel good.

I prefer to run to completion a fixed length route. This means I take longer on bad days. On a treadmill, I like to choose a fixed calorie goal, and adjust the speed so that I find it challenging enough that my brain shuts off. It means I take longer on bad days and am done faster on good days. Why not reward yourself for doing well?

For me, the main benefit of running is indeed that my brain and thought generation truly becomes silent.