Thanks to the technology of orthotic insoles and the wonderful, soft, cushioned, flat artificial soccer surface atSchopflin Fields, I’ve been able to start running again, after a layoff of about 15 years. Yes, it is true that it’s a slight stretch to call what I do “running,” but I am consistent if not very quick, and I do finish off with a series of sprints that get me going faster than … well, faster than the rest of my run.
I can’t run too much without having my feet and back complain, but I have gotten to the point where I can manage it once per week. Each time I run (like today), I’m reminded that there is absolutely no exercise that’s as pleasurable as running. Lots has been written in the last 40 years about how the desire to run is probably an inherent part of our human-ness, something that’s stuck around since our ancestors’ time on the savannas of Africa. That rings completely true for me. I do other kinds of aerobic exercise, most frequently cycling, and while I enjoy that too, there’s just nothing as satisfying as running. Something about the cadence, the rhythm, the flow, the feel of your leg muscles working in that particular way. My sprints are the closest I ever get anymore to feeling like a little kid, going all out with pure abandon, pushing through the breeze, getting to that point of delicious temporary exhaustion. And afterwards, that feeling of total satisfaction, total relaxation, is there in a way it just isn’t with any other kind of exercise.
Those fields have become one of my favorite spots in Sonoma County. Usually I go when when no one else is there, so I get to enjoy being outside in total solitude. But I’ve come to enjoy it too when others are on the field, usually coaches giving individual soccer instruction to teenagers, or teams or parts of teams practicing. I watch them as a run around the perimeter, watch their fluidity and grace, and I want to tell each and every one of them, “Enjoy this young springy body you have now just as much as you can, push it as far as it will go, enjoy every single moment of your time in motion; it won’t always be this way.”
Hopefully my feet and back will hold up so I can continue my Friday once-a-week runs. It makes me happy and moderates my sometimes melancholy mood. Interesting that something so small can have such an impact on my quality of life.
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