In my quest to discover the secrets of living a happier life I decided to pursue exercise. I’m an avid reader and I am yet to have ever read anything that has lead me to believe that exercise is bad for me (apart from maybe falling off the treadmill or being chased by a dog). Benefits range from keeping my heart strong, improving my circulation, helping me sleep better, boosting energy, clearing my mind and of course, making me happier. As team sports or anything that I class as ‘organised’ is not my thing, I chose running. I would take myself from my usual brisk walks and social tennis games and start running.
I found a good program to follow, set my alarm for 5.30am, pulled out the trainers and started.
My local gym is surprisingly busy at 6am, mostly with runners, all of whom seemed to be very good at it. I’m actually not someone who is comfortable being a novice in front of people so the idea of popping between two people who were effortlessly running for what seemed like an eternity didn’t help my confidence. But I guess I wasn’t here to impress them, I was here to learn to run, so on I got, headphones in, appropriate running playlist chosen and off I went.
The first day I was able to run for just over two minutes before I was exhausted. By day five, I was up to five minutes with three minutes of walking between runs. It was getting easier – slowly.
Have I found that mystical runner’s zen yet? Absolutely not. I’m running and I’m getting better but am I bounding out of bed, eager to get to the gym and then running into a world where there is only me and my bliss? No I’m not.
However, my goal is to see if running makes me happier and I’m pleased to say that yes it has. I’m very happy when it’s over. I don’t mean that I’m relieved that I’ve finished my designated time or distance, I mean that how I feel when I finish exercising is really unbeatable. It’s a feeling of pure accomplishment. Exercising early in the morning sets the tone for my day. For some reason I’m yet to understand, I’m more organised, my mind is clearer, I want to eat better foods and I’m in a good mood. The days I exercise are good days, happy days.
Maybe I won’t continue with running; I’ll push through and finish my program and then decide. Who knows, runner’s zen may tap me on the shoulder one day and I’ll be signing up for marathons. But if that doesn’t happen, I have at least proven that, for me, some form of on purpose exercise on a daily basis is important.
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