Yeah, a lot of people do this activity known as a ‘workout’. But how many actually enjoy it?
Perhaps more people would do it, if it were enjoyable. And perhaps even more people would do it, if it wasn’t called a workout. What if we called it what it is? PLAY.
For many Americans, work is a four-letter word with such a negative connotation that it can be synonymous with other four-letter words that are not suitable for print (at least on this blog!). Stresses of the job make it difficult to even get out of bed and go to work. I am one of those people. Sounds odd coming from a guy in search of a job, right?
In my professional life, I’ve always sought out positions that sounded like fun. As a mascot, Iwas lucky enough to get paid to dress up in a larger-than-life costume and play with kids on a daily basis. For me, writing this blog and the profession of journalism is a playful form of expression that is akin to figuring out a puzzle of a story and then piecing the words together to share the completed puzzle with others.
While others might find it difficult to connect play with their work, there are a ton of literary resources that provide suggestions for finding fun at work. One of my favorite resources is Kevin Carroll’s Red Rubber Ball at Work (www.rrbatwork.com). Carroll profiles several successful business people and what they did to translate their favorite form of play into work. Another great read that I highly recommend is Mike Veeck’s Fun is Good (www.funisgood.net). Veeck, the son of legendary baseball owner Bill Veeck, and a marketing guru in his own right, shares his “Fun is Good” philosophy about creating a work culture where fun is encouraged.
So, back to this idea of ‘working out’. Just as some people find it difficult to go to work, others find it difficult to work out, as they haven’t discovered the joy within the activity. Next time you see an adult (or even myself) running, it’s likely you will see their face contorting into a gruesome physical display of their effort. Would it be that way if they enjoyed it? If it was more a game?
For enthusiasts of this ’sport’, running is a game. And, as is the case with all games, there are rules involved, both spoken and unspoken. As I’ve begun this journey, I’ve done a lot of reading to better understand what running is and what it has become. I picked up two books last night that will undoubtedly become resources that I will draw upon for running and for this blog: Running for Mortals (www.runningformortals.com) by husband and wife team, John “The Penguin” Bingham and Jenny Hadfield and The Runner’s Rule Book (www.runnersrulebook.com) by Mark Remy.
In Running for Mortals , Bingham was a self-described couch potato who got into running at the age of 43. Hadfield is a fitness expert, who also happens to be the trainer involved ith the active.com contest that I’m hoping to be a part of.
In the introduction, Bingham and Hadfield address the child-like joy of running. As I mentioned, the look on an adult runner’s face is one of disgust. Compare that to the face of a toddler just learning to run. The joy is readily apparent, because “we knew as small children that running for no apparent reason at all was one of life’s greatest pleasures.” On any playground, you can see children laughing as they engage in a game of chase or tag.
But over time, something happened that caused us to stop running. Maybe, “we really weren’t all that good at it.” Or ”we stopped because we were afraid of the comparisons that others would make. we stopped because we were afraid we’d look silly or slow, or that others would make fun of us.” That didn’t stop some of us, but perhaps team sports did. As Hadfield writes, ” For me running was a form of punishment I had to endure in sports. If we missed serves, we had to run laps. If we missed a layup, we had to run laps. We had to run laps to warm up for a softball game.”
As a participant in a variety of team sports growing up, I can certainly see the argument here. But in my case it was simply due to an injury, that I gave up on running, because the I didn’t want to subscribe to my dad’s mantra of “No Pain. No Gain.” Sure, through puberty and the addition of more responsibilities as an adult, our bodies and our minds change in ways that make running or any other form of physical exertion a difficult task. But there is something to be said for the joy of running as a child. To steal a line from Springsteen, ” ’cause tramps like us, baby, we were born to run.”
Mark Remy, the executive editor of RunnersWorld.com and author of The Runner’s Rule Book, immediately addresses the need for fun in running in the first two rules. Rule 1.1 simply states “Have Fun”. Remy writes, that running “is inherently, liberatingly fun. There is fundamental joy in movement, in forward motion. After all, there aren’t many animal impulses that we can act on in public without getting arrested.”
Rule 2.2 is “Expand your definition of fun.” Remy writes, “As a runner, your definition of fun-which previously might have included such activities as visiting water parks, watching screwball comedies on DVD, (etc…) must be…well, let’s call it broadened.” Remy suggests that runners might find fun in the following ways:
“Waking up at 5:30 a.m. to run 10 miles; Running in blistering heat; Running in the rain; Running in 400-meter circles; Feeling as if your lungs are about to explode; Paying a race director good money for the privilege of turning your own toes black and blue; or any combination (of these) .”
While I’m not quite on the same page as Remy with these suggestions, I’m hopeful that I’ll be there someday soon.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to find some fun. Maybe, I’ll go for a run.
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