Today in the morning, I woke up and put on my brand new running shoes and running windcheater and went for a run after many years. Say what you want about consumerism, but having new stuff can act as a powerful motivator.

I ran on the four lane highway right above our house because that’s the only road we have. You climb up the dirt track from our village and you end up on National Highway 5. You run alongside the highway, on gravel and dirt; sometimes running on the shoulder when the railing is close to the road; while cars, tourist vehicles, buses, trucks, and motorcycle tourers zip past you at high speed. You inhale deeply and enjoy the fresh air of the mountains mixed with the fumes of diesel and petrol and say, “Ah! Nature!“

As I started running, I went through the familiar phases, of awkwardness at being the only one running, to gasping for air as your lungs struggle to keep up, to the heaviness in your legs as they refuse to rise more than a few inches above the road, to finally settling into a nice rhythm, your heart pacing quickly but to a stable beat, like that of a heavy metal song. Then the cold air made my eyes water and while I was rubbing them with my handkerchief, I stumbled on some rocks but caught myself before having a great fall.

The sound of vehicles rushing by, the smell of hydrocarbons in the air, the pain in the chest and legs and the tears in my eyes; it is all very familiar to me. I’ve always enjoyed running in the mountains. I know it sounds horrible, but when you don’t have pollution free running trails, you settle for a four lane highway.

The fact that I still find it enjoyable, proves how essential running is to human beings. We’ve evolved to run. Our internal systems release all kinds of good chemicals in response to us running. A running human is a happy human because the body thinks we’re chasing after prey. Run after a night long fast and then have a good meal and the body will be fooled into thinking that our hunt was successful. Our bodies have evolved to reward this behavior with endorphins.

When you can’t run, go for a walk. Our body thinks we’re gathering today instead of hunting. In a previous post I mentioned that we’ve become worker-consumers instead of hunter-gatherers. But our bodies haven’t quite got the memo. Yes, both working with complete focus and consuming stuff feels good, but it doesn’t come near to running or walking in terms of overall physical and mental health.

Now my legs ache. Tomorrow I might do strength training instead of cardio. As motivated as my new shoes make me, I need to make sure that I don’t overdo it and injure myself. I’ll build some running stamina slowly. And of course, then I want to start cycling again as well.

Cover Photo by sporlab on Unsplash