Swim, cycle, run

I've never really thought running was fun, so to speak. Not the way a lot some of my friends/ colleagues/ acquaintances seem to anyway. I am more the cycling for fun sort. Although when I first moved here, the fun disappeared for a while.

Given a little time though (and a little perseverance) that fun was back. You can cover a lot more distance on a bike. You can coast down slopes and hurtle along tracks at slightly inadvisable speeds. Enjoy the view as it flies past. You can count distance covered in hundreds of kilometres without too much drama really.

These are all things you can never do while running. What you can do, however, is forget everything else. Just breathe. And put one foot in front of the other. There's no need to switch gears to suit the terrain, your legs manage that on their own just fine. There's no need to worry about getting the cleat off the pedal before you stop.

And there's the rhythm. There's something very soothing about running. Even swimming for me takes a lot more thinking. Thankfully, with running, you don't need to think about it (or end up inhaling water) every time you want to change your breathing. I imagine that last bit is just a question of practice, but come on, get to and from the pool, change, shower... Deal with other people, shouting kids...

The weather these days is perfect for running too. Cold enough to freeze you if you stop, but okay while you keep moving. And as you move, you could choose to send your mind miles or years away. Or think about nothing besides the peculiar way your left foot seems to meet the ground when compared to the right. Over and over again.

In the end there is always the happy strain of trying to vacuum enough air into your lungs till things settle back down. And with any luck, the things that had dampened your spirit to start with, begin to look a little less bleak.

Currently: bored
Listening to: London Grammar - Maybe