Running on/and ideas

I did another 10k on the treadmill yesterday morning and it was just a touch over an hour. It’s still slower than the minimum benchmark I’d love to set but I’m glad the process of resuming training has well and truly commenced.

In many ways I feel a sense of Deja vu – the running and the thought of being regimented (in some ways) again. Maybe this time I’m less caught up with the idea of doing something and more with actually the doing of that something.

Sometimes the idea of doing something is so attractive and that is why we do it. It may be attractive because our contemporaries do the same thing or because it is de rigueur under the circumstances and at that time in question.

The first time around, it wasn’t purely running per se which drove me on. It’s also the idea of being a runner, one who cares about his body and how it performs. Being a runner gave me the idea of being someone with a different label if you like. There weren’t many runners I knew when I started. It’s just the idea of being one which made me one.

I wonder about the choices we make simply because the idea per se was fun. Another instance is being in love I guess. I can’t recall which movie it was but there was one I watched – something about a girl wanting to be in a relationship – wanting a boyfriend – because the idea of being in one helped her relate better to her peers. All of her friends were in relationships and while she didn’t necessarily look for one, she found herself wanting one because the idea of being in one was attractive (because it helped her relate more to her peers). Was it a Renee Zellwegger movie? I forget…

This time however, the very act of running has been enjoyable. I could almost feel the effects of those happy hormones (endorphins?) streaming through at some point, as I soak in a sweat drenched t-shirt.

———————-

It was also a few days of trying to come to terms with the horrendous event last Friday morning. Maybe it’s the media. With the inclusion of some permanent residents, 37 Australians were killed. Amongst those later inclusions were a couple whom we were told were regulars at Madam Kwong’s. Jean the owner chef had a chat with us when we ate there on Saturday. Although the majority of the 37 victims were Victorians, the event didn’t hit home so closely until that conversation with Jean.

We had gone for a movie the night before. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was as good as the reviews suggested. We had then slept in on Sat morning and after a lazy breakfast at home, we drove to Simon’s in Mount Waverley and I had a haircut. It was after that we went to Madam Kwong’s and the rest of the day felt really subdued. Other than giving the little fellow a bath and doing a quick cleaning around the house (Tress washed the sheets and took them to the dry cleaners’ for drying) we didn’t do much else, which made a very restful weekend.

We ended the weekend in the usual fashion – doing some cooking for the week’s meals and watching some tele. We did however, have Kiddo on skype so that was good.