On running through the sprinklers — How I was forced into loving running

I never thought I would one day feel inspired enough to even think about this topic, let alone write about it! Running had been my nemesis since high-school. At that time, all school years began with the gym teacher making us run the track, somehow thinking it was a good idea to grade us on it. Until recently, had anyone asked me what I thought of running, my answer would have been short and clear: I loathed it.

It didn’t get better for a long time. Running became that thing you do on the treadmill at the gym because you must remember to also work on your cardio. A quick treadmill run was a mandatory warm-up before moving on with the program. Stationed in front of a window, neatly aligned in a row with a bunch of other gym-goers, treadmill running might have been intended to be a marvellous group activity. But if you ever tried it out, you surely realized how unnatural it was.

You ask me: why is it no fun? First, there is no point in ever trying to match your speed to the person next to you by peeking at their stats; they always go faster and aren’t nearly as out of breath as you are. Then there’s the whole weird feeling going on underneath your soles. You are, after all, running on a big spinning rubber that doesn’t provide much traction but instead makes you kind of bounce at every step. The…