Running to Simplicity

Running to Simplicity

Running is a simple activity. As many people will tell you, when we were cavemen we were particularly good at it. You just have to put one foot in front of the other, what could be easier? It doesn’t take a modern, highly evolved brain to tell you how to do it, in fact there is no point thinking about it because it doesn’t take any thought. One foot, next foot, one foot next foot, nothing more.

After a particularly long run I don’t need to worry about thinking because if I have gone hard enough I physically can't. The blood will have drained out of my head and into my legs and simple ideas become as complex as advanced algebra. I have no choice but to think about nothing, and that it is in that mindset running becomes perfect. I can run quicker, I can run more consistently and if there were no distractions I feel like I could run forever. This is running in its purest and simplest form.

So if it is such a simple, primitive activity, it seems strange that in a sophisticated world we have found so much room for running. We have bicycles, cars, trains, skateboards and computers, why do so many of us find the need to run?

The answer lies in exactly the simplicity that I have described above.

If we were to define an evolved society, I think we could say that it is one that interacts with each other as populace, in an intelligent, tolerant manner.’ However, an essential part of this must the inclusion of ourselves as human beings - our simple, primitive selves. Prehistorically this would involve grunting, fighting and shagging, and of course still does, but in the modern world we are looking for more sophisticated means of expression.

There are many solutions to this - shouting at footballers, getting raucously drunk, sexual promiscuity, fast cars, expensive clothes, Buddhist meditation - we either let out our primitive urges or suck them in, but deal with them we must, and the best way to this I think, is through running. There is no cost - social or financial - there is no hurt to others and afterwards there is no hangover to deal with. In essence you are performing a natural action and thus it feels more authentic than any of the equivalents. There is nothing quite like the real thing after all.

So running is important in our new world, because it is the very opposite to everything this world has become. It is a reminder of what lies behind the flashing lights, the roaring motorways and the searing tower blocks. It brings us back to what we are we are as human beings, in all our glory and all our shortcomings. It is what is real and reality makes us happy. That is why all our problems of the day seem to flow out of us after a run in the evening - we can take a step back, remember what we really are and then consider what is important and what isn’t. Other mediums may claim to do the same thing - socializing, movies, television – but all they are doing is replacing one distraction with another. If our basis for reality is drinking, Facebook or Eastenders then we have a problem; but running is something that is real.

The simplicity of running therefore provides a perfect way of clearing the clutter that builds up in our crowded lives. It does not replace it, we could not run all the time after all, but it helps us insert our living, breathing, Homo Sapien selves back into it, and it is important is that we keep it this way.

So throw off your I-phone, your training plan and your Garmin, and run for the pleasure of it, of putting one foot in front of the other. It will remind you why you are doing it in the first place and will stop you evolving into something very non-human.