Firstly, I love to talk. In all sense of the phrase. I've been known to waffle on about nothing in particular, sometimes for hours on end, talking the ear off of whoever is unlucky enough to be in earshot of my diatribes. It's a bad habit but not one that I'll likely be giving up any time soon. It's an entirely unconscious (and most likely nervous) habit and probably has something to do with the fact that I don't pick up on social cues particularly well (somewhat of an irony for somebody who studied social psychology and behaviourism). Mostly, though, I'm talking about running, which leads me to my second point.
I've never really been one for taking detailed records of my actions down. Maybe because I've never participated in a sport or activity that this particular skill was quite integral towards. Regardless of the reason, since I started running (and taking it way more serious than I ever have by taking to mountain running), I've become quite aware of how important it is for one to, in some manner, log their runs. But that importance is a double-edged sword. Most people are quite happy to purchase a fancy GPS watch and utilise whichever GPS app they can download to their smartphone (I, myself, am a user of Strava. Highly recommend it for basic GPS recording) and use the sites set up for interpreting the data, to keep track of their activity. While I do concede that these methods might be fine for some (like elite athletes), I feel that they also have an inherent danger of "bogging" you down in metrics. There is just too much being thrown at you in such a small space of time, for starters, and, as I've seen happen, it becomes way too easy to find yourself scouring over metrics after each run, analysing every single kilometre you ran, and just generally measuring your running up against a false standard. Your body is your best source of feedback. The data that your toes, arches, heels, shins, calves, knees and all the other muscles groups involved send back for interpreting is more important than your p/km splits or vertical gain. Your body knows what is right for it and it will sure as heck let you know when something is amiss. So, in an effort to wean myself off of Strava metrics, I'll be using this blog as a sort of run log whereby I update with my weekly mileage, vertical gain and time spent on foot (these three pieces of information are most important to me and my running) but more importantly, I'll be recording how my body felt before and after the run as well as periodic updates as to how my body is responding to my overall training.
Lastly, I'd also like to see this blog be used as a platform for me to voice my opinions on things I see fit and, hopefully, connect with other like-minded individuals (or otherwise, debate is healthy) from all areas, especially those that I wouldn't have the chance to connect with due to geographical constraints. I have a tendency to be a touch anti-social, but I find that this is more due to social anxieties, and because of this, I have found it difficult to meet and connect with others who are as passionate about running as I am. So the whole "online and anonymous" route of social interaction seems to be a nice way of leveling the playing field, so to speak.
Now that all the explanations are out the way, here's a little bit more about me (other than what you have already, most likely, picked up on from the above paragraphs).
I have always been involved in sports of some kind since I can remember. I grew up playing traditional sports like football, cricket, swimming and athletics but my passions, from an early age, were already leaning towards cricket. Somewhere along the line I gave up athletics (probably because I was rather self-conscious about my skinniness) and swimming (again, self-consciousness) to focus on football and cricket. Eventually, as things do over time, my interests had waned in traditional team sports. In my teens I swapped cricket and football for skateboarding and surfing. A rebellious lifestyle for a rebellious teenager.
During my teen years I experienced many injuries from the skateboarding (and then bmxing) of which there are far too many to begin mentioning but broken bones and a cast were a common sight. As time progresses, we learn that there is a limit to how far we can push our bodies, and at some point, in my early twenties, I decided that I wasn't going to keep trying to find out what that limit was any more. I stuck to surfing as it was, relatively, harmless and I enjoyed doing it.
Fast forward to 2013 where it had been some time since I had seen the water (even though I used to live a stones throw from the ocean!!), I had moved cities (from Durban to Cape Town) and had dabbled in crossfit and some road running as a way of ensuring that I was not leading a, totally, sedentary lifestyle. It was around the start of the year that I went through a bad patch which revolved around a breakup and me feeling very sorry for myself. My activity took a hit, i stopped going to gym and hit the road infrequently.
After a few months of moping around and teetering on the edge of living a destructive lifestyle, I decided to start running more. The typical New Year's resolution that most people make but one that I promised to see through. Until that moment, the longest distance I had run (without keeling over or walking) had been a 10k race. After a few weeks, though, I realised why I ran on the roads so infrequently. My body just could not take the constant pavement pounding. Likely to do with the fact that I had never paid attention during my athletic years to the wisdom of the coaches in regards to form and technique. I found myself on the receiving end of painful shin splints, throbbings in my hips and a general discomfort all around.
The one positive in this whole scenario was that the shoes I was running in (Nike Pegasus 26) were, as I'm told, actually designed to be trail shoes so I decided that I would put them to such use as, after moving to Cape Town, I had a plethora of trails to choose from. This breakthrough, coupled with some mountain hiking in the winter, was to be my very own awakening. An epiphanal moment, if ever there was one.
Since my first venture onto the trails, I have been completely and utterly hooked on trail running. I'd be hard pressed to try and describe the feelings I have for the sport without going into even more, ridiculous detail than I already have so far in this post.
The experience of the mountains stirred something in my soul that had never been aroused until my first footsteps on the majestic, silent guardians of the natural world, and for this I am eternally grateful. In such a short space of time (nearly my one year anniversary) I have discovered more about myself, physically and mentally, than I have my whole life.
I hope that you will join me on this journey, as I find out more about myself and the things that I am capable of, and share yours too. As I mentioned above, I aim to use this to engage with like-minded individuals.
So, I guess that's the first post. Quite lengthy, I'll admit, but I feel as if all the important ground has been covered. I'll be trying to keep this updated as regularly as possible with a minimum of weekly updates.
Ryan
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