What would be harder than to suit up, lace up and run? Nothing! But it would be good to bear in mind the 3 rules of running, the verb according to Mark Remy*
- Use your legs to move forward, or to avoid moving backwards if you’re on a treadmill.
- At some point, both feet must be airborne.
- Avoid running into things such as holes, vehicles, structures, cacti, lamppost, fences, other animals and large bodies of water.
I’m sharing a hilarious anecdote for rule one. A hilarious but painful illustration of why one should not try to defy the rules of running, the verb. My friend shall remain anonymous, I think that I have tortured him enough throughout our long friendship, and thus will spare him abuse online. Well this anonymous friend visited me at my home and we duly proceeded to the condo gym for a workout. This guy has a V shaped physique. While on the treadmill, for some reason, he chose to ignore rule number one. Defying both the rules of running, the verb and the rules of physics, my friend did an impersonation of a seal sliding on the arctic ice and landed on his butt some 2 meters away. Thankfully nothing broken or bruised except the ego & of course there was plenty of ribbing after the fact. he’s still trying to play it down.
* Mark Remy, “the runner’s rule book”, 2009, Rodale inc.