People talking shit

Ah, yes!  People talking shit (not, me, you understand...as if I would!).  More specifically people talking shit about running.

I was in the gym the other day and overheard a conversation taking place between two blokes in the changing room.  The first chap had just told the other that he was going to do a run (on the treadmill) as his workout for the day.  The second chap then started going on about how running is BAD for you: buggers up your joints; you have problems when you are older; blah blah blah.  He used himself as an example and, as another example, used ex-runners that he had spoken to...runners who had been running for years and had completed thirty+ marathons.

Firstly, you have to picture the size of this bloke - he was big.  Very big.  I would have guessed at about seventeen to eighteen stone.  He had the build of someone who went to the gym big and fat, and then proceeded to do a load of upper body weights to make himself look even bigger and fatter.  That he had had problems with running would not surprise me, considering the about of weight he was carrying around.  Of course, it probably would have escaped his attention to go at it slowly, build up the distance, then speed, over time.  No, I am sure, like many newbies, he got on that treadmill and ran as fast as he could for as long as he could, and staggered off, ten minutes later, a quivering, sweating mess.  Probably emitted a few noisy grunts and exhalation of air whilst he was at it.

And as for his ex-runners...thirty marathons!?!  Well quelle suprise!  The body was not built to run thirty marathons - it is not a surprise, the impact on the body, when you consider just how many miles must have gone into not just running those marathons, but training for them also.

But this chap was not going to run thirty marathons, and he probably weighed at most twelve stone.  He was going for a run on the treadmill, probably for twenty/thirty minutes, to keep fit.  Probably not worth the doomsaying he got.

But the point is, people do talk a lot of shit about running, and it's effects - in particular, people who do not run.  Running is like anything else; do it in moderation and you will be fine.