Being on vacation, I've found myself discovering and exploring all new places to run. I've run through a State park, by and through several vineyards and along Seneca Lake. Part of me is enjoying the new scenery but a few times I have to admit I was a tiny bit homesick for my familiar trails and roads I usually run. James has written a fantastic piece about his motivations while he runs as he travels.
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| Just one of the breathtaking sunset's I've enjoyed on my runs on Seneca Lake |
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They say there are two kinds of runner, the ones who are running away from something, and those who are running towards it.
I’m a country boy at heart. Not a farmer, but not far off. Most of the time I live in a small village in
the North of England which from certain angles is pretty enough for a postcard. Behind my house there’s about ten miles of
trails that I know more or less every inch of, and if I don’t mind jumping in
the car, I’m about half an hour away from something that’s almost a mountain.
It’s a great place to be. I usually manage about three good runs a
week. I’m not one for a planned route, I
just take the turns I fancy as I get to them, and I see where I get to before I
head for home.
When I’m not jogging through leafy
country lanes, I have another life, one that pays the bills. For me, that means London,
and a hotel room in East London. It’s less luxurious than you might think,
although the views are good. Depending
on which room I get, I might get a view south towards the Thames. If I crane my neck I can just about see the
top of Tower Bridge and the new Shard. If I get a room facing East, I can see the
new Olympic Stadium.
A view from a hotel though is no way
to see a city. I run.
At home, random runs mean I see different
trees, or past a different field. In London, a random run
normally means seeing something a little bit more special. A treat.
London seems like a big
city. According to Wikipedia, more than
8 million people live there, and in rush hour if you have the misfortune to
travel by underground train, you can feel the crush. At 5 in the morning, it’s like a small
town. Despite the rumours of it being a
24 hour city, you’re (un)lucky if you see more than a handful of people.
In a 10 mile run around the city, I
can pass Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar
Square, Tower
Bridge, Hyde Park,
and The Houses of Parliament, but they’re not the sights I’m looking for when I
run. Exploring is more fun when you
don’t know what’s coming next. Running
is more fun when you see something that’s exciting and unexpected.
There are two types of runner, and
I’m both. At home, I use running to get
away from things: stress, kids, reality TV.
Even if I don’t always know which way I’m going, I always know where I
am. When I’m in London, in fact when I’m in any city, I run
towards things.
A little bit about me…
I’m James Lowery, I do cool things
with the internet to help companies get closer to their customers. I also run vytalz.com, a social fitness
website that helps people to work out at their own pace and get fitter. Please follw James on twitter at @vytalz.
That's a really interesting concept. I feel like I run away from things a lot. Maybe I can start running toward them. Or maybe I just need to get to London!
ReplyDeleteGreat guest post! I wish I could run in London, or somewhere different! I need a Runcation!
ReplyDeleteThanks guys.
ReplyDeleteLondon's a great place to run, and you really get the iconic sights before breakfast, but I've always found that anywhere I'm unfamiliar with ends up being pretty amazing when you see it from the right angle.
We get too hung up on hitting a distance or a time sometimes, and when that happens, we can lose sight of the fact that running is just the natural way of getting to another place - whether physical or not.