Run

As a kid I spent most of my time walking and running. Walking to meet friends, running in games we played - touch, hide and seek, tag, footie etc. There wasn't much to do inside so we played outside - in the street, in the parks, in the fields. The running was short sprints mostly of course..

At secondary school there was cross country. Probably my first introduction to continuous consistent pace over a long period. It was uncomfortable so I hated it. I found I wasn't too bad at 800m on the track. It was vaguely tolerable. 

In my twenties, with a job and married, the village hall put on a 10k. The Marshfield 10k. A running friend said we should try it. We trained a little - did maybe 4 or 5 runs beforehand. Kind of enjoyed it. Did it the next year. Enjoyed it more. The friend then decided we should do a 12 mile off-road event. Starting training and running more often. The Dursley Dozen. Loved it.  

Took up rock climbing. A change of wife. A change of life...  focused on outdoors. Spent all my free time getting to rocks and mountains and climbing them.

Running was a way to lose weight and keep fit along with the weights and wall climbing (railway arches mostly). Took part in other runs - Sodbury Slog, Tough Guy, Westbury 10...

Mid 40's. Joined a running club. Chippenham Harriers. Started to take it seriously and really enjoyed the competition. I found I had a natural aptitude to 5k -10k distances. Not so at Half Mara and more. It became a way of life and rock climbing took a back seat. Mountain Marathons became a draw (walking interspersed with jogging on rough terrain).

Retired. Move to FoD. Joined another running club - Chepstow Harriers. Loads of competition and a chance to get into fell running and cross country. Nowadays (being over 60)  it's not about achieving PB's, but keeping the AG% the same as always. 

Running is natural, isn't it?

Prior to the agricultural revolution, we actually had to go out and get our food.  You didn’t drive somewhere to eat or get it at the supermarket - you gathered fruits and vegetables on your walk…as you looked for animals to kill. 

The hunter gatherers moved frequently at a slow pace, and we don’t. They walked more than six miles per day, and we don't. Any exercise outside of that was infrequent, and usually consisted of acute bouts of highly intense movement in order to survive.

Our ancestors would probably laugh watching us run for hours to ‘burn calories.’ Back then, energy was conserved, and you either walked to get somewhere, or you ran really fast to get away from something.

Hunter-gatherers didn’t run for 20 miles at high intensity to escape a hungry wolf, they ran for 20 seconds at maximum intensity to escape a hungry wolf.

Even when organized hunting developed, hunter-gatherers relied on their brains and other resources to track and trap animals (not chase them around for 3 hours). 

The same conclusion is reached when looking at early childhood. If you take a look at children playing in a park with no constraints, you’ll notice that they run and play with intensity for short bursts, and follow it up with ample recovery before running again.

Most people have to be taught how to jog – instinctively we feel more comfortable walking or running fast.

So no. Running at a relatively high intensity for a long period is not natural.

Ask any rehabilitation specialist (physio, chiropractor, masseuse) and they’ll tell you how detrimental chronic repetitive movements can be on muscles, joints, bone, cartilage, ligaments, and tendons.

I spend half my life injured.

Don't do it.
It's great fun. 

My stats. All PB's achieved in mid to late 40's.

Mile 5:07
4 miles: 23:03 (O50)
5K - 17:28
5 miles: 28:18
10K: 35:29
10 miles: 59:12
Half Mara: 1:19:58
Mara: 3:03:04 (disappointed with this - it was far too hot, but I'll only ever do one - I'm not made for that distance).