Friday, January 12, 2007

Go Run :)

I have noticed a lot more people at my gym. It takes longer than ever to get on an eliptical (no idea if I spelled that right) or a treadmill. I am guessing that in about 6 weeks all that will change. New year's resolutions will be forgotten, television will beckon people back to their couches and I won't have to wait for a treadmill.

In light of all the hype surrounding getting in shape in 2007, I say that the absolute BEST way to get in shape is to go running. Running is the ultimate sport. It takes athleticism, endurance, guts, strength (I got in a nasty argument once with someone who suggested running wasn't a sport...). Almost every sport includes running as a fundamental way to get in shape, or way to get the ball down the court/field.

Here's what I don't get--so many people I talk to hate running. I really don't understand that at all. It's something you can get better at even if you have very little talent. You can ALWAYS improve. In basketball for instance, no matter how much I practice, I will only reach a certain level of skill because, well, I am not very cooridnated. But with running (and swimming), you can continue to improve. You can run new courses, beat your time from before, try different distances. I have this theory that the reason people hate running is because every coach uses it as a form of punishment. Late to practice again? Go run 20 laps. Played a bad game? A practice full of running is in store. What if instead of forcing kids to run, coaches forced them to do something else (like throw foul shots!)? Remember being young and running everywhere? It was fun...somewhere along the way it got too hard, too tiring.

But, you say, running is boring. How can running be boring? It's one of the best ways to explore a new city. The first time I went to Europe, I woke up extra early and ran in each city we stopped in. It was AWESOME. (though i was a little afraid of the men I found in the streets of Florence at 630 am). Besides, now you can just get your ipod out and you can have music entertain you during the entire run.

You never need special equipment to go running. Do you have legs? A pair of shoes? Some sweat pants? Then you can go running. I propose it's the best lifetime sport there is. I sure am glad I was born to a track coach :)
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12 comments:

Steve Fuller said...

I like running, but it's not a sport.

You said that many sports require running. Many sports also require that men wear athletic supporters, but wearing a cup shouldn't be a sport either.

Now, if you're racing someone, then you've got a sport. Wanna race? :)

11:10 PM
Amulya said...

Running is TOTALLY a sport. And anyone who says it is not just needs to think a little deeper. What sport is a marathon?...running.
It is the only sport that can truly set one person's talent apart from someone else's. There is no other factor of which to blame or credit performance. There is no poorly inflated soccer ball or overly chlorinated pool water. In running, it is just you and all that you can give.

7:45 AM
Liz said...

I would race anyone, anytime, any place.
Here's the question though: if you're jogging for exercise, then perhaps, for argument's sake, you aren't participating in a sport. What if you are doing mile repeats in preparation for a 10K 2 months away, but you're doing them by yourself...does that mean you are participating in a sport?
I don't think anyone would argue that shooting around a basketball by yourself is playing a sport, even though no one's keeping score and there are no opponents. Why is that different for running?
Are you playing a sport if you go to a driving range?
Isn't what makes a sport a sport the ability to measure and score performance? What takes an activity or exercise up to the level of a sport??

10:22 AM
Bragg said...

I have a problem with this discussion. Fuller is correct except for his last line.

All competitions are sports, but not all sports are competitions.

Here's the thing, for an event to be a sport, there has to exist a two main components.

First, a time frame. In events such as basketball, football, hockey, soccer, boxing, etc. in which all competition must take place. Once that clock has come to 0:00 (90:00 in soccer), it's over. The game is done. The event concludes and people go home. But what about baseball you ask? Nine innings (extra if necessary) is a time frame. You have to score before the opposing team gets you "out" 3 times while you're on offense. Which is a perfect transition to the next point.

Second, a defense is required. In football, soccer, hockey, basketball, baseball, boxing, etc., there is an opposition which is trying to prevent you from winning. I can stand at the plate and hit the ball, but then i have to get around the bases before I am tagged "out" with the ball. In football, basketball, hockey, soccer, there is another person which is preventing me from putting the ball into the end zone, the goal (net/box/basket), etc. Defense is required for a sport.

If in baseball we were just seeing who could hit the ball the farthest (home run derby), it would be a competition. The Combine, competition. The skills contest, competition. You get the idea.

Running has a clock, but there's no time frame which requires the event to be completed in. Only the person in the run/race is setting their own goal, that's a competition. If you place blockers or allow the other runners to prevent you from "scoring" (which doesn't exist in running/marathons/figure skating/cheerleading/dance/etc.), then you might have a leg to stand on in making an argument for convincing me that running is a sport.

So let's recap:
Competitions are:
Running, dance, cheerleading, figure skating, golf, the other track and field events, etc.

Sports are:
Hockey, pugilism, baseball, football, soccer, basketball, etc.

Go ahead, you can classify any competition (remember, all sports are competitions but not all competitions are sports) based upon these two rules. Try it.

11:45 AM
Liz said...

I think you are mistaken in equating sports with games. Softball is a game (and probably the least physicially demanding activity ever). By your definition, the only "true" sports are those that are also classified as games. Besides, if 9 innings is a time frame, how is a 5K not a time frame? It takes a certain amount of time to cover a measurable distance.
I'm not trying to be argumentative, oh wait maybe I am, but I think it's completely bogus to put track/field/cross country/swimming in the same category as dance or cheerleading. I mean, REALLY?
And as Wikipedia states (the expert of experts :) )
Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.

12:01 PM
Bragg said...

Alright, 5K is a distance, a frame of reference which must be covered, but what governing rule states that it must be covered in say, 1:45:00?

Maybe the event organizers say so because they want to go home, but be aware that a distance fame of reference is not the same thing as a time frame of reference. When you start, the clock goes forward (like soccer does, but soccer has a limit. It stops at 90:00:00+stoppage) but doesn't stop until the last person crosses the finish line. Then all runners see how they stack up against the rest of the field or their personal best/personal goal/most tread taken from the sole of their shoe/whatever...

So by definition, a competition. not a sport (game if you prefer to use semantics as your base of defense, but aware that you're fooling no one with your fancy lawyerin' in this discussion, Brashear).

12:40 PM
Annie Michael Murphy said...

People named Steve are being cantankerous.

2:34 PM
Amulya said...

Hmm, I feel like going for a run.

3:03 PM
Bragg said...

enjoy your run. will you compete against your personal best time, distance, or ???

(competition)

4:33 PM
Anonymous said...

OK- if race car driving is considered a sport, then running is by far a sport. Yes, the act of going out and running by yourself is not a "sport" but rather part of the sport just as shooting hoops is not a "sport" but part of playing basketball. When Lizzy B. ran a 5K, or actually most of an entire cross country season, with a stress fracture in her foot- she was def. competeting in sport. And when she dragged her roommate out of bed at 6 am to run in single digit tempatures through a foot of snow- she was def. competing in a sport. And if running 26 miles with thousands of other people doesn't qualify as a sport- I don't know what does.

2:08 PM
Bragg said...

okay, Race car driving is not a sport. It falls under the competition rule.

Again, regardless of th personal issues plaguing an individual, there still is no defense preventing the individual from completing the task of crossing a finish line.

after all, cheerleaders compete with stress fractures, pulled muscles, and other various issues so you therefore have to lump cheerleaders into your definition of a sport.

but since you want to use auto racing as a point to contest, I would have to say stress fracture in a foot, cold weather, rain.... are all comparable in racing as a blown engine, a flat tire, blown oil cooler, etc....

3:44 PM
Anonymous said...

I've never met you Steve but I have a feeling we may have a fist fight if we ever do meet. And clearly you won't be able to run away from me.

2:42 PM

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