15 Comments

I really enjoyed this. The description of high school gym just hit the nail on the head for me. I am actually a good runner, son of a very good runner who loves running, and even I recognized that the mile run in gym made no sense. The gym teacher taught nothing on the matter, let alone any practice leading up to it. Of course, that describes most of the education system provided by schools...

The shoe thing, though, that makes me nuts to this day. I have since stopped flagging down runners whose Newbalance shoes do nothing for their pronation. Turns out only like 1 in 10 people are impressed when you correctly guess "your legs hurt right here when you run, don't they?" and point out it is because their shoes are crap. Most just find you creepy. It is such a big deal though, especially if you are heavier (for whatever reason), because all that misalignment causes pain proportional to weight. Yet the only time you will ever hear about it is track/cross country coaches if you are lucky. (Or the internet now, I presume...)

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Nov 18, 2022Liked by Mikala Jamison

For me it was martial arts, for all the same reasons as you, and the strength training came second when I wanted to have more force.

Fuck running, and fuck the Presidential Physical Fitness Test- a useless data gathering exercise from the same people that brought you the food pyramid.

Righteous post.

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Fabulous story! I had a similar experience of not knowing anything about lifting, then trying it and loving it. I'm relatively small but really really dislike the pounding of extended running, so I don't run. I started lifting heavy weights at age 40 (eighteen years ago), and I still lift and still love it, and have the honor of teaching lifting to others. Yay for barbells! Congrats on your heavy total at the meet!

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The detail about wearing Chuck Taylors! Despite the fact I routinely think about how awful middle school mile tests were – why did they expect us to do this with no warm up/no preparation for what it means to run a mile?! – I completely forgot about the prevalence of inappropriate footwear. As someone who grew up to love running, I will definitely think of this and laugh to remember how ridiculous the mile test was.

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This was a great read!

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I love this so much. Can we start a “never running” club? I’ve tried, with an extra helping of guilt because my 7th grade gym teachers called my mom at home to say I had the best natural stride they’d seen in years and did I want to join the cross-country team? (Spoiler: I did not.) For years as an adult I referred to running as “my gift that I’m squandering,” joking but not. Finally I gave myself the gift of no longer feeling any obligation to try. Now I only run if I’m about to miss a train. I’ll swim, erg, do yoga and Pilates (def a me thing not an everyone thing; I am long and lanky but also have shitty stamina). I sometimes consider getting into competitive walking - I do enjoy booking it down the sidewalk - but damn do I love not running.

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Omg. I tried to make myself like running for *years.* That PE mile was the worst! As a kid I always hated exercise because it was never presented to me in an an enjoyable way. It felt competitive and embarrassing.

I was diagnosed with hip impingement syndrome a few years ago, and my physical therapist literally told me no more running — low impact exercise only. But now that I have a doctor's note, I loveee my life without running. I hike, I swim, I do yoga, pilates, HIIT classes...and have never felt better and more in tune with my body! I wish I could tell this to the 8-year-old me, or 14-year-old me, or like, every kid ever. Moving your body can and should feel *good.*

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