Tuesday, August 08, 2006

We all know jogging is supposed to be good for us

When I was at school, we had a physics teacher named Fred Davies, we called him Barney Rubble. Despite his faintly comical appearance and mannerisms, he was a very good teacher, and managed to drum into me a most of the physics that I use today in my work. One of Fred’s extra-curricular activities, was that he coached the school’s cross-country team.

Now, I could never quite get the idea behind cross-country running; going out on cold, wet afternoons to run five miles through the English countryside, ending up damp, muddy and scratched by brambles, just didn’t appeal to me. Some of the runners, I am sure, just wanted to be as muddy as the rugby players. A lot of the cross country runners treated it as a skive; get changed into their running kit, start off and then run to the showers and get changed back into their normal clothes. Fred didn’t have any time for these cross-country truants, but didn’t stop their misdemeanors either.

Back to present day Hong Kong, and we have been joined by a new Manager, called Ken. He also likes running – every Saturday he runs from his serviced apartment at the Four Seasons, through Wanchai, upto and along Bowen Road, then back through Central. He reckons he is covering about twelve to thirteen kilometers, each time.

Now, all though I respect him for keeping fit, at his age ( he’s in his fifties), I just don’t get the point of the running: bounding up and down on tarmac and other rigid surfaces, the resulting action shaking and bouncing their internal organs, stretching and straining their muscles and weakening their bones, and doing this on some of the warmest, most humid days of the year. One can only assume that he doesn't care if his internal organs including his testes are bounced up and down and squashed, while suffering other nasty strains and sprains, so long as he gets his endorphin fix, and that his body is overdosing on adrenalin and therefore cannot feel the inevitable onset of heat stroke.

I prefer more leisurely pursuits.

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