How I got into running

As I'm getting ready for run #21 tomorrow and the temperature is forcasted to be around freezing point. I got to think again how far I got since I started running, just over 2 years ago. This got me thinking, maybe with my post I can motivate some other nerds and cryptofanatics like me to move more and maybe even go running.

I've always enjoyed walking fast. I don't have much patience and even when I went into shopping streets in Amsterdam where I grew up, I had to overtake people. I couldn't stand it when people walked slowly and next to one another, blocking the way for you. This is still something that annoys me when I run and you want to overtake people and they seem oblivious to you approaching them until you're breathing down their neck and have to slow down (and loose your pace).

_{This was my attitude towards running for a long time ... so why bother}

A few years back, I found a job in a Sports and Health Club. I'm not into that kind of thing and people who focus too much on their appearance and not about people's contributions are generally not people I tend to hang out with. I landed this job more as a coincidence and I grabbed an opportunity the moment it was thrown at me. As a result, I started working out on a regular basis and at some point I even wanted to jog to work. For some reason it didn't go well for me and it hurt my knees, so I stopped this as I thought the cause of my pains was a meniscus operation I had a few years before.

It was summer 2015 and my daughter was about 6 months old and I realised, if I didn't start doing something, I would not be able to keep up with my kids. So I started walking. Every time a bit longer ... further ... faster ... alone or with someone, I didn't care. The main thing was to get out there and move. Preferably on a daily basis. I bought my Garmin Fenix 3 and started to want to 'Beat yesterday'. At my height, I did 612.592 steps in one month (thanks Garmin for keeping this stat).

A few months into this rhythm, I decided to attempt to run again. Back in school I was probably the worst/laziest student in gym-class, so when I did my first 1km without stopping or slowing down, I was extremely proud of myself. Then the goal became 2km, 4km and so on. Before I knew it I was running at every opportunity.

Here are some places where I've actually ran:

• London, around the Houses or Parliament and around the Stadium of London
• Tel-Aviv on the beach
• Interlaken, the morning after a wedding
• Brand, Austria
• Langeoog, one of the German North-sea Islands
• Crete
• Prague

Running is a part of my life now and I'll adjust to where I am to ensure that I can keep on running. This also means that once it becomes winter and the roads become more difficult to navigate with ice and it's getting colder, I start Cross-Country Skiing or Langlaufen, like it's called over here in Switzerland.

A personal highlight for me is to actually participate in a running event. Going back to what I just said, I was the laziest as sports and events for me were really hard. At the beginning of this year I said I wanted to participate in 1 event and I registered myself for a running event in April. Still early in the year and pretty unfit from the winter, nontheless I set myself the target of running the 10km under an hour, which I did.

_{Me approaching the finish line at the first ever running-event, that I participated in}

Ever since I started running on a regular basis I also feel that a side-effect is that I'm less ill. I do have the occasional sore-throat and I think that a cold is coming up, but usually that's as bad as it gets. I believe that running has helped strengthening my immune system. This is despite having 2 young kids that go into daycare and take all kinds of illnesses home. For a while I caught them as well, but lately I have been less of a victim of this.

Running is now a hobby, it's fun, it gets me outside, it gets me talking to people and share experiences and I do everything now to improve my technique.

I will finish this post with a few pictures of the areas where I've ran. I will follow this post in the near future with a post about what to wear when you run, as to me this makes a huge difference on my performance.

Thanks and let's do this!

_{Entering the forrest from Arni to Oberwil}

_{Coming out of the same forrest in Oberwil, with the shooting range on my left. That is the site where I saw my first deer in the wild. many have followed since, but you never forget your first}

_{A natural tunnel created by overhanging trees, going down from Oberwil to Zufikon}

_{Me at the start of my first running-event with plenty of 'motivation' around me. Picture by @photolander with his wife}

!steemitworldmap 47.334180 lat 8.386726 long Oberwil-Lieli, Aargau D3SCR

Doron