RUN LONG RUN STRONG

RUN LONG RUN STRONG

The incredible benefits of running go beyond the realm of health. The second in a series on running and living. Every run is a gift. Run long. Run strong.


Running tends to release endorphins (indigenous morphine produced by the body). Sounds great, right? Takes you on a trip and it’s free! Running in the outdoors in particular has been known to cause this runner’s high, which can last for long periods of time — even days. I have felt unbelievably ‘high’ for a few days after a marathon, on several occasions.
Effects on the brain

Running has also been used by many, over the years, to treat clinical depression. After a study in 2007, scientist said, "Exercise clearly has effects on the brain" and they are both direct and indirect. It’s possible, he explained, that the current findings reflect a direct effect of exercise on nerve cells in the hippocampus, or more general changes in the brain, like better blood flow or increased hormonal activity.

A natural compound (epicatechin) and exercise boost memory in mice and may help protect against cognitive decline in aging, says newly published research. "This effect increased further when mice also exercised regularly. The compound, epicatechin, is one of a group of chemicals known as flavonols and has previously been shown to improve cardiovascular function in people and increase blood flow in the brain. Flavonols are found in some chocolate."

Okay, so eat chocolate and exercise. I am sure this is now finally beginning to sound more palatable to you.
To manage jet lag

Now that may sound far fetched, but it isn’t. Believe me, in my last assignment at Motorola I had to travel a lot — 200,000 miles a year — so managing jet lag was important. I found that maintaining a regular regimen of running even a short distance, starting the day or morning after landing in a new time zone, helped me remain energised and perky, even without generous doses of coffee.

Most importantly, running is a great way to make yourself incredibly positive and optimistic, as you measure your progress, and see yourself achieve some things that you never thought possible of yourself. At 40, I could barely run one km without being exhausted and out of breath. Over a six-month spell of winter in Chicago, I found I could run five km without stopping, and then I felt I could achieve anything. It gave me that supreme sense of confidence. I then went on to run my first marathon that year and have done 22 more since! And I am no athlete.
Team up

While you run you make new acquaintances in the park, in a gym, on the road. As you greet them, they tend to reciprocate and, then all of a sudden, you have a few more friends. Or if you are running with people you know, you find soon enough that you are starting to bond on a different plane too.

It’s a great way to build teams in companies, being the most egalitarian sport, as CEOs rub shoulders with new recruits and so on. Try it!

Talking about running getting you to bond with others on a different plane brings me to Warren Kay, chair of the Department of Religious Studies in Andover, Massachusetts U.S., where he teaches a class on the Spirituality of running. He has written a book on sweating yourself to enlightenment: Running: The Sacred Art.

So whether you want to get younger by nine years, or attain Nirvana, all you have to do, is run, run! I hope that’s a succinct sales pitch, and you are running, and I can curl up in bed and have my chai and paratha, and I will chat with you next week. Go ahead and start.

Moving quote

In case, I haven’t convinced you yet, I would like to end with a moving quote from the blog of a cancer-fighting runner. "Oh how I do love running. I love the feel of wind in my air, the dull thud of running shoes against the packed dirt. The crunch of the gravel. The running endorphins enhancing my senses, and how alive I feel at the end of a run. Running is freedom. I hope I can run forever. Every run is a gift. Run long. Run strong."