THE JOY OF SWEAT

What a wonderful day it is today - absolutely beautiful.
I'm sitting out in my garden typing this on my laptop. It's well over 80 degrees but with a gentle breeze...... magnificent.
The day started brilliantly with an excellent session in the gym. The new shoes are great and I'm starting to build the running up again nicely. Not yet back to where I was when I tore my calf but I'm getting there. I truly believe things like that happen for a reason. One of the good things that came out of it for me was the fact that whilst I couldn't do much cardiovascular stuff at the gym, I got into the habit of doing more core-stability work. Something that I badly need to do and previously used to hate.

Anyway, whilst on the treadmill I was listening to this book. It is the amazing story of Dean Karnazes who ran 50 marathons in 50 consecutive days in 50 different states of the USA. It is a truly inspirational book, narrated by Dean himself. It's much more than just a list of his runs. he gives the reader an insight into his personal highs and lows as well as to the incredible logistics of planning something like that. He also stated a charitable foundation called the Karno Trust, designed to encourage physical activity in kids. A phenomenal guy, I highly recommend you read this.

One of the many things I love about running is the "head time" it gives you - allowing you to think about...... well, just about anything. I've lost count of the good ideas I've had whilst in the gym. One I am pondering at the moment is setting up some sort of club to encourage women to run, specifically women with self-esteem or mental health issues. As a GP I see loads of women like this. I just know how much exercise could help them and often they know it too but don't know where or how to start, who to go with etc.I am thinking of experimenting with this amongst my patients. Does this sound like a good idea to you? Let me know. You see I'm sure there are so many women out there who would love to get into sport but perhaps haven't participated since school and think they "can't" do it. There's no such thing in my book. I want to take my passion and enthusiasm for exercise out to the masses and let others share in the sheer bloody joy of sweat.