Hell is a treadmill |
Life is riddled with things that impersonate something in a hideously disappointing way: the regret of Pepsi, the affront of the rail replacement bus, and, for runners, the tedium of the treadmill.
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They are one of the most tiresome inventions to scar this planet, offering a mind-numbing bastardisation of one of life’s joys. I’m a long-distance runner and I can run blissfully in the open air for hours on end but on a treadmill I want to give up after less than a minute. Running in the great outdoors is a blessed experience. The air is fresh and cooling, the scenery keeps changing and nature is all around you. The birds are singing and the time passes in that dreamy, accidental way – like when you’re deep in a brilliant conversation. It’s glorious. We run not just for the body, but for the mind, as I explored in my book Running: Cheaper Than Therapy.Treadmills are more likely to make you want therapy. The fresh air is replaced by air conditioning. The ever-changing scenery is........