Enjoy yourself every once in a while!

I started running again last week more than a month off, so I left my GPS at home and just went out until I had to be home again.

Oh my, it felt so good. When I say it felt good, there was a lot of spitting and dry mouth involved (oddly, all at the same time). I ran up a hill, saw the sun rise over Sheffield, and then went to work feeling super satisfied.

I love climbing, but running feels wonderfully simple. No flaking misbehaving ropes, no organising your rack, no puzzling over whether to put your wires on a screwgate or a crab (we finally solved that one). You just tie up your shoelaces and go out of the house for a run. Sometimes you navigate a bit or you drive a bit first or get a tiny tiny bag and put some water in it, but then you just run.

Climbing used to feel this simple, but that was nothing to do with the practicalities of climbing big stuff. I feel like my personal relationship with climbing has become a lot more socially complicated too. Climbing was meant to be a fun-filled playtime with no pressure, but at some point measurement and goals and grades came along and satisfaction got bundled in with performance. When you don’t perform well there’s a lot more anxiety and self-doubt.

The same can happen with running, but it’s easier to avoid. Climbing is different: you wouldn’t get on a multi-pitch route without checking the grades, looking at comments on UKC, and assessing whether or not you’ll make it to the top, whereas you can generally embark on a run with the safety net of an (albeit embarrassing) walk home – getting off a multi-pitch isn’t so easy. Plus climbing’s so social that it’s hard not to let external pressures and peers affect your relationship with it, even at my mediocre level. If you run alone you’re only really competing with yourself. If you don’t know how fast or far you’re running, you’re not really competing with anyone.

Still, most of us aren’t always on big multi-pitches – at this time of year we’re in the safe space of the climbing wall. Measuring things is for work, so let’s take inspiration from early morning runs when no one’s watching, leave the GPS at home and forget about the grades for a bit. We’re meant to be enjoying ourselves after all!

– Hati