It's High Summer now. Nearly the solstice. walking around at 8pm. 830 even and the sun is still shining. Sky still light.
When I moved to New York I had to learn to adapt my exercising to the cold. Nearly a decade in LA as a skateboarder and cyclist had left me soft. I do not want to ride in the cold or the wet. And I hated the gym. Just the thought of going to mindlessly lift weights or cycle in place seemed like pure torture. I was an athlete, but for speed. One who was outside in the world. This changed after a brutal winter indoors.
This last year I even began running. I hate running, I always have. I have asthma and as a boy there was nothing worse than running the mile in gym... for the humiliation of coming last and pain of lost breath for an eternity in an asthma attack.
For travel, visiting my people in LA, or any city, there's really no better exercise. I was running on the beach in Venice, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico City, the high plains of Denver... there's really nothing better for excise whilst traveling. And after just stubbornly deciding I would be a runner, here I was, running 2 miles reguarly like no big deal because its just what I do now.
I like it. It feels good, the exercise and endorphines... but more than that it feels good to have broken that artificial boundry. There is a lot of power in what we tell ourselves about ourselves. And by telling myself that I run, I now have the power to run.