Exercising makes me happy

I was always into sports. Since I was a boy, my parents encouraged me to exercise and find a sport I could do continuously. They knew exercising is good for me and I think they had an easy time with that as I enjoyed doing sports. It all started with basketball which was followed by a short episode in football (no surprise there) before I fully committed to rowing. When I started university, I took up squash and enjoyed progressing for the last for years. I hope to continue with it even after university but it depends on a lot of factors. Therefore, running became my newest exercise routine. But, first of all, let me take you through the whole timeline.

I started playing basketball early in primary school. My dad or grandad would drive me to scheduled training and matches. I enjoyed playing and I was pretty good but still too young to take it all seriously. There is a funny story going back to the first or second grade of primary school when I played a part in my first basketball match. I caught a ball in the middle of the playground and started running towards one of the baskets. Unfortunately, it was the wrong basket and people in the stands (yes, parents) started shouting that it I was going the wrong way. I think I tried to score once or twice without being guarded and luckily missed both times. It was either my teammate that took the ball off me or I heard what everyone was shouting but, yeah, it started funnily. Thereafter, I continued to play for my school team but the organisation eventually fell apart and I decided to take up football.

Football was a mess. I started with it pretty late and was a somewhat insecure kid in those situations. I wasn’t the best but I also wasn’t the worst so the coach could’ve got something from me if I ever turned up for games. I remember avoiding almost all games because I was literally scared to play. I would just stay at home lying to my coach that I was away for the weekend with my parents. I don’t know what was wrong with me as I was never scared to play a basketball game but, I just didn’t feel comfortable, therefore, I found it easier to lie than to show up and play. After a short time, I stopped playing football and started rowing. I don’t know how it all ended but, I don’t feel sorry that it did. Football wasn’t my sport, I’m better at it behind the big screen or in the stands.

I spent roughly 8 years rowing and I really think I got a lot out of it. I was fit, my work habits were great and the people I was hanging out with were great as well. I am quite sporty and do well in most sports and I was in the top 5 of my age group while rowing. However, rowing was a hard sport and when I was quickly promoted to the intermediate group I took part in a slightly harder training and immediately said I want to get back to my old group. Thankfully, my parents didn’t let me do that and I continued to train and become better. Then, the same thing as in football happened again. But, this time I think I know the reason. During that first year in the intermediate group, I never sat in a boat for a race with others. I was just scared, scared of pain, not of losing. The rowing races in the early stages were only on 1000 meters which slowly builds up to 2000 meters two or three years after. I didn’t see that as helpful and therefore, didn’t start my first race until the next year as only then I saw no way out. It was either go hard or go home. So I went hard and did really well. I won multiple medals and enjoyed training with my friends.

Furthermore, the time when I would have to start thinking about university was fast approaching and I consciously made a decision to stop rowing. Some of you may know the saying: Row hard or go home! At that point, I wasn’t rowing as hard as I would’ve liked to and I didn’t feel like just doing it for fun. Rowing was a lifestyle and not an activity for fun which in my penultimate year led me to a final stop. In the year before I started university, I wasn’t doing much and my form deteriorated and deteriorated. It’s not that I was feeling bad, it’s just that I wasn’t able to do stuff I was capable before and that slightly annoyed me. And yeah, I didn't look as good as I used to.

When I started university I immediately started looking for a new sport. I wanted to try something new and as I recreationally played table tennis before, the choice came down to two sports: squash and badminton. I went and tried both and ended up choosing squash as I was given more playing time and the people seemed more interesting and friendly. I am mostly self-thought as only first and second team members received some professional coaching. I worked hard for two years and practised by myself until I reached a good enough level to play for the second team. From then on I played multiple games for the team and received some coaching from a professional coach. I enjoy playing squash but have a hard time reaching my top game when playing matches. I lost more matches than I have won and some of them were because I underperformed rather than the opponent was better than me. But, all in all, I enjoyed last for years and plan to keep playing if possible.

Moreover, even though I played squash continuously, I wasn’t able to reach my top form. I wasn’t training in the gym and I wasn’t working on my stamina. So, I decided to start running again. I did some running before when I was still rowing and I was in a pretty good form. I could run for ages and I can’t say I loved it at the time, but it felt good. The reason why I started running now is that it is simple, quick and you can track your progress quite easily. I ran with one of my squash friends for a bit which was good as he was faster than me and kept pushing me to run faster. Now, when he is away I rely on the Runkeeper app that tracks my progress. It’s cool to see how you perform and numbers keep me motivated. I don’t know where this running thing is going, I haven’t worked that out yet, but I'll just stick with it.

In summary, I would say I like sport and exercise but sometimes need someone to push me and guide me. I struggle to find motivation when there is no end goal or something to track my progress and that’s why my gym episodes never lasted long. I plan to stick to running and occasional football and squash and we’ll see where that leads me to. It’s been only a few weeks now and I can already see the difference which makes me very proud and happy. It’s good to be able to be as well as feel young. Keep exercising guys, it's good for you!

#exercising #motivation #running