4 ms·

> I still don't enjoy the activity itself, but I'm sure glad for the results. I don't think that's a sustainable or worthwhile approach. Exercise and training

> I still don't enjoy the activity itself, but I'm sure glad for the results. I don't think that's a sustainable or worthwhile approach. Exercise and training can be found in many forms and countless different activities - pick those you actually enjoy.

notacoward 7y ago
> I don't think that's a sustainable or worthwhile approach. I have several thousand miles of evidence to the contrary. There's a lot of "exercise" not worthy of the name. For many people, especially at my age, the very heart/lung exertion that characterizes true exercise is at least mildly unpleasant regardless of how it's attained. Fortunately, one can harness competitive or goal-oriented impulses to make up for it. I count miles, I track my pace, I compare myself to other runners my age, I look at the scale, etc. Thinking about these results helps me keep going when I exercise just like it does when I'm hacking on some grotty piece of code at work, and I've been doing that continuously for longer than most here have been alive. If I only ever did things that were fun in the moment, I'd be a bit of a failure, so I suppose learning the value of deferred gratification is another potential answer to the original question.
- thirdsun 7y ago
  That's fine. I didn't mean to say that you only should do fun things, but I think there's a middleground. Personally, I think running is a very boring activity - road biking however, while similar in nature, is something I look forward to and it comes with the same benefits (goals, tracking, comparable stats) you seem to actually enjoy. I can also recommend team sports - for me it's football (as in soccer), but specific sports are beside the point as those are very subjective. I'm just trying to say that I see no point in engaging in a sport I don't enjoy when there are so many options available that offer rewarding goals and provide enjoyment while you get there.
  - notacoward 7y ago
    Anything that requires a specific time and place to do it with others is a non-starter for me as a primary form of exercise. If I lived near a body of water, kayaking would be a good alternative in summer (or more if I move to a different part of the country). That could still happen some day, but not now. Cross-country skiing is an alternative, and one I intend to pursue more this winter since I now live near some good places for it, but of course that's only in winter. Cycling is the kind of obvious alternative, but I'm not really sure I'd enjoy it any more at the same intensity. As I said, it's the intensity itself that creates discomfort, and I've seen too much mayhem involving intense cyclists too. Seems like that focus on results can have pretty serious consequences at bike speeds. It's great that you feel like you have tons of options that both meet your goals and provide enjoyment at the time. Consider that it might not be the case for everyone, and some might still put the goals first.
ambivalents 7y ago
Meh. I've run a marathon and several half-marathons while simultaneously not loving the act of running itself. A lot of the benefits come after a run, or from achieving a goal. Through training I repeatedly tell myself (and believe), 'it is the hard that makes it good.' Not everything worthwhile is going to feel like sunshine and rainbows all the time.

notacoward 7y ago

> I don't think that's a sustainable or worthwhile approach. I have several thousand miles of evidence to the contrary. There's a lot of "exercise" not worthy of the name. For many people, especially at my age, the very heart/lung exertion that characterizes true exercise is at least mildly unpleasant regardless of how it's attained. Fortunately, one can harness competitive or goal-oriented impulses to make up for it. I count miles, I track my pace, I compare myself to other runners my age, I look at the scale, etc. Thinking about these results helps me keep going when I exercise just like it does when I'm hacking on some grotty piece of code at work, and I've been doing that continuously for longer than most here have been alive. If I only ever did things that were fun in the moment, I'd be a bit of a failure, so I suppose learning the value of deferred gratification is another potential answer to the original question.

thirdsun 7y ago
That's fine. I didn't mean to say that you only should do fun things, but I think there's a middleground. Personally, I think running is a very boring activity - road biking however, while similar in nature, is something I look forward to and it comes with the same benefits (goals, tracking, comparable stats) you seem to actually enjoy. I can also recommend team sports - for me it's football (as in soccer), but specific sports are beside the point as those are very subjective. I'm just trying to say that I see no point in engaging in a sport I don't enjoy when there are so many options available that offer rewarding goals and provide enjoyment while you get there.
- notacoward 7y ago
  Anything that requires a specific time and place to do it with others is a non-starter for me as a primary form of exercise. If I lived near a body of water, kayaking would be a good alternative in summer (or more if I move to a different part of the country). That could still happen some day, but not now. Cross-country skiing is an alternative, and one I intend to pursue more this winter since I now live near some good places for it, but of course that's only in winter. Cycling is the kind of obvious alternative, but I'm not really sure I'd enjoy it any more at the same intensity. As I said, it's the intensity itself that creates discomfort, and I've seen too much mayhem involving intense cyclists too. Seems like that focus on results can have pretty serious consequences at bike speeds. It's great that you feel like you have tons of options that both meet your goals and provide enjoyment at the time. Consider that it might not be the case for everyone, and some might still put the goals first.

ambivalents 7y ago

Meh. I've run a marathon and several half-marathons while simultaneously not loving the act of running itself. A lot of the benefits come after a run, or from achieving a goal. Through training I repeatedly tell myself (and believe), 'it is the hard that makes it good.' Not everything worthwhile is going to feel like sunshine and rainbows all the time.