understanding

Thomas met me at the door when I came back from running today. 'I just wanted to see if you had a good run,' he said. I had, and said so. 'You really like running, don't you?'

I thought for a minute about how to explain to Thomas why I run. I'm not good at it, I am never going to win any races, and I always worry that I look like a complete idiot. But I still enjoy it, and owe whatever sanity I have to getting outside and putting one foot in front of the other at a reasonable pace. Without it, I do get a bit cranky, I'll admit.

So I said to Thomas, 'You know how you feel when you go outside and play football?' He looked up and nodded. 'Well,' I said, 'that's how I feel when I go running.'

'Wow,' he said, looking at me, amazed. 'Like that?' I nodded. We understood each other perfectly.