5 Ways Writing is Like Exercise

 

Obviously, I love to write. But as well as writing, I also enjoy getting out of the house occasionally and going for a run through the bush. Several mornings a week I heave myself out of bed, grab the dog and my running shoes and set off down the road, still half asleep. And it occurred to me that these two interests of mine actually have quite a lot in common. To prove it, I’ve made a list of five reasons why writing and running are very similar.

They both have to be done regularly. If I don’t go for a run for a couple of weeks, I lose some of my hard won fitness, and boy can’t I feel it. Climbing up all those steep hills is a nightmare. The same is true for my writing. If I don’t write regularly, I get out of the habit. The words don’t flow and it can be a struggle to slip into the writing zone. I need to do both regularly if I want to be good at them.

Not every day is going to be the best day ever. Most days I don’t run the furthest distance, the fastest speed, or beat any records whatsoever. Sometimes I even get a bit bored of running the same track over and over again. It’s the same with my writing. Most days I labour away for hours trying to get something that doesn’t look like it’s been written by a monkey. But that’s when the real work is getting done.

Sometimes you just need a great playlist. Not everyone likes to write to music it’s true. I am one of those people who like to listen to music pretty much all the time. And sometimes on those hard days when it feels like I’ve forgotten how to write, or when it seems like I’m going to die before I’ve run a hundred metres, a great playlist might give me just enough of a boost to keep going and achieve something.

You have to keep pushing yourself. It’s easy to get lazy while running. Some days I am very tempted to give up when I reach the minimum distance and just go home for breakfast. But if I don’t push myself to go further, run faster, and work harder, I won’t improve. It’s the same with writing. I have to keep pushing myself with my writing, keep writing in new areas, trying new things, exploring new genres, if I want to grow as a writer.

The good days are amazing. Not every day is going to be the best day ever. But when those good days come, they are amazing. On days like these, I feel like I could run through the bush forever, music pounding in my ears, wind in my hair, never getting tired. Or I feel like I have so much inspiration and enthusiasm that I could write for hours without getting tired or running out of inspiration. Those days are worth all the hard work and pain.

So there we have it. Five ways I’ve noticed that writing and exercise are the same. Can you think of any other similarities between them?