Someone has recently tried to convince me that there is something of merit about participating in ball sports. The opinion was that it is possible with a bit of hard work for anyone, even me, to be taught the art of being cruel to poor defenseless spherical objects. Something I am sorry but I have to dispute.
One reason I do long slow endurance sports is because I don't have to think or act fast, well, most of the time. Of course there are exceptions, for example when you are about to leave the vertical plane on a bike, or make inconvenient contact with an unexpectedly placed tree branch, fellow athlete or large hole in the ground. Most of the time however, as a sloooow distance athlete you can take a less aggressive approach to decision making. You can pause, think a bit, pass on instructions in a leisurely fashion from an endorphin stupefied brain to the rest of the body, then like a great and stately ocean liner, gradually come to a halt. As an endurance runner I also don't have to know the difference between left and right, something I have never come to terms with instinctively. I have always had to actually look at whichever hand first to figure out which one it is. I always I thought I would grow out of that with practice but never did. I don't feel so bad about it these days, I found out in the unlikely situation of jumping out of a plane that I wasn't alone when the instructor drew a humiliatingly large black L and R on my hands.
So chasing small round things about requires thought and reflexes and an understanding of which hand is which. Oh. I might just have to stick to running and leave the ball sports those who do have the necessary attributes.
One reason I do long slow endurance sports is because I don't have to think or act fast, well, most of the time. Of course there are exceptions, for example when you are about to leave the vertical plane on a bike, or make inconvenient contact with an unexpectedly placed tree branch, fellow athlete or large hole in the ground. Most of the time however, as a sloooow distance athlete you can take a less aggressive approach to decision making. You can pause, think a bit, pass on instructions in a leisurely fashion from an endorphin stupefied brain to the rest of the body, then like a great and stately ocean liner, gradually come to a halt. As an endurance runner I also don't have to know the difference between left and right, something I have never come to terms with instinctively. I have always had to actually look at whichever hand first to figure out which one it is. I always I thought I would grow out of that with practice but never did. I don't feel so bad about it these days, I found out in the unlikely situation of jumping out of a plane that I wasn't alone when the instructor drew a humiliatingly large black L and R on my hands.
So chasing small round things about requires thought and reflexes and an understanding of which hand is which. Oh. I might just have to stick to running and leave the ball sports those who do have the necessary attributes.
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