我平时跑步的小路,一段左边是植物园,另一边是健身房.

两个跑步机朝外面, 面向植物园. 我跑过的时候他们的窗口的时候. 两个跑步机总有人在跑.

跑步机上的人应该比我更身体好(当然也更年轻, 穿的高级看得顺眼). 但是看他们的时候, 我总想其实对跑步来说, 包括比健康更多的东西, 而他们却丢失了除了锻炼的其他好东西. 把跑步当成只是锻炼,犹如把吃东西当成只是锻炼下颌肌肉, 或者犹如写作是为了强壮手指

那天正好是春天, 早上, 乍暖还寒.

但是曙光已经出来够早, 可以清楚看到周遭的景色而不是只是靠想象.
整个早晨充满新季节的光线,声音还有气味.

跑步机上的人.这些都感觉不到. 季节和灯光那里永远不变. 他们听到的是机器的转动,或者背景音乐或新闻. 他们只闻到他们自己的气味还有用来掩盖的人造香味.

我蛮欣赏他们的刻苦, 努力, 应该比我强. 但是我希望他们能从玻璃窗口跨出来.
体验外面跑步的广阔天地.

在室内运动, 好像在车窗里面看自然世界. 可以看到.但是感觉不到.
你被隔离着.没办法融入.

健身房里, 每天都差不多. 室外, 每天都不同.

每天, 清晨或早一点, 我都出门. 大多数天,我跑步, 但是即使不跑的时候. 我也走走.
同一时间, 同样衣服,同样路线.我出门.

会闷? 怎么可能!

因为跑步的每一天都并非复制. 天气状况, 光线质量, 各种景色和声音永远在变化.
不出门, 你都不知道每天都是多么清爽的一天.

原文：
Out and About
RUNNING COMMENTARY 676

(rerun from May 1999 RC, with updated opening)

Norm Lumian, who died in spring 2007, was one of life's ultrarunners. He ran for more than 60 of his 78 years.

Post-polio syndrome gradually took away the use of his legs. Anticipating his future, he adopted an unusual routine in the late 1990s: a run one day and a wheelchair session the next. No one I met on the streets and trails of Eugene appeared to enjoy mornings more, even as the speed and scope of his runs decreased.

Norm, a retired college professor, often phoned to "grade" my columns and to "assign" new ones. He said in 1999, "Why don't you write sometime about the simple pleasure of getting outside for a run each day?" Suggestion taken,Prof.

ONE FOR NORM

A regular run of mine passes along a creekside path. On one side is a botanical garden, on the other a fitness center.

Side-by-side treadmills look out, through a floor-to-ceiling window, onto the creek and garden. Both treadmills are always occupied at the time I run past their users' window to the outside world.

The treadmillers might be more fit than I am (and surely are younger, better dressed and better looking). But I think while looking in on them that there's far more to running than fitness, and they're missing almost everything but the workout. Running only for the exercise is like eating just to build up the jaw muscles or writing to strengthen the fingers.

The run that touched off this column came on a springtime morning. The chilly air still carried a bite of winter, reluctant to depart.

But the day's dawning came early enough now to let me see what I passed through and not just trust it to be here. This morning exploded with the sights, sounds and smells of the new season.

Treadmillers miss most of this. The climate and light inside their club never change. They hear the grinding of their machines, or the background sound of music and news. They smell only themselves and the deodorizers that mask the aromas of human effort.

I applaud the treadmillers for their effort, which probably is greater than mine. But I wish they would step through the plate-glass window and experience the wider world of running outside.

Exercising indoors, and in place, is like watching the natural world pass by through a car window. You see it but don't feel it. You're apart from it,not really a part of it.

In the gym, every day is much like every other. Outdoors, no day is quite like any other.

I'm out nearly every day of every week at dawn or before. I run most of those days. But even when the day calls for a walk, I'm still out at the same hour, in the same clothes and on the same routes, for the same length of time.

Boring? Never!

That's because running days never exactly clone themselves. Conditions of weather, qualities of light, varieties of sight and sound are forever remixing into something new. Without stepping outside, you can't know
exactly what freshness the day holds.

来源：未名空间