Running is one of the most popular sports in the UK. But for many runners, the real reason we head out to beat the roads until our legs hurt is more intangible (无形的) than weight loss or fitness.
Many runners become interested in times. They try to break the 40-minute barrier for the 10K, or run under four hours for the marathon. Yet, really, these times are almost meaningless. And as soon as they are achieved, another target is thrown out almost immediately.
The times are only the carrots we put in front of ourselves. But why do we put them there in the first place? Nobody ever gives a wise answer. Deep down, we all know the answer. Running brings us joy. Watch small children when they are excited, at play, and mostly they can’t stop running.
As we run, we begin to sense that childish joy, which is born to live a wilder existence. As we run, the layers of responsibility and identity we have gathered in our lives, father, mother, lawyer, teacher, all fall away, leaving us with the raw human being.
If we push on, running harder, deeper into the loneliness, further away from the world and the structure of our lives, we begin to feel strangely excited, separated yet at the same time connected, to ourselves. With nothing but our own two legs moving us, we begin to get a sense of who, or what, we really are. After a long run, everything seems right in the world. Everything is at peace. To experience this is a powerful feeling, strong enough to have us coming back, again and again, for more.
【小题1】Why does the author think setting time goals is almost meaningless?| A．Those time goals are used to exchange carrots. |
| B．Those time goals can’t be achieved without efforts. |
| C．People will be never satisfied with the easily achieved time goals. |
| D．There will always be a new time goal once the former one is achieved. |
| A．Positive. | B．Passive. | C．Indifferent. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Breaking records. | B．Running for the marathon. |
| C．Feeling lonely after running. | D．Feeling peaceful after a long run. |
| A．Running to Be the Real You | B．Running to Lose Weight |
| C．Running to Become an Adult | D．Running to Achieve Success |
