I'm guilty of falling into the rut of seeing exercise as a chore. I do it, I don't hate it, I absolutely feel better afterwards, and I love the effects it has on my body. But, while I'm actually doing it, it feels like a chore. I look at the clock obsessively to see how many minutes I have left, and I basically just want it to be over with.

Well the last few nights I've been going for extra short jogs (15 min) in the evenings. The Spring evening weather is absolutely perfect for exercise and it smells beautiful with all the flowers blooming. And these past few nights I've been feeling "playful." I'm not just chugging forwards looking at my watch every 3 seconds to see how many minutes I have left. It started out with the random desire to jump over a speed bump, haha. I jumped the speed bump and immediately *needed* to jump something else, lol. So I jogged around like a crazy person, making random loops so I could jump onto curbs, jump over ditches, etc. Going from the road, jump the curb, run over some grass, jump down from the curb, scan around for some other obstacle.

No doubt I looked like a complete spaz. But I had fun, lol, the time flew by (I went over by two minutes without noticing), and I was running faster and more energetically.

Does anybody else get these playful kicks once in awhile? For once, I didn't feel like a jogger cranking out Xminutes of cardio, I was like a little kid running around just for the fun of it.

Awesome!!!

I absolutely love when that happens! When I get into a groove and feel like I could go on working out forever. Sometimes when I'm on the elliptical, I'll just hit my stride and the music will be perfect and I'll actually be enjoying the workout. This happened on Monday, I just got so into it that I wasn't even watching the time and ending up going faster and at a higher intensity than I usually do and I was just loving it. In general though, I feel the same way about exercise that you do, and I kind of wish I could just be one of those people who always looks forward to their workouts. Today was one of those days where I just wasn't feeling it, Wednesdays usually are. I'm hoping I'll be able to beast tomorrow.

Maybe you should look into the sport of parkour: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour

And/or rock climbing. I would suspect that most good-size cities have at least one climbing gym. There is one quite near our home to which my 14-year-old son belongs, and the strength development he is getting is just amazing--it's a very tough workout, and he loves it.

I think it's really essential that the act of exercise be, in and of itself, fun.

Sometimes in boot camp when we're running on the grass I feel like a kid---I can go all out because if I fall the grass is soft!

Yep, if no one is waiting for my lane when I swim laps I like to end with a session of spinning around like a seal.

I love this place. I have never, ever told anyone in my "real life" this.

Awesome! I like to do cartwheels in the grass after a run, and I also spin around like a seal in the pool - I'm a water dog and love playing in the pool! Maybe I'm just playful (or childish?) but I think it's good to keep some joy in your workout. Maybe I'm just experiencing spring fever?

I love being outside and I love exercise!

ETA: Running in the rain is also good times, and I splash in puddles.

Haha, yay I'm glad I'm not the only big kid!

WarMaiden, parkour looks amazing, I think I've seen some commercials with people doing it and I YouTubed a few videos. I would love to be able to fling myself around like that, lol.

This is taking the childish thing to a whole new level, but...I've ridden horses my whole life, and when I was a kid, when I wasn't actually riding I'd set up "jump courses." Basically a bunch of obstacles that I'd gallop around and jump over like a showjumping course, haha. Well on my evening jogs I have entertained the thought of myself galloping across a cross country course and jumping over obstacles, hahahaha.

Hey, whatever burns calories, right?

Yay for play! I think being playful adds joy to exercise and reminds us that our bodies are built to move and want to move.

As for me, my main play in exercise is dancing. Even at my old age, I hit the clubs every weekend and dance for hours. At the end of May, I'm going to a techno festival in Detroit which will involve round-the-clock dance parties for 3 days. I'm actually training for that, which is funny. Some people train for marathons, I'm training for a dance festival.

I also did some hula hooping recently and loved it.

With my running, I try to add play in it sometimes. But play is more like doing quick sprints after a long run or varying my speed when I feel like I'm plodding along.

Endorphins - check Wikipedia (sorry, can't post or type out links yet). You will become addicted. =]