Running ain't new no more

I had lunch with a couple of guys from way back when today and we rehashed High School sports, who we knew, where we were, what we did, and of course now. Nice day !!! I had a 2 hour ride home and somehow I began thinking about how simple play is when its new and and how it changes as time passes and we complicate the game. Some examples:

- Play as a kid is running around and maybe inventing a game or two, play as an adult involves buying lots of stuff and making a ton of plans.

- The first time I sailed a boat ( Sunfish) was simple and easy. Owning a cruising boat was a lot of work, money and time, eventually it owned me.

- Skydiving was a big thrill the 1st time, got scared, looked down, jumped (static line jump). Later it was how many people on the jump, how many formations, who funneled the dive, etc.

- Hunting!!, cool but you can only shoot one gun at a time and squirrels as a kid were probably the most fun.

- Skiing, were long drives to Vermont or flights out west really any better than just driving to Camelback and getting a morning pass?

- And then there is running, in the 60's it was gym shorts, cotton socks and a tee shirt. Now its tech shirts, tech shorts with liner and just the right pockets for whatever, road shoes, racing shoes, trail shoes, ice shoes, lots of pairs to rotate and a sock collection that's just plain shameful. Oh! and winter gear, rain gear, 2 to the 3rd power times pi pairs of gloves, hats, balaclavas, ear warmers, Gu, sport drinks, Cliff bars, 3 watches, and I'm on my fourth GARMIN. An Excel spreadsheet for a log and lest we forget a BLOG, gotta simplify now.

I didn't dwell on winning here but if you have to win it can be rewarding, fulfilling, satisfying, blah, blah, but it ain't PLAY.