Also embracing the walk-run
As election week heats up, I decided to slow things down – to a Bill English-inspired walk-run.
English famously paced the hills of the capital for a bit of exercise earlier this year, and I followed suit on the streets of Christchurch.
The walk-run, coined by the Prime Minister, entails walking the hard, and running the easy, sections of your journey – ‘‘I walk up the hills and run the downhill bits.’’ It worked out ideally for me and gave plenty of time to admire the activewear of fellow pavement pounders.
No longer do shorts, a singlet and sneakers suggest a forthcoming sweat session, rather the outfit is a lifestyle and I intend to immerse myself in it, both while training and not, in the lead up to the ASB Summer Starter – my first 10-kilometre run.
Comedy troupe Skit Box’s 2015 song, Activewear, mercilessly mocked hungover millennials sipping coffee, smoking cigarettes and ’’doing literally nothing’’ in their activewear. It seems the true measure of a runner isn’t their athletic prowess, but how good they look doing it so I intend to put my best baby blue sneaker forward. As it seems standard activewear has been relegated to movie dates and groceries, actually getting sweaty means upping the ante to a full-scale assault suit.
Leggings, mostly considered unacceptable as pants, have been replaced by their trendy, socially applauded counterpart – compression tights – and a plastic drink bottle exchanged for a fancy metal flask.
Runners of every calibre boasted patterned headbands made with absorbent mesh plastered to their foreheads. Cellphone holders were strapped to their arms with headphone wires jutting out the side and sports bras bedazzled with diamante straps peaked out from skin-tight fluorescent singlets.
Athleisure is not all about brands. There is a subtle art in the traditional t-shirt few can nail, like the veteran runner I passed in Hagley Park wearing a ‘‘Queenstown Marathon 2002’’ t-shirt.
The battle of the slogan shirt is hard fought. Easier than dropping into the conversation your last sporting effort, runners can boast athletic superiority on their shirt, with bonus points awarded for distance traversed and rough terrain. A senior netball caption high-school leavers jersey is entry level, and Ironman the trump card. Pulling one on before a run is sure to scare away any rookie runners and clear the path for the seasoned athlete.
On the National leader’s jog he kept things casual in a tight, black ensemble – similar to what I’ll be sporting on the day of the Summer Starter – but by the end of a run I’m often sporting a flushed face, not dissimilar to the red campaign colour of the Labour Party.
Maddison Northcott will enter the Summer Starter for the first time on November 26.
"There's a subtle art in the traditional T-shirt few can nail." Maddison Northcott