Comfort: Exercise and the Environment

I would like to continue to explore the idea of comfort and how it affects my physical, mental and emotional state when I go running. Running is a relatively new routine that I have adopted and I am still at a stage where I am only comfortable running in certain places and situations. Currently, this means running in a private area that is fairly unpopulated with both cars and people, such as the Botanical Gardens. I try to avoid running on streets where there is a lot of traffic or pedestrians. With the data from Notation Three, I was able to see the beginnings of what it means for me to be in those two different locations: the calm of the Botanical Gardens versus the noisiness of Perimeter Road. Other aspects to explore are: private/public – the private pathways in the Gardens versus the public, exposed streets of Perimeter; natural/man-made – the curvy paths of the Gardens versus the rigid straightness of Perimeter; organic/mechanical – being surrounded by nature versus being surrounded by cars.

            Since we are studying the city as a dynamic, living organism that is constantly changing, I am interested in exploring how that parallels with the body as it is also changing from exercise. I will continue to track my progress as I go running in the two places. It should be interesting to see how not only my physical body changes in relation to my environment, but how my mental and emotional state changes as well.