hobby

What does it mean to say that running is my hobby? Or, is it marathoning, not running, that's my hobby? The word, you probably know, originally referred to kind of pony, then a toy horse, and then in the 19th century, our “favourite occupation or topic, pursued merely for the amusement or interest that it affords.” Hobbies, then, have a deep connection to running animals. Merely for amusement: a running hobby has to be fun, its own goal. It can't be a means: of exercising, of keeping beautiful and trim looking.

The rest of the definition seems to follow logically for the first part, while being particularly applicable to runners: "an individual pursuit to which a person is devoted (in the speaker's opinion) out of proportion to its real importance. " That is to say, if a hobby is, by the first part of the definition, its own end, utterly unimportant for anything but the interest or amusement of the hobbyist it will appear silly to outside observers--as any unimportant pursuit will. Hobbies appear excessive to the observer because of their trivial, unproductive character. To me, your enthusiasm for your particular brand of fun always seems disproportionate, out of balance. Hiking: what's the point? Golf: not just trivial, boring too!

More later--I've got to go to bed. Ran 10 today in some slushy late afternoon sun--winter, slanted sun. I'm not training right now, just doing maintenance mileage, and good thing. It's still fun and amusing to run.