Simple Joy Of Jogging

Exclusively for Glorious, Sports Team drummer Al Greenwood reveals a poem inspired by her relationship to running and newfound approach to exercise

By Al Greenwood

I have always enjoyed sport, as long as I can remember. Yet, as I left education, physical activity increasingly played a cameo role in my life and schedule, and my passion for football concurrently went from occupying muddy pitches to pub rooms. In the early days of my career, I was travelling with a full-time job, and squeezing band rehearsals and gigs into the gaps this left me. My sporadic sessions at the gym were punctuated by my TV series of choice and functioned solely to pacify the guilt caused by my hedonistic lifestyle outside of the office. As the band developed, I was given the opportunity to quit my job, leave my flat and life in London, and work on music full-time. The gym membership was one of the lesser mourned sacrifices.

It was the lack of a local gym and excess of guilt that eventually led me to start jogging. I remember counting the minutes of each early ‘run,’ outraged at the lack of on-machine screen relief to distract. Yet at some point over the past two years, this guilt-based relationship to jogging (and exercise more broadly) morphed into something completely different; perhaps more healthy, increasingly obsessive, but certainly more positive.

Poem & Voiceover Al Greenwood (drummer of Sports Team), Director of Photography & Editor Dillon Steele, Art Direction & Graphics Root

Share This Article

If you love this you’ll also love...

Fast Track

How a London sprint club is celebrating speed. Meet the trailblazing women devoted to reframing this type of running with an inclusive approach

By Amy Abrahams

My Life’s Essentials

Champion of women’s sport and drummer in the band Sports Team, Al Greenwood captures her favourite items on Polaroid

By Al Greenwood

Bowling To The Beat

Al Greenwood talks to professional cricketer Issy Wong about the new tournament The Hundred, the power of music to bring fans together, and the songs that are close to her heart

By Al Greenwood

This weeks exclusive offers

OCTOBER: Top 5 Podcasts

Maths solving mysteries? Cycling scandals that rocked the sport? Deception stranger than fiction? These top 5 podcasts will keep you busy this month.

AUGUST: Top 5 Podcasts

The sun is out and the days are long – perfect for soaking up some rays AND some fantastic podcasts!

SEPTEMBER: Top 5 Podcasts

From a true crime mystery to the history of ping pong (more exciting than it sounds!), here are out top podcast picks for August.

JULY: Top 5 Podcasts

Whether you're pushing it in the gym, walking the dog or relaxing on the sofa, there's always time for a good podcast!