Art Run (working title) was a project that begun life in pursuit of motivation but has evolved over time to have a deeper connection to home and memory. 

I started running in early 2011, I really liked the 'idea' of running but never really enjoyed the 'act' of running. I struggled with motivation but felt a huge sense of guilt for not being better at it. 

In January of 2017 I contemplated motivation and how it comes so easily for some activities and remains almost at zero for others. Motivation for drawing has never dwindled and it was at this thought I made a connection to running. The basic principle was to run, armed with a small sketchbook and pencil, and to run until either I saw something I would like to sketch or until I was tired at which point I would have to find something to sketch. Simple. 

And in this simple act of transferring the focus onto a creative process, one of observation and mark making, I stopped my brain from thinking about the physical sensations of running that would make me want to stop - then feel bad about my fitness levels. 

I would stop, but not because I was tired, I was stopping for the pleasure of drawing. This completely removed the negative associations around running that left me feeling unmotivated. I then found the distances and speeds of my running increasing.

Above all I now 'LOVE' running and on occasion catch myself grinning like an idiot as I run at various points along my routes.