It's A Love Hate Thing

Running. I love it. I hate it. Let me share with you my thoughts on running.

I don't know if I really even qualify to call myself a runner. I don't know if what I do can even be called running. Its more of a slow, constant bouncing up and down. But I do it, so I guess that counts. I track my miles, know my pace times, and have some fancy gear that helps me do these things. I have nice running clothes and love my shoes (which I will replace after my next race! Yippee!). I have a water bottle belt to help me stay hydrated on long runs. So does all this stuff make me a runner? No, but it helps me get out there and do it.

And that's the hardest part for me - getting out there and doing it. I actually don't mind the running part. Its fine, I sort of enjoy it (heavy emphasis on sort of). So after this half-hearted self evaluation of my running you are probably asking why? Why run if you don't really like it all that much?

For me, running is about accomplishment. Setting a goal and achieving it. Sometimes that goal can just be to finish a race. Sometimes that goal can be just to get to the trail and start running. I don't aspire to be the worlds fast runner. I just aspire to run. As Nike would say "Just Do It". That's all. For me its not about times or number of medals, its about getting there and doing it.

Sunday has always equaled "long runs". For me a long run is anywhere from 3 - 14 miles. Sometimes I don't run at all on Sundays, but I try. Today my run was 4 miles. The weather was great. There was a ton of people out enjoying the bike trails. It felt good. I liked it today. I might even say it was easy. Did I push myself to run faster or longer, no, but I made it out there and that was my goal.

"I cant run" you say. Well I beg to differ. I never thought I could run. My running journey started with "run for 10 seconds, walk for 10 seconds" and do that for a 1/2 mile. There was crying involved. I thought it was stupid. If I cant run for more than 10 seconds at a time, how am I ever going to finish a half marathon? You get better, you get faster, you run longer, but you have to keep doing it. I finished my first half marathon in April 2011. That was my goal, just finish. Did I finish first? No, not even close (although I didn't finish last and that was nice). Did I win? Yes I did.

Running is therapeutic. You learn a lot about yourself. I don't run with music. I run with the thoughts in my head. I work through problems, plan out dinner, think about quilting, sing to myself, think about relationships. Its better than sitting with a shrink. I would recommend it.

So why not dig out your tennis shoes and go for a run? You might love it or you might hate it, but either way you're out there doing it and that's half the battle!