I continue to run because it continues to be easy and in part that is the truth. However, I left out the other reason I continue to run. My motivation for continuing to run – day in and day out, why I want to a life-long runner, and want to be the woman who runs through pregnancy and kids in jog strollers and gray hair – is vanity.
As a disclaimer: I am not the runner who brags incessantly about my running and racing but I am exceedingly proud of my running. I may not bring up running in every conversation but if it does come up, I have a hard time turning off the desire to going on and on about the races I have coming up, the races I’ve done, the races I dream of running, my times, and my training.
I love being the girl in the office who runs marathons and runs to work on a weekly basis. It makes me very proud that “runner” is a label people use to describe me. I may not walk up to people and introduce myself, “Hi, I’m Becki. I’m a runner and I run marathons” but that doesn’t mean I don’t relish it when other people introduce me that way.
Part of the reason I wake up and hit the pavement before the sun comes up every morning is because there is a chance someone might ask me, “did you run today” and I hate saying “no.” The reason I run today is so that I am able to run through the milestones I mentioned earlier – pregnancy, kids, gray hair. I want to be the little old lady who’s winning age group awards for the 71-79 category.
This makes it sound like I run for other people, and that is obviously part of my truth; however, I also run for my own selfish reasons.
Running makes me feel good. It makes me feel accomplished and satisfied. Running makes me look better and more confident. I weight less, smaller sizes fit me, I eat better but can allow myself to eat worse, and I can run faster and farther than I could when I started. All of this is a result of running and I hate to think of it going away if I stop.
I’m running scared but I am running.
In some ways I hate admitting this last reason for running because I continue running for all of the “right” reasons – I love the feeling of gliding along the bike path before the sun comes up, I am proud to have trained for, started and finished 3 marathons, I feel powerful and strong after a good, hard workout, and the self-esteem boost at seeing my times improve; these are all unbeatable and not for vain reasons.
However, it is important to me to realize that I can turn these “ugly” motivators in to a beautiful run. I may start out thinking of what other people think but after the first mile or so I am running under my own power, for my own reasons. Vanity may get me out of bed but the love running is what keeps me going.
Showing posts with label why i run. Show all posts
Showing posts with label why i run. Show all posts
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Part II – Why I Run? Because I Can.
It may have been my Dad and other influences as a child that provided an introduction to running; however, the reason I actually started running is because of how easy it was to start.
For years, I had been bemoaning the fact that I didn’t have a hobby. I didn’t collect anything or do anything through which I was able to feel comfortable defining myself. I am reader and I enjoy movies and I love being active but I wasn’t passionate about any of these things. When I’m not reading a book, I’m not finding out about the next good book or following an author’s every action. I am a fan of movies and certain actors but again, I don’t have the interest to keep tabs on the industry.
I didn’t have a passion in life, something that was mine, something through which I could explain parts of me. But, I wanted one.
When the idea to run a marathon to celebrate my 26th birthday entered my head, the reason I followed through with that crazy idea was because running was something I could already do. It was easy. I could run at the time and all I had to do was run longer.
This isn’t to say that I think running is easy; however, it is an incredibly easy sport to start. All I needed was comfortable shoes and clothes and I could go out and run. I read books. I read magazines. I read and consulted online forums. As I increased my running I was able to increase my knowledge of running. I didn’t need a coach. I didn’t need any fancy equipment. I didn’t need a team. I just needed me and the singular aspect of long-distance running appeals to me.
Of course, I made mistakes and learned loads of things (and continue to do both) but I had all the resources at my fingertips to correct what was wrong and continue running.
I am passionate about running. I read about it and write about it when I’m not actually running. I continue to run because it continues to be easy.
Daily Dozen:
4.61 miles @ easy pace
For years, I had been bemoaning the fact that I didn’t have a hobby. I didn’t collect anything or do anything through which I was able to feel comfortable defining myself. I am reader and I enjoy movies and I love being active but I wasn’t passionate about any of these things. When I’m not reading a book, I’m not finding out about the next good book or following an author’s every action. I am a fan of movies and certain actors but again, I don’t have the interest to keep tabs on the industry.
I didn’t have a passion in life, something that was mine, something through which I could explain parts of me. But, I wanted one.
When the idea to run a marathon to celebrate my 26th birthday entered my head, the reason I followed through with that crazy idea was because running was something I could already do. It was easy. I could run at the time and all I had to do was run longer.
This isn’t to say that I think running is easy; however, it is an incredibly easy sport to start. All I needed was comfortable shoes and clothes and I could go out and run. I read books. I read magazines. I read and consulted online forums. As I increased my running I was able to increase my knowledge of running. I didn’t need a coach. I didn’t need any fancy equipment. I didn’t need a team. I just needed me and the singular aspect of long-distance running appeals to me.
Of course, I made mistakes and learned loads of things (and continue to do both) but I had all the resources at my fingertips to correct what was wrong and continue running.
I am passionate about running. I read about it and write about it when I’m not actually running. I continue to run because it continues to be easy.
Daily Dozen:
4.61 miles @ easy pace
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Why I Run: An Answer in Three Parts
I’ve recently been trying to answer the following two questions: Why did I start running? and Why do I continue running? To me, the answer to these two questions is the same. The reasons I started running are the same reasons I continue to run. Instead of these two separate questions, I choose to answer the single question, Why I Run.
Part I – Why I Run? My Dad.
The first part of this answer starts when I was a little kid.
Sure, I ran around as a kid. I ran on the playground. I ran on the T-ball field and I ran on the soccer field. This isn’t to say I was a runner but rather that all little kids run. On top of this, all little kids enjoy running. Watch a little kid’s face as he or she chases after you. Running is fun. Yet, it wasn’t something I was conscious of as something people “do.”
For me, the notion of running as something a person “does” wasn’t planted on the playground or the sports field. It started at home and on the surrounding streets.
I remember, distinctly remember, my Dad going out for runs on occasion. He would suit up in his sweatshirts and head out the door. He would come back sweaty and tired. I don’t remember a time when I actually saw him running but I remember the before and after.
Now, I can’t even tell you if he went out for runs with any sort of regularity but I was drawn to the idea of just going out for a run. I was fascinated that this was something that people did, “went out for runs.” My Dad planted the seed of running.
Later, or perhaps at the same time, I don’t know, I encountered running again through a woman in the neighborhood. This woman was the mother of some kids in the neighborhood and I remember she started running after she and the father separated. I must have been in 5th or 6th grade, waiting with all of the other kids in the neighborhood at the bus stop, and I started noticing her slipping out of her house and starting her runs before the school bus came to pick us kids up. If the timing was right, I’d often notice her again as we rode by in the school bus, always amazed at how far down the road she had run.
Did she run everyday? In my memory she did but I can’t be sure. Was the separation or divorce the cause? I have linked the two in my mind. I do remember that she continued to run. I would still see her running out of the neighborhood when I was in middle school and even in high school. I don’t even know how far she ran. Was it always the same mileage, the same route? Was she training for something? I don’t know the answers and I never even thought to ask these questions. It didn’t matter. It doesn’t matter now.
What does matter is that once again, I was fascinated. Runners, with their consistency and habit and simplicity, intrigue me. To this day, I feel the same inexplicable envy and fascination seeing people out for their runs that I felt seeing my Dad go out to run or the woman from my neighborhood running down the street.
As a kid, observing these adults running struck something in me that I have trouble explaining. Whatever it was wasn’t strong, it took me many, many years before running would become a habit for me and something through which I define myself. However, it was lasting.
Daily Dozen
40 minutes recumbent bike @ lunch hour
Part I – Why I Run? My Dad.
The first part of this answer starts when I was a little kid.
Sure, I ran around as a kid. I ran on the playground. I ran on the T-ball field and I ran on the soccer field. This isn’t to say I was a runner but rather that all little kids run. On top of this, all little kids enjoy running. Watch a little kid’s face as he or she chases after you. Running is fun. Yet, it wasn’t something I was conscious of as something people “do.”
For me, the notion of running as something a person “does” wasn’t planted on the playground or the sports field. It started at home and on the surrounding streets.
I remember, distinctly remember, my Dad going out for runs on occasion. He would suit up in his sweatshirts and head out the door. He would come back sweaty and tired. I don’t remember a time when I actually saw him running but I remember the before and after.
Now, I can’t even tell you if he went out for runs with any sort of regularity but I was drawn to the idea of just going out for a run. I was fascinated that this was something that people did, “went out for runs.” My Dad planted the seed of running.
Later, or perhaps at the same time, I don’t know, I encountered running again through a woman in the neighborhood. This woman was the mother of some kids in the neighborhood and I remember she started running after she and the father separated. I must have been in 5th or 6th grade, waiting with all of the other kids in the neighborhood at the bus stop, and I started noticing her slipping out of her house and starting her runs before the school bus came to pick us kids up. If the timing was right, I’d often notice her again as we rode by in the school bus, always amazed at how far down the road she had run.
Did she run everyday? In my memory she did but I can’t be sure. Was the separation or divorce the cause? I have linked the two in my mind. I do remember that she continued to run. I would still see her running out of the neighborhood when I was in middle school and even in high school. I don’t even know how far she ran. Was it always the same mileage, the same route? Was she training for something? I don’t know the answers and I never even thought to ask these questions. It didn’t matter. It doesn’t matter now.
What does matter is that once again, I was fascinated. Runners, with their consistency and habit and simplicity, intrigue me. To this day, I feel the same inexplicable envy and fascination seeing people out for their runs that I felt seeing my Dad go out to run or the woman from my neighborhood running down the street.
As a kid, observing these adults running struck something in me that I have trouble explaining. Whatever it was wasn’t strong, it took me many, many years before running would become a habit for me and something through which I define myself. However, it was lasting.
Daily Dozen
40 minutes recumbent bike @ lunch hour
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