For The Love of Running?

I started running about 9 years ago.  I was in university taking a Psych. of Sport course (I was a kinesiology major – yeah that’s right, a degree in Phys. Ed.).  Part of our course was to plan out things we’d like to accomplish on a timeline through our lives.  I wanted to do the usual stuff: start a career, buy a house, have a family… and run a marathon.  I had recently taken up running, but quickly sidelined myself with a stress fracture.  I was sitting with my leg in a cast propped up on a chair when I planned out my timeline.  I didn’t really know how far a marathon was, I just knew that running had caused this injury and I was going to stare that devil down and beat him at his own game – that’s the kind of person I am.

A few months later (when the cast came off) I registered for a half marathon, bought a book on running with a training program in it, got myself a gym membership and started running on a treadmill.  Boy was  I surprised when I figured out just how far a half-marathon is!  21 km (13 miles)!  Are you kidding me?  So I followed that training program on the treadmill at the gym to a T.  I finished the race in 2 hrs 6 min.  And something happened along the way – I fell in love with running!  Well sort of….

You see I have a love/hate relationship with running.  When I’m out there pushing the double stroller into the wind, up a hill, while my lungs scream out “stop” and my legs feel like jelly, and I’m 6 km away from home and I realize oh-my-goodness-I-need-to-find-a-washroom, that, that is when I HATE running.  I think to myself – why bother?  Why can’t I be like all those drivers driving past me?  But afterwards… I love the way I feel after a run – that euphoric “I can do anything I want to” feeling. The oh-my-goodness-I-love-life state that I get in.  I love the way my legs, although sore, feel strong and healthy.  My core also feels strong. I love the general all over body ache that reminds me that I’m alive.  Hey!  The cheap part of me likes running too – all I need is a pair of shoes… I’ve been wearing the same running tights and jacket for 8 years now.  But then there’s the hate…

Ahhhh running… love it or hate it – I keep on doing it day after day, week after week, year after year.  What keeps you running?  What do you love about it?  What do you hate about it?

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