Running, of all the endurance sports is the most pure and simple. For that matter of all sports it is the most pure. The simplicity of running speaks loud and clear. Get up and move, it's that simple, slow or fast what ever turns you on. I love that. I do like to go for a long bike ride when the weather is nice. I really enjoy mountain biking on the trails in the fall, you can't beat the scenery. Though I don't look much when I'm riding on the trails or else I will crash and burn:) Which is kinda fun as well! Swimming? Yes I do like a nice swim from time to time. I could go on and on with things like basketball, rock climbing, boxing.... whatever you have tried and enjoy. My point is that with running you just stand up and go!! There have been numerous books that detail the history of why we run. Born to Run, you know the book that got everyone to go minimalist. Why We Run: A Natural History, this book bore the hell out of me, but it had the same concept of some of the stuff in Born to Run. Both of these books go into our history and the mechanics of why we run. I do however think they just brush over the most important reason.
Why do we run? Why do we continue to run? How far? How fast?....... This questions can really be answered with one word; FUN!! Of course I won't leave it at one word or this would be over:) FUN! Why is sweating, straining, being short of breath fun? We were meant to be tested! We were meant to struggle and sweat! That brings us joy! Now I know some of you are reading this and thinking "NO I don't!" Well yes you do! If you haven't embraced the rawness of these things you are missing out on one of life's greatest, most natural highs. Unlike most of the people that write about this type of thing, I am not earthy, woodsy or anything like that. Yes I like running trails and enjoy climbing mountains an the sort, but I am an Urban runner at heart.
I love the street! There is nothing like reaching the top of a long flight of stairs at a local monument. The smell of exhaust. No I'm not very "green" though I do recycle now. Well my wife recycles:) Hey! I carry it out to the curbside!:) Anyway, the sound of traffic gets my heart pumping!! Now lets not confuse Urban running with Suburban running. Downtown of a major metropolitan or the inner-city of said metro. You don't have the homeless, prostitutes, debris on the roads and then of course the unknown in the burbs. Unknown? For example; one Saturday our group, Runners In Touch, was running down a local inner-city road "The Paseo" and ran by a local motel. All of the sudden 2 guys come running out followed by a completely naked hooker, she was yelling because they stiffed her:) Ok that was too easy:) They took off without paying for services rendered. You don't see that in the burbs! That is one of many reasons I love the real life entertainment the Urban Core offers an adventurous runner.
If you think back you have always enjoyed the feeling of running. During P.E. class when you ran the mile. Yes it sucked for those of us who were chubby kids and not very good at it, once you finished you had a great feeling of satisfaction. A "high" if you will. That same feeling you get when you score a touchdown, sink a three pointer...... That feeling that happens just a few times in a game happens 90% of the time while you are running. Yes, you do feel like crap occasionally. It passes,the high lasts and lasts.
This really came to life earlier this week when I was running with my youngest, Honor 7 yrs old, she has been running a few weeks and I really wanted her to run a mile non-stop. I know to a lot of kids that is easy but unfortunately she has my athletic ability. We have ran trails, she has ran in the city with her mom. We happened to be a a local college on the track an she was really struggling and not having any fun. I thought to myself "this is supposed to be fun". So we stopped for a moment and ran sprints up and down the football field. She loved it!! Not only that after that we played tag, which meant running another 15 minutes or so. We played an ran for about 30 minutes. We were out of breath, laughing out loud and just having a great time. That's running!!
So the next time you think about skipping a run or dreading getting started, think about the FUN! The joy it brings, the sensations of the breeze against your face and hair. The contraction of your muscles with each stride you take. The sweat pouring down your face, your heart pounding like it was on your first date. These are stimulus you can get everyday, every time you step out the door. No matter where you run, you decide your arena. Because every time you step out that door FUN is waiting for you!! EMBRACE IT!!
NEVER STOP RUNNING!!! THAT'S WHAT WE WERE MEANT TO DO!
Choose to Succeed
Koach Karl
http://www.koachkarl.com/
http://www.k2ultrarunning.blogspot.com/
http://www.k2rawrudeandright.blogspot.com/
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