I get that question ALL the time! So, I can’t think of a better way to start our blog than by talking about it. The answer is simple: Because I love it! It is one of the best ways to have some “me” time. To think or not think about things, to plan things, to disconnect for a few or many miles. It clears my mind, gives me ideas, and makes me feel liberated.
It has been over ten years since I started running. I have to say that I didn’t like it the first time, or the second or even the third time, but I gave it a try. I kept telling myself runners are the happiest people! You will get there, just keep trying. Until one day something magical happened and since that day it has just gotten better and better! Some people need coffee, I need my run. Turn some music on, put on my Hoka shoes, and hit the outdoors or the treadmills when it’s too cold, too icy or it’s raining “cats and dogs” outside. What I like the most is that you don’t need much, you can pretty much RUN anywhere, anytime.
For me it’s a discipline, I choose to run. Whether I’m training for a marathon or just because, I make the decision to go for a run. The good thing about it is that I have never regretted it, every time I come back from a run I feel great. It must be the endorphins kicking in. As a runner, you hear tons of questions about running: Was there a dog or a bear or a lion chasing you? Did you steal something and you had to run? Do you want to lose weight? Don’t you get bored? And the answer is still SIMPLE: No, no, no and NO. For me it’s the freedom, my own pace, the distance, the view, and of course the feeling you get when it’s done! So in good times and not so good times I tune in and go for a run. I read this somewhere and it makes perfect sense: “Sometimes I like to appreciate silence in a world that never stops talking.”
My dad is a Cardiologist and being a runner you know that one of the places that you can brag about being one is at the doctor’s office. So it feels really good talking to my dad about heart rates. I like to run by myself, even more so when I’m training. Not that I don’t enjoy running with a group of runners or a friend, I do, but I usually do it alone. The best compliment I get is “YOU ARE CRAZY”! The more I hear it the more I want to keep running.
Running is different from everything else, so falling in love with it was so easy that the real question is not why I RUN…. The question is Why Shouldn’t I?
Jorge says
Great article!!! I can totally relate by being a runner myself!!!