ON RUNNING

ON RUNNING

So maybe you live in the frigid U.S. Northeast or the Midwest in this, the most miserable winter in the history of mankind, and you’re slipping and sliding in your car and there up ahead you see some idiot swaddled in layers of Spandex and fleece jogging his/her heart out in the howling wind and sub-freezing cold. And you’re saying to yourself, “How come?”

People who run tend to be obsessive. Or nuts, if you prefer. If you’re familiar with my my book, you will note that I count myself among the nuts. I’ve been running for about 30 years. While am not particularly fast, I always make sure to finish. Maybe you’re a runner, too, and can understand the mentality that causes people like us to do what we do. Because, let’s face facts:

• ·       Distance running is not a particularly exciting form of exercise, like basketball, or soccer, or football, or dance. It’s hard work and often leaves you breathless and sore.
• ·       It can be dangerous. See the example above—plus you can trip and fall or get hit by cars, trees, people on bikes, etc.
• ·       You sweat a lot and makes you smell bad.
• ·       You can get hurt—knees, ankles, hips, back, muscles, ligaments, cartilage, etc.
• ·       It’s time consuming and boring.
• ·       You could get mugged

You could also add to the list that the idea of endorphins and the “runner’s high” has never occurred in my experience—and I’ve finished nine marathons and dozens of shorter races. So there’s that. Of course many runners actually say they enjoy the act of running, of movement, but my point of view is what I enjoy the most is the stopping. Generally speaking, my post-run body is humming and I have a feeling of health and vitality.

But there are reasons people do unpleasant stuff, including running in the “teeth of inclement weather” (a lovely phrase borrowed from Dickens). I could enumerate items such as the obvious physical benefits of enhanced cardiovascular and skeletal health, weight control, improved mental outlook, and competitive release. But this is the reason I most often cite for why I run:

It’s hard. Running is hard. Running long long distances is hard. And that’s important. Because life, for most of us, is easy. My job is easy, hunting and gathering food in this age of plenty is easy, getting from one place to another is easy. I think it’s important for my psychological health and well-being to occasionally do something that’s hard—that tests or exceeds my perceived limits, both physically and intellectually. Because when you can do those things and succeed, there’s a sense of exhilaration that can be addictive. 

That’s why I occasionally read difficult books, write books of my own…and run.  Because there’s no pleasure rush like the feeling you get after finishing a marathon—or any long, difficult run. I like to think that, for me, running feeds a positive addiction. There’s much more to it than that—but this post is getting way too long, and I’ve been counseled to strive for brevity in blog posts by the “experts.”