I was asked a very innocent and nonchalant question the other day. The question was produced by a little small talk but in reality it was a deep question. The answer to this question has many parts or layers and many different but viable responses. I realized that the response that I would give is dependent upon time.
I wasn’t always a runner or a fan of running. I label the
younger or adolescent version of myself as the stereotypical fat or chubby kid.
I dreaded the mile run for gym class in elementary school and one day I even
faked sick so I could stay at home and not participate in the perceived
torture.
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| I definitely was a stereotypical fat kid. |
I didn’t get into running until my sophomore year of college
when I worked with cross country and track athletes during my second clinical
rotation as an athletic training student. My interests in endurance sports had
begun to develop as I had taken up cycling as a recreational and fitness hobby
before the start of college. I would assist my preceptor in evaluating and
treating these athletes and would be amazed at the durations of their runs. I
was shocked but inspired at the same time that people could run for 60-90-120
minutes without struggle and do it several times a week.
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| First Tough Mudder |
I saw what these athletes could do and despite the
admiration I had for them it made me question things. I knew that besides their
fitness levels there were not too many factors separating them from me. If they
could do it then so could I. That is how I started running. A year goes by and
I had run my first half marathon.
At that point if somebody had asked me why I ran I would
tell them that I had found that I loved running. I had caught the running bug
by this point and was inspired by the evolutionary theories regarding running
and how we as humans may be evolved for and evolved because of running. This
science took this activity and made it touch an almost instinctual or primal
level for myself. I continued to run and hunger for longer distances and faster
paces.
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| First Half-Marathon |
There are other reasons that I love running including
favorable changes to health, wellness, physique but one of my biggest
motivators to run right now is the shared passion that my girlfriend and I have
for it. Running is something we both do together and we definitely have a blast
planning our future runs, comparing our stats and thinking of places or races
to run someday. We are both definitely happier people after we run and we
usually have a grin on our faces during the run unless I am being a grumpy butt
as she might put it. She and I both began transitioning to minimalist running
shoes about two years ago together so it has been nice to have somebody to
slowly transition with.
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| Our First Half Marathon Together. |
I look forward to running more as I get older and I want to
tackle greater challenges related to running. I can’t wait to run up a mountain
or run my first full marathon and then an ultra-marathon after that! This one
simple little meaningless question has helped me take an introspective look at
myself and one of my hobbies. From now on I hope to remind myself why I love
running before, during and after my runs.
The big kicker and conclusion here is
my question to all of you…Why do you run? Why did you start running and how
have your motivations changed? Maybe a better question is why do you do
anything? Maybe we all need to take a step back sometimes and reexamine our own
motivations. Don’t take any day or anything for granted. Life is too short.
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