I ♥ Running

Why do I run?

Today, I was on my usual 1-mile jog around the neighborhood. I had just finished the one mile and was walking one last lap around the block. Got to the corner. Turn right, and I get home. Turn left, and I still get home--after another mile-long loop. I started to walk right, and then for no apparent reason, I turned around and started running left, and I ran a whole other mile. No, I didn't breeze through it. I was breathing hard. But I kept my composure, kept up my pace, and continued my rhythmic breathing (in in out, in in out, iiiiin, ooooutt. And just like that I ran two miles instead of one.

It would have been much shorter and easier to turn right. Why did I turn left?

When I first started going on runs, I couldn't go more than three blocks without walking. I hated running then (it was a couple of years ago). Keeping it up was a chore. Now, I can't go a day without running at least a mile; I feel like I haven't finished my day if I don't. If I do nothing else before I go to bed at night, I have to run (and drink coffee, but that's a different story). It's become a part of me. I run.

What is my motivation? I don't run to lose weight or to look fit (though that's why I started, and they're very nice added bonuses). Why not? Because those are long-term goals. I have trouble sticking with those, as I really need to see quick results. Of course, now that I can look in the mirror and say that I legitimately can see a slight outline of my abdominal muscles, I know that it was worth it. But I think the reason I run is more basic than that; more primal, if you will. Maybe I run to finish. Maybe I run to push myself, to see how far I can take my body. Maybe I run because it makes me feel powerful. Maybe I just love the wind in my face and the slight aching in my right knee that tells me I've done something worth pain.

I don't know what the moral of this rant is. Maybe the point is that there is no moral. I run because I run, and I like to turn left when most people would go right.