Why I Run...

As I said in an earlier post, my passion for running all started with weight loss.  Or, more specifically, wanting to look good for my wife.  I understand that everyone has different motivations.  My sincere hope is that you find yours.  Once you catch the running bug, you'll have a hard time losing it.  But staying with it until then takes some serious mind over matter and "stick-to-it-tive" that is tough to come by without some outlying motivator.  Short term goals are great, but if you are looking to lose weight or get healthy, a full blown lifestyle change is required.  So you've got to want it.  For me, more than anything, I wanted to be the man my wife deserved.  The first time I hopped on the treadmill, she told me she was proud of me.  It was like a drug!  Every step, every milestone, however small, I could see and feel her pride.  Nothing motivates me more, even now.  But in the beginning, when it really was all work and no fun, when I wanted to fall on the floor and die, all red-faced and wheezing after just one mile, the only thing that made me want to get back up and do it all over again the next day was thought that my wife was proud of me.  So I kept going.  That pride is still there, but I have finally developed a love for the sport of running.  Because after all of that hard work, I feel good about myself.  And I feel good both mentally and physically.   So I am finally where my wife wanted me to be all along: I'm doing this for me now.  Not because anyone wants me too, not because I need to lose weight, not because anyone else is imposing anything else on me, either real or imagined.  I'm doing it because I love it.  And I love it because it evolves.  Running is always different, never the same.  Even running the same route.  I have good runs, I have great runs, and I have really nasty runs.  But they're always different runs.  And there is always, and always will be, a challenge.  And I love a challenge.  No matter what I do, how fast or how far I go, there will always be room to improve.  Which means I'll never give up or get bored.  I love running because it gives me an opportunity to spend some time with myself and my thoughts.  Now, you may say that you can do that on the couch as well as you can running,

but you can't.  Running allows you to tune out the world, and the world knows not to bother you while you're running.  I love running because I get a tremendous sense of accomplishment, like I've never gotten anywhere before.  Yes, I have accomplished much in my life, but not like this.  In the past, and even now in most facets of my life, I try to achieve based on others' expectations’.  In running, it is all about me, and the joy is all mine, and the accomplishment is all mine.  Every mile I add to my maximum distance is another notch on my belt.  Every second I shave off of my time is one more sign that the work is paying off.  I love running because it has changed my life in ways I never thought possible.  So, I started this blog because hopefully, just hopefully, you can learn to love it to.  When something makes you this happy, you want to share it with everyone.  And so I am sharing it with you.  And also, maybe as I run and as I write, I'll become the man my wife deserves.