Why Do I Love Running?

Why do I love running so much?

It’s funny because people ask me this a lot. And you can always tell they aren’t runners. Because every runner knows why they run. And it’s not for the high calorie burn (granted that’s often how it started).

When I first started I could hardly make it a 1/4 mile. It was bad. I ran 1/4 mile, up the street to the lights. Crossed, caught my breath and ran back. That’s how it started. Half a mile, having to stop in the middle. And that 1/4 mile was tough. I felt like I was dying the whole time.

It was really hard to make myself keep going back. I didn’t go every night. Maybe a few times a week. After a few times I managed to run the whole thing without stopping. So I doubled my distance. I ran to the next stop light. A whole 1/2 mile. Stopped, crossed the street caught my breath and ran 1/2 a mile back. The first time I did the whole mile without stopping is when I fell in love with running.

I felt like super woman. I just ran a whole mile without stopping. That was a lot. At least it was for me at the time. I remember struggling with the mile run back in high school. And here I was, I just ran the whole thing without stopping. I became addicted to that feeling. Feeling like super woman.

I started challenging myself after that. Within about three months I was running 5km (3 miles) at a time and I felt great. I started talking about running. It was becoming a part of me. But I was still the fat girl. I think a lot of people rolled their eyes when I said I was running. “Yeah right”.

But I continued running anyways. Challenging myself to run further and further, constantly chasing that super woman feeling at higher and higher levels.

Six years ago and just over a year (about 14 months) after starting to run I ran a marathon. It was the best super hero feeling I’ve ever gotten while running.

A year later I was pregnant and unfortunately running was sent to the way-side. Mother hood and grad school and a thousand other things became higher priority. I still run and talk about running a lot. Anyone who spends any amount of time around me can attest to that. I’m sure for a lot of people I’m that “annoying running girl”. And I’m okay with that. Because it’s not just about the running. Or the miles, or the sweat or the mental workout (yes mental workout, it takes a lot of mental strength to not stop during 26 miles when you’re tired and hungry and your legs are burning). For me it’s about that feeling when I finish. When I can stop, look back at how far I ran and say “holy shit, I just did that.”

I don’t run just to run. I run because it makes me feel like a super hero. Plus I love the reaction on peoples faces when they find out I’ve run a marathon. It’s this look of complete surprise and they usually for half a second or so, think I’m a badass for doing such a thing. But then I keep talking about it and they go back to thinking I’m that annoying running girl. But I’ll take. I’m okay with being that annoying girl. As long as I still get to run.