Saturday, September 27, 2014

The Selfish Runner

I read an article recently about questions that runners don't like to be asked (Worst Questions). The last one was, "why do you run?" The writer stated that it's not necessarily a bad question to ask, it just can be a difficult one to answer.

I agree whole-heartedly. There are so many reasons why I run. I run to stay in shape. I run for stress release. An excuse to listen to music. To get outside. Escape.



It's crazy then that it is hard for me to motivate other people to run with me. Then I realized, maybe I'm selfish with my running. I'm not sure I want to share it. A lot of times when I get up to run, I'm doing it for me. Actually every time. It's my time. I want to run my way. I dint want to worry about how slow I'm going or how long I'll be out. Usually I don't plan my route ahead of time. I don't want to talk. I don't want to take a break. I do want to take a break. I never know. I don't want to plan it all out.

I love my friends. I want them to understand my love of running. I want them to feel the weird joy of tears rolling down when it's too windy out. I want to show them how good it feels to make it to the top of a hill and then fly down the other side. How sweaty feels amazing sometimes. That a beautiful sound is the rhythm of feet on pavement. Why do I keep that all to myself?

I want to be a selfless runner. I want to spread running to others. To infect them with running fever. Wow that sounds intense. It is intense though. It's a need. The only way to answer the original question (Why do I run?) is:

Let me show you.

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