Running

Running

Is it turning into a craze or has it always existed? 

Everyone has an opinion on running. I hate it, I want to try it, or I live for it. There is always an opinion. 

For me I have always liked to run. Mainly I like it because every sport I grew up playing involved quite a bit of running in-order to be good and win! I like winning, therefore I ran a lot and ran fast. I also liked to run as it developed into something for me to do. As a kid if I was not in sports on a team or playing sports in the neighborhood, I was at home alone. I was not the kid people called to “hang out” with. I was always more of an add on. Some things don’t change. 

When I was 10 yrs old I moved from a house where I had a soccer field at our home and from a neighborhood of kids who played sports nonstop. The neighborhood I moved into was filled more with kids who liked music, hiking, guns, and all things motorized (quads, snowmobiles, dirt bikes motorcycles and cars). 

I thought those things were cool, but I liked sports more. Throw in that my family did not have any disposal income for me have those things and when I did get the chance to use/ride one of the neighbors “toys” I sucked, was laughed at and excluded generally just out of sure availability of toy for me to use. This new neighborhood left me as more of a spectator then a teammate.  

At that point I just kind of sat back and waited to get invited as I knew inviting myself was an opportunity to watch or even worse be the butt of a joke. That sitting back led me to find things to do that did not require a toy, money or someone else. I played and I shot a lot of basketballs, worked on soccer drills, and I ran. 

Running was different from shooting baskets and soccer drills. With those I was able to visual competition, scoring the winning goal, burning a defensive guy, competing with myself to see how many times I could hit a certain tree in a predetermined spot with a soccer ball, or how many baskets I could make. 

Running was time spent alone, thinking and actually having conversations with myself, daydreaming, hoping, wishing, and occupying time until my next game, got a call or courage to go hang with other kids in the neighborhood. I also knew in my head, that if I ran, I would be in better shape than the people I played with and against. So I ran, I ran all the time, in the woods, down the street, sometimes for short distances, others for longer ones.  

Running was a place that for me, I don’t know if I ever thought of running as an escape, place to past time, to have inner talks or to get that runners high people speak of. It was something I just did. Looking back on it all and still to this day, it seems I ran and run for all of those reasons. 

To this day I don’t run competitively often, for time or distance. I don’t have a run schedule, or do it consistently. I just run when I feel like or when I program it into once of my training cycles. I still have those inner conversations, the good, the bad and the ugly. That is what running is.  I have run several times for charities that I support for things like breast cancer awareness, Alzheimer’s, and to support friends. 

I have run in one marathon. Which started at Los Angeles Dodger’s Stadium and ended in Santa Monica, CA – where I live, during one of Los Angeles’ worst rainy days ever. I essentially can say ran home 26 miles from a MLB game in a rain storm. I might run another marathon, but I would need to be convinced, training for it is an entirely another story to be told. 

Whatever your opinion on running is, it’s valid. There are days I never want to run again and days I want to train and run my next marathon. Not being a runner means running is not for you. If you have not and want to, or like to run lace up and enjoy all it has to offer.