Why Run?

Toughness
I've been writing this blog in my head for days. Why run? Why push the limits of your body in this way? Why weather the frustration and pain?

Today as I ran, listening to a NPR podcast about 'Toughness' that my husband recorded for me, I realized that was it...the toughness. But not the way you think. It isn't the glory of being tough, the kudos of boasting how many Marathons you have run, or how fast you ran them. It is the grit it takes to finish a race. The toughness of mind and body to run a Marathon. I would like to also point out the amount of grit it took to run on the treadmill listening to NPR. I think armies should use NPR stories as military tactics. Imagine how easy it would be to win a war if a country's people had been subjected to hours of NPR, they'd be in a depressed stupor willing to take any other option over listening to more NPR.

NPR did give me the link however to what I have been mulling over, why run? Long distance running is not a competition against other runners (unless you are a professional). We do it to challenge ourselves. There is no hope that we will win the Marathon, we are only racing ourselves...the self that is running THAT day. The self that decided not to eat breakfast, the self that stayed up too late the night before, the self that feels great! Each day of running is unique and can only be examined for strengths or struggles. A run is not 'good' or 'bad'..it is, as Byron Katie would say "it is what is". That is the beauty of it.

I complain a lot about running. I struggle with the willpower to go for a run. I struggle with not accomplishing my lofty goals. It is my relationship with running that challenges my perfectionism, my control issues, my feelings of inadequacy. These are front and center when I head out on a long run. I beg the universe to let me run fast and hard and finish feeling strong. I never do. That is the point of your long run. It is built into the training to break you down. It is there to push your limits both mentally and physically. It is there to set you free. If you are in tears at the end of the run, questioning how you are in the world and the meaning of your life...then it was a 'good' run.

Over time you learn to associate the aches and pains of running as a sign of achievement. You start to release stresses in your life as the natural spill over of your mid-run ah-ha moments shed light on your daily life. You start to be kinder to yourself. You value an effort well done on those days that were near to impossible to get out the door. You celebrate days when your run was a mere few seconds faster.

So, why run? Why push yourself? Because the journey is nothing short of a miracle. Crossing the finish line at a race is only part of the incredible transformation that takes place during training. The question really is, are you ready to be set free?

-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com