Why We Do What We Do

This morning as I was preparing for a long and arduous day at the office sending emails, writing grant proposals, meetings and the like (obviously I'm highly important) I took a quick second to have a glance at the world's greatest time waster, also known as Facebook.  The excitement grew and my spidey senses tingled with anticipation as I waited with bated breath for my profile to appear on my hamster run laptop.   Would I have new messages?  Who posted new photos?  Did I make any new friends?  The suspense almost killed me.

Well, people, disappointed I was certainly NOT.  Awaiting for me in my message inbox, was a note from someone I know from way, way, WAY back when.  From back when I was sporting a Kenora dinner jacket and rockin' out to the sounds of Motley Crue and ACDC at pit parties deep in the Northern Ontario bush.  From back when a great deal of my time was spent at the Kenora Rec Centre going back and forth and back and forth in the pool inhaling chlorine laden "air".  A most unexpected and pleasant of surprises on this snowy and wintery morning.

First, allow me to set the stage.  Recall if you will (unless you're a runrunrunning virgin, then this is brand spanking new for you) I spend a great deal of time sharing with my legions of faithful followers (a quick note: I'd really, really love a few more followers, just saying) just how much I love running and how much peace and happiness it brings to my life.  In case there are a few doubters out there on the interweb reading my blog, I will stress and repeat: I really DO love it and it really DOES make me happy.  The note I received this morning, though, was in such direct antithesis to my own reasons for running and was expressed in such an eloquent manner, that I felt it absolutley necessary to share it with the world.  Message is as follows:

Hey Andrea,
Had to start work at 6:30am today so I only had a chance to do 3 x 1 mile intervals, 2 mins easy. Held 5:52 fairly easily over each interval and then slowed down to 5min/km pace for 2 mins. I also did 21.5 km yesterday with 4km at 4:15/km at the end – and it felt terrible.

Ever since I read your blog, I’ve been wondering why it is that I like to run. Truth be told, I don’t get the high that I hear about from other runners; at least not the kind of high that I became accustomed to in university. I don’t do it because I look good when I run; my neon yellow track suit was picked off the rack for visibility and functionality, certainly not looks. I don’t do it because it makes me look good in my underwear; I’m in one of those til-death-do-us-part contracts and personal appearance hasn’t been a high priority for me for some time. It’s not for the open roads and fresh air; while I enjoy and appreciate both of those things, I’ll be the first to admit that a warm bed and extra sleep is just that much better.

It took some hard thinking about what drives me to drag my ass out of bed at 4:45 each morning and hammer out an uncomfortably paced run. The hard thinking was mostly a reluctant acceptance that I do it all for petty reasons. I like being better than other people. I like running through the streets in rich neighbourhoods and looking up at the quiet, million dollar homes and knowing that I can run faster and that I’ll live longer than them. I like looking at the vast majority of the general public and imagining that if a very slow and persistent tidal wave came surging up, I would be able to comfortably outrun it while the others would have to struggle. I like race day where I get to inch by one competitor at a time because I got up earlier and ran just a little bit harder and dug just a little bit deeper.

It’s petty and shallow and hard to admit, but its true and it’ll drive me from my warm bed tomorrow.

Signed- Neon Yellow Track Suit

You have to admit, this is pretty funny stuff.  And honest as well.  I love that because I don't know if many people would admit that they're not sure why they do what they do, particularily when it comes to pounding the pavement several times a week.  I suppose the obvious answer would be that most people are in it to lose a few pounds or for other health related outcomes.  For some though (like NYTS above), it simply isn't about that, just like it isn't really about loving it for any specific reason.  I do appreciate the hard truths in this message and like NYTS I will admit that sometimes it does feel pretty damn awesome to think that you could outrun some idiot who may be chasing you down a dark alley one night or that you can run circles around a high school Ultimate team because all that marathon training has lead to a level of endurance that they don't even know exists (yes, this is a true story and I realize I am admitting to playing Ultimate) yet. 

As I did point out to Neon Yellow Track Suit, his message and his motives for running are neither petty nor shallow, as petty or shallow would indeed be bragging about just how awesome he does look in his neon yellow track suit.  Nothing says sexy like neon yellow track apparel after all, especially if it's made from nylon; fingers crossed that it indeed is.  The truth is, each and every one of us has our own motives and intentions for doing what we do, and in the case of running, whatever motivates people to get their feet into running shoes and their butts out the door and onto the pavement is just fine with me.  Whether you think so or not, it IS amazing that you do it.  Most people make the other choice: the warm bed in the morning, the couch after work, too busy on the weekend...

And those of us who run?  Well, as NYTS pointed out so very graciously, we can look forward to outrunning each and ever one of them when the next tidal wave hits.  Think about that next time you find yourself questioning whether or not you really and truly feel like heading out for a run.