Why not run?

Running as a kid

When I was younger most of my running was in school and involved goofing with my friends. We ran during softball and chased each other on the playground. It was silly and fun and rarely competitive.

Then, at some point in elementary school, the government stepped in and took away the joy. I believe it was due to a presidential mandate to gauge the level of fitness of American children. You had to run a mile, climb a rope, do sit-ups and, possibly do other things that I have blocked out. I only remember doing these physical tests once but that was enough.

The two tests that I recall were the rope and the run. I remember the rope particularly; because after triumphantly making it to the top, I slid down and got a horrific rope burn where my shorts didn’t cover my inner thighs.

After that fun activity, we had to run a mile as fast as possible.

It’s possible the running test was the next day (it was 40+ years ago) but, either way, my thighs were killing me. I was never very fast, so I was overjoyed to finish in 9 minutes and 8 seconds. Unfortunately, those 8 seconds were crucial because the cut-off for a B was 9 minutes. Yes! They were actually grading this stupid test. I gave it everything I had and I still got a C! Give me a vocabulary test any day.

Running later in life

As the years passed I joked that you would only catch me running if someone was chasing me. And, in fact, except for playing tag with my kids, that was never the case. Therefore, I never ran.

Nonetheless, I have to admit that I have always been envious of someone who has such good cardio that they can run for miles and miles. And yet, I rarely see a runner who seems to be enjoying themselves. They usually look so serious. Like what they’re doing is more work than fun.

So for years, I justified avoiding this form of exercise by reasoning that anything that made you look so “unhappy” probably wasn’t for me. Also, I was quite certain that I lacked the good running technique to avoid injuries.

Besides, I love to walk. Even on my lowest day, walking makes me smile and affords me lots of things to look at. I didn’t need running in my life. Improved cardio be damned!

Why I changed my mind

About 5 years ago two things lead me to rethink my opinion.

First, I joined this awesome Crossfit-ish gym called La Taule. It was 5 minutes from my home and owned by this inspiring and talented trainer/Olympic athlete. For Yannick, anything was possible. His passion for health, exercise, and possibilities was infectious and came with a wonderful, albeit tough, teaching style.

I began taking various classes and loved them. The challenge, the soreness, the camaraderie, and the physical improvements that I could see. However, my weak cardio always held me back a bit. So, I decided to put aside my judgments, and sign up for his running class to see if it might help.

The focus of the class was learning to run so my newbie status was a nonissue because new runners made up about 35% of the class. The rest of the class were those who already ran and wanted to improve their technique, speed, endurance, or all three.

The class was hard but we were a good group who laughed and encouraged each other. Every week we worked on a new aspect of running. Soon I came to understand how to run in a safe and enjoyable way. We trained on a recently built, local track that was fabricated from recycled rubber. Cool to run on and not too painful to fall on. Yes, there was lots of falling. Being a klutz is for life. We would do sprints, speed drills, slower runs, etc. Each class was a new challenge, followed by several days of well-earned soreness. Our final would be a 5 km (3.1 miles) run that would use all of our new skills. All I had to do was run 20 laps on the track.

So how did I do?

It took me “only” 30 minutes.

Since the faster people had long since finished and were lounging on the grass, I was one of three runners left for the last 4 laps. However, each time we would pass them, they would cheer and encourage us. It was hard but I did it. While I don’t remember smiling much during the second half of the run, I do remember I had a huge smile on my face when I crossed the “finish line”.

The result of the class was that I had improved my cardio and learned that running had some positive points.

The second eye-opener

Around the time I finished my class a local young man named Jean-Christophe created an organization called Cour Pour Ta Vie (Run For Your Life) … in the health sense, not the “someone wants to kill me” sense. The purpose was to fund his run across Canada. After successfully completing the run he came back to continue growing his organization and inspire more people to discover running.

J.C. and his family were well known in our town so when he hosted events it brought out a lot of locals. He organized 24-hour runs, fund-raising runs, fun runs, etc. As a newly minted 5-kilometer success story I was game to prove myself and help out. I was also inspired by Jean-Christophe because he smiled while he ran. It was as if he knew something the rest of us didn’t.

So while the rest of my family, and others, would walk during a fund-raising run, I would put on my earphones and run. It was never easy but I pushed myself. Always proud to make my 5-kilometer mark. It was also nice to help out a good cause.

What I got from running

Better cardio. A sense of achievement. Stronger legs. After adamantly avoiding running for so many years I finally had a better understanding of why people enjoyed this activity. I also understood why they often looked so serious. It was hard! They looked serious because they were working their butts off.

So am I still a runner?

Not a chance!

Don’t get me wrong, I have come to understand the draw people have to running. It does have some positive benefits.

It’s just that it got harder to run on many levels.

I found fewer “reasons” to run 5 kilometers so I was lucky to push myself to do even 3 km. It was also easier and easier to not make time to run. And I found it harder to distract myself from the effort with music and scenery. Eventually, even the music could no longer drown out my labored breathing (which had always been there but was now much louder). Each run just felt endless and no amount of Ed Sheeran could change it.

You know that phrase, “The less you do the less you do.”? As I was running less my body was reacting poorly to the runs I was doing. My cardio was diminishing and I felt heavy and sluggish when I ran. If there had been any enjoyment it was gone. I felt like I was letting myself down but I pushed that aside and would walk instead.

Then in my body or brain’s last-ditch attempt to keep me interested, I discovered one day that I preferred sprinting to running. I could go full out for 100 meters and it felt like flying! Why had I never noticed this? I could continue to build my cardio by sprinting! Short distances that had a quick end rather than feeling endless. I would not be letting myself down. Then…

I injured a muscle sprinting with my son and by the time it healed I was emotionally and physically done with running.

Life goes on

So for the last few years, I have been a full-time walker. Though I often walk fairly quickly, I am aware that I am not building cardio in the same way that running does. But I am ok with that. I am still really proud of myself for embarking on the “running” journey. Much like this blog, it was something that I never thought I could do.

And when I see people running I smile for them… because I get it now.

(Except for those ultra-marathon-160 km-runners. They are just crazy!)