A scene from Rocky ran through my head yesterday as I lay prone on the track after a grueling track session, unable to move for fear of vomiting what felt like was a year's worth of food trying to get out. Heck, even if I wanted to actually stand up and cool down the way I should have, the fact that they sky was spinning up above made such a proposition daunting. "Why am I doing this?" I wondered for the umpteenth time. I thought of Rocky and Adrian's first date. "Why do you fight?" asked Adrian. In classic Balboa style, Rocky answered "Cause I can't sing and dance." As I made the slow trek around the track, I couldn't think of a better reason why I was out there prepping for another all-comers meet and my annual assualt on the 2-minute barrier.
Any of us who have run have faced the same question. "Why do you run?" If you're like me, the answers are various and complicated. I run for my health, I run with friends, I once ran for my school, I run away from my problems, to burn off stress and calories at the same time and sometimes I run 'cause I have nothing else to do. But mostly I run 'cause I can't imagine myself not running. For me, I can't run without the challenge of competition on the horizon, even if I only seriously compete a handful of times all year. Over the years I've internalized my competition, and while I still hate losing , I now compete against myself, or rather an idealized version of myself. I run for the possibilites, to test myself in a manner impossible elsewhere, for the chance to be better than I've ever been before....I run 'cause I can. How about you? Why do you run?
Why do I run? . . . maybe I just run to try to find an answer to that proverbial question . . . certainly too many reasons for this comment box.
ReplyDeleteEven though I was a fish out of water in Philly, I still miss those days of running around Jenkintown with you and Brian. The friends you make through running are some of the best you'll ever make. Sharing the primal adventure of running creates a bond between individuals that I've found in no other facet of life. Heck, maybe that's why I run??