Part of a series of runner profiles we’ll be featuring throughout the summer
Like many, my relationship with running is complicated.
A picturesque, but frigid, morning along the NH Seacoast
Looking back over the last 27 years of my running life, it seems to be filled with almost equal parts dread and euphoria. For every frigid February morning I’ve stood at the bedroom window waging a silent war on my determination, I can counterbalance it with a crisp fall morning run that left me as emotionally raw as the first 10 minutes of the movie UP (if you haven’t watched it yet, take a moment…I dare you not to cry! If you don’t you may be dead inside.)
I’ve run and run and run some more and in all that time of logging miles, I still both love it and hate it. It’s generally the best thing I do everyday.
I both love and hate running. Despite this somewhat grim dichotomy, I’d be utterly lost without the daily 4 miles I try and log. It somehow balances all the clinking and clanging machinery inside me that makes me tick. I don’t actually know how it works – it just does.
I’ve run for different reasons along the way, as I’m sure we all do. I’ve run to look awesome, failed and kept running. I’ve run to beat my nephew in a 10K, lost and kept running. I’ve run to catch a girl, failed and married her instead. I’ve run to devastate my children in our annual family ‘Miracle Mile’ competition, won initially, then conceded the crown when they hit 12, and kept running.
One of my morning runs with my wife. It’s the best part of my day (even though she’s way faster than me)
I’ve run and run and run some more and in all that time of logging miles I still both love it and hate it.
I think that is ultimately the attraction for me. It’s hard and it’s honest and now that I have a stupid watch I know exactly how fast I’m not going, but it’s also generally the best thing I do every day. I hope I never stop.
My grandfather once gave me some unsolicited advice: “Don’t get old, ’cause getting old sucks.” I figure as long as I keep running, I’ll be alright – because old people don’t run no matter how old they are.
RELATED CONTENT: [Why Do I Run: Katie’s Story] [Why Do I Run: Kathy’s Story] [Why Do I Run: Ailish’s Story] [Why Do I Run: Preston’s Story] [Why Do I Run: Joe’s Story] [Why Do I Run: Tiffany’s Story] [Why Do I Run: Erin’s Story]
