26 jul 2012

inspired by some comments in the online community which i inhabit, i started this post earlier today. it's not a new topic, so i wasn't surprised to see other folks posting about it also, but after reading what others had put together, my offering here looked weak and small. i got all sad and was fixing to erase it but then i remembered there are like 5 people who read this blog, so who cares. also, the whole point is to write something daily, and this is something i wrote today. wah-lah!
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do you move other things around so that you can run, or do you move running around so that you can do other things? there's a balance, sure. a give&take. a push&pull. but you've got to set your priorities so you can make your choices, or you'll bounce through life like a pinball, letting circumstances push you around.

olympians face the balance when they make sacrifices to put running first, but after running consumes their entire life, the choices are over, right? okay, maybe it's not that simple but even so, those of us to whom running is only a piece of our whole life, we almost never get to put running first. it's a priority, sure, but it's not first.

how do you tell the runners from the people-who-run? the words they use give them away. "i have to go run today" versus "i get to go run today" -- the latter are the runners. the former... simply people-who-run. the people-who-run could wait all day but they'd never feel like going for a run. why do they spend time on something they don't enjoy? um... duh... it's a means to an end, not an end in itself.

i'd venture to guess that most folks who don't want to run, do run, because they want to get exercise and running's easy. i mean, everyone knows how. the equipment barrier is low. scheduling doesn't rely on teammates or facilities. see? easy. and, while you're at it, you can throw in a couple 5Ks here and there -- feed your competitive animal, curb that appetite so that maybe you won't go all roadrage on the afternoon commute.

for myself, i am a runner, and i had the privilege of going for a run today. it was hot as hell and now i am really tired and my brain is fuzzy. it's your turn. tell me what you think.