Monday, June 18, 2012

Motivation to Run

Tried to run again today, made it four blocks instead of two before I admitted to myself the excruciating pain from my broken toe wasn't worth it. I walked to the gym and hopped on the elliptical (thanks to the suggestion from Mark) and read Runner's World. I read a fun article, "Why Run?" by Marc Parent. It made me laugh. Here's just one line. "If you run for a month and finally make it a mile, that's one thing, but if you run for a month, make it a mile and then tell everyone what kind of shoes they should wear, well pardner, that's living." Too funny. Don't we all love to share advice? I'm especially bad at the gym when someone asks me advice about lifting and I proceed to spout so much information they get that glazed look in their eyes. Then I try to remedy the problem by starting over and saying, "Okay, if you're only going to remember one thing: lift heavier weights and go slow on the eccenric contractions. Oh, wait that's two things to remember. Wait a minute. You don't know what eccentric means!" So then they get a little vocab lesson also.

This article was great because it told some of his motivation for running: Running makes you beautiful (don't I wish); you get to wear cool gear; you lose weight (if you don't compensate for the running with ice cream inhalation, ahem); health, vitality, and well-being; and you get to inspire others.

I always wonder if seeing someone else exercising truly inspires others to be healthier. One of my running routes takes me past McDonald's. I imagine the people eating their Sausage McMuffin's and watching me run past are thinking one of two things: That looks fun, I should get out and run or, and probably more likely, that poor girl, look how miserable she looks, thank heavens I'm sitting in here eating my McMuffin.

Truly I am inspired when I see people running or doing any kind of activity. What about you?

To read the full article of "Why Run?" click here.

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