The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances

Glenda passed along a book she just finished reading.  It is a quick read, about 20 mins.  It is mostly a bunch of illustrations and written almost in a comic book form.  The end of the book has a section called "A lazy cartoonist's guide to becoming a runner."  I thought I'd share the guide's tips to becoming a runner.

1.  Shut up and run.
     -You'll never run out of reasons to take it easy.  Just put on your shoes and get outside.  A 20 minute workout is 1.3% of the 1,444 minutes in a day.

2.  Don't try to change a bunch of habits at once.
     -Change one habit at a time otherwise you're just setting yourself up for failure.

3.  Remember, running sucks in the beginning.
     -If you've never run farther than a mile, understandably  you likely hate running.  Running sucks in the beginning.  But it doesn't stay that way.  It's a front-loaded chore.  Starting out your body fights you, you just have to keep going.  Win the argument against your body.  After that, you're free.

4.  Run outside.
     -If you want to hate running, use a treadmill.  Minimize boredom by running outside.

5.  Sign up for an event.
     -We often train alone-our only companion a bottomless well of sweat, pain, and introspection.   But on race day all that changes.  It is a collective release of hours of solitary tedium taking the form of a massive crowd of strangers.

6.  Don't think ahead.
     -Be present.  Running will hurt.  You do have to get used to it.  The pain diminishes but there's always a certain degree of suffering.  Own this and try not to live in the future.  Possess your circumstances whether they're terrible, wonderful, or somewhere in between.

7.  Become a drug addict.
     -Choose to be a different kind of drug addict.  Choose to be a runner.  Running is an addiction, both chemically and spiritually.  There are euphoric highs, terrible lows, and the constant desire to squeeze in a "quick run" in order to feel whole.  "It's like being able to smoke crack every day, but instead of getting strung out and arrested you get bananas and compliments."

8.  Hurt yourself today.
     -Life...sometimes good things happen and sometimes bad things happen and I'm not in control.  But when I run, I control the hurt.  It's a form of hurt I can possess.  Runners aren't impervious to pain, we're just better at choosing what kind of pain we have to feel.  And when I run, that's exactly what I'm doing.  I'm asserting control over the uncontrollable.

Overall, a fun and quick read.  I wouldn't necessarily buy the book but it is a good one to check out from the library or borrow.