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Why do I run?
Why do I run?
Those who don't can't understand.
The pain is real every day.
Is it easier now? Not really--
The same pain I felt the first day
I began.
Only easier to cover greater
distances in shorter periods of time.
The pain is the same, and I understand
it always will be.
I dread it, and in a sense I crave it.
Why do I run?
To stay in shape, to keep my heath,
To feel better--all partial reasons,
I suppose.
The real reason is confirmation--confirmation
that I am in control.
Every day I must make a choice--a choice
to experience pain and discomfort in order
to achieve a higher goal or to give in to
the body's urging to do something else more
comforting and pleasurable.
Who is in control? My body or me?
Every time I run, I verify to me that
I am in control and that I can be the
master of my own destiny.
That is ultimately why I run.
I feel guilty when I don't run--
when the body wins
Running is a test of my strength--
not just my physical--but my mental.
Running is a challenge of my "will"--
of mind over matter, of me
against myself.
Running is mental conditioning as well
as physical.
It's therapy of the "will" for me.
Each run is success--the richest and
most deeply satisfying.
Strangely but unmistakably tied to self-
discipline, self-denial, and self-control.
In a world where I often feel helpless,
victimized, and controlled, running
helps revive feelings of hope, strength,
and conviction that
I can make a difference
and
I can be responsible for me.
An addiction or choice, you say.
And you're right--there's a danger.
So long as I "choose," the value remains
true and real;
So long as I control running and not
running--me.
Positive addiction or not, the value
is in choosing.
When the choice is gone, I become
controlled and victimized again,
One more thing in my life that tells me
I am not in control, that
I am simply a pawn of fate and circumstance.
I must run as a choice, not out of necessity
or its real value again is gone for me.
Why do I run?
I run for success, success in the
ultimate contest.
The contest of me against myself.