Why Do I Run?

Some of you wonder how I can go out each weekend and log 20+ miles in a single run. Some of you wonder, not how, but why?

Well, I'll tell you. It's quite simple. It's so I don't have to use this bench to rest on the way to the top of Leckhampton Hill. It's so I can have that beer with dinner. And that ice cream for dessert. It's so I can make myself tired enough that I'm not always bouncing off the walls. It's so I can have some time that's all my own. I do it because I'm good at it. But most of all, I do it because I can.

It's not always fun. And it's not always easy. But it's always worth it. I never look back on a run and say, "Man, there was no reason for doing that. I should've just stayed in bed in my boxers."

Take today's run, for instance. 26 miles on the Cotswold Way. Out the door, past the pavement, over the hills, across the rocks, and through the mud. It was one of the hardest runs to date. I'm drained just thinking about it. But mainly I'm drained because I did it. I did it when most people wouldn't. Or couldn't. Some because they simply can't. Others because they've never tried. To those of you who think you can't, all I can say is, "You'll never know unless you try." So get out there and do it. Do it for you. Not for anyone else. You owe yourself that.