A Little Bit Of Good

Last night I walked out of work and was instantly slapped in the face with a nasty cold wind.  I cursed at myself for not being disciplined enough to run in the morning and thought about driving to the YMCA to reinstate my membership.  Instead I went home and googled Snap fitness. Finally I decided to quit being a wimp and got dressed to head out for a run.  I walked out the door and was genuinely surprised that from the time I had gotten home to the time I stepped outside, it had started snowing.  I kept thinking to myself, “Dear Army, Please send me to Texas.”  I ran 30 minutes.  It was the first time I had run 30 minutes without walking since February 2011.

I had so much fun I went back out again tonight and ran with Garmin.  I was curious to see how far 30 minutes would get me.  I’d look down and see 10:30’s and 11:00 min for my pace and think “wow, I’m so slow compared to….”  but then again I remember how much fun it was getting to fast and I’m really excited to get to fast again.

Something occurred to me tonight that I had never understood before.  As runners, we are often asked, “Why do you like running so much?” and quite honestly I had always found it hard to explain.  You know when we are asked that question, we are expected to answer in a one sentence response.  Anything beyond that and we lose our audience’s captivation.  Quite simply said, the answer to the “why do you run” question is because when I’m running I know I’m in the right place at the right time.    No question about it.