The Mattacola Law Firm Blog

Why I Run.

Posted in Life ::: May 14, 2010 9:25 AM

It's no secret that I run - I am very open and vocal about my love for this sport.  It's also no secret that over the last couple years or so, the distances and frequency of my runs have increased quite a bit.  One question I get a lot is "why"? And "how"?  "Why on earth would you want to run that much?"  "How is that any fun?"

Well, today, I had one of those runs that might help me answer this question.  You see, most of my runs have a purpose.  It might be to help build speed or endurance or it could simply be a recovery run.  And the purpose usually comes attached to a goal - a race in which I'm trying to accomplish a new best - whether that be running longer or faster than I've gone before or running a certain pace for a certain length of time in order to prepare me for yet another race down the road in which I'm looking to run longer or faster than I've gone before.  I know, it's a bit manic, a bit obsessive, a bit crazy.  As my wife points out all too often - no one's paying me to do this, it isn't my job and there isn't a person in the world watching my results or keeping track of how I do.  Yet, nonetheless, I continue my quest because that's my DNA - I set goals and I go after them.  It's how I tick.  And this is to say nothing about the health benefits, the calories burned, the blood pressure lowered, etc., etc.  That is all part of it too, but for another blog post entirely.   

But then there are other runs as well.  A run like today.  A run in which you step out the door with no particular plan, no goal, no purpose.  And you just start running.  You start out in the dark and soon, the light breaks.  A steady mist of rain falls the whole time and after just a few minutes, you don't feel or notice it.  You run and at some point, you have no idea when, your mind and body just separate.  Your earthly worries and day to day problems lift from your shoulders and vanish.  You become - lighter.  You don't feel your feet hit the ground, hills are vanquished without knowing you were even on them.  You see nothing.  You hear nothing.  Your mind goes wonderfully blank.  You are in a blissful moment of ignorance where all the stress, the self doubt, the countless tasks, all your demons - are nonexistent.  And before you even know how you got there and without any clear idea of where you just were for the past hour and a half, you find yourself back at your doorstep - the run is over and tears of raw emotion are streaming down your face.  You are, for that moment, completely cleansed and calibrated.   

These runs don't happen often.  There is no summoning them.  But they are indeed magical.  This is why I run.

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