by The Mizuno Shoe Guy
What was your primary reason for starting to run? Take a second to think about that as well as this: When did you begin running, what motivated you to start in the first place and why have you continued to this day. (I’ll wait.)
Me? I started running as a third grader because it was the fastest way to go back and forth to school. My run was the highlight of my day and it became so habitual that I’ve just never stopped. Over the years, running became my sport. Although I played other sports (and still do), running has been the only constant. Running gave me self-discipline in a way other sports didn’t and over the years, my identity merged with my passion for it.
When I started, the health benefits of running were largely unknown. Even if I had been aware of the blessings running provides, it wouldn’t have mattered. I was way too young to care. Nevertheless, for the vast majority of us who start running as adults, the bounty of health benefits have always been cited as the main reason why so many begin to run.
It has been said that running is medicine. And, it is absolutely true. There have been so many studies done on the health aspects of running that it is beyond dispute that running can play a leading role in preventing so many of the common maladies that cripple the average inert American. As little as 30 minutes of running four or five days a week, can prevent obesity, strokes, heart disease, some cancers, high blood pressure, reduce arthritis, stop smoking and a variety of addictions as well as a host of other diseases.
So there is no question that running will help you live a longer and healthier life. But, I would like to pose one more question: If running did not convey any healthful benefits whatsoever (but was not damaging to your health), would you still continue to run?
I would. My guess is you would, too.
Even if running didn’t do a lick for our overall physical health, it would still do plenty for our emotional well being. We have a more positive and mental outlook on life, we eat and sleep better and are less prone to debilitating depression because of something as simple as our daily run.
But, more than anything else, running gives us a deeply satisfying feeling we can experience on a daily basis. Running is that one anchor in our life. Not every run is epic, but each one provides something positive and rewarding that—over time–goes a long way to making us the kind of person who we are.
Daniel Libeskind, a world renowned Polish-American master architect, said: “Life is not just a series of calculations and a sum total of statistics, it’s about experience, it’s about participation, it is something more complex and more interesting than what is obvious.”
If that’s true—and I believe it is—running has added to and shaped our lives incalculably. The health benefits are merely a bonus.
As Libeskind suggests, we have become who we are based on the sum of our experiences. Obviously, we have had a variety of experiences, but what we have experienced through running—the races, long runs, the discipline, the successes/failures– is at the core for so many of us.
Running doesn’t just add years to our lives; it adds character and depth and, in part, defines who we’ve become.