Ain't that the truth!
My own love/hate relationship (okay, it was mostly hate :-P) with running began in 1993, the year I started Army ROTC at UCLA. For the next 8 years (4 years of ROTC, 4 years of active duty) running was like an annoying younger sibling: unwanted but always around, anyway.
I remember the first time I took an Army physical fitness test, freshman year. The test consists of pushups, situps and a 2-mile run. I remember that my run time was 19 minutes plus some change. Woefully slow, and not even passing. I've always been a slow runner. While I gradually improved as my overall physical fitness improved, my running was still never on par with the speed demons who regularly breezed through 13 and 14-minute runs. I could knock out pushups and situps with the best of them, but the best time I ever got on the 2-mile run during a test was just under 17 minutes.
Running was a necessary evil, it came with the territory of being in the Army, and the more I did it, the more I hated it. I hated feeling like my lungs were about to explode every time (and yes, I realize this comes with EVERY form of strenuous exercise, but it's different when you're running-- it feels more acute then). I hated overheating in icy, snowy weather-- when ice forms on your beanie because of the temperature difference between your head and the air, something is wrong. I hated feeling like I was strangling in a sauna when the weather was hot. I hated the pounding my knees were taking-- ouch! That can't be good for them! I hated feeling like I was holding everyone up when we ran in formation because you can only go as fast as your slowest runner. That was compounded by the mistaken notion a lot of people harbored that if you just practiced enough, you could be a stellar runner. Wrong. I certainly did find ways to improve my own running, and I'm happy with that accomplishment, but I will never be one of those 13-minute runners. Some people are just naturally born runners, and some aren't.
Most of all, though-- exercise is supposed to make you feel good in the long run (haha). Running, however, just made me feel like crap. Not just WHILE I was doing it, but long afterward. Long after I'd already showered and was halfway through my workday-- I'd still feel tired and feel like I needed to rest from a long run.
Anyway, after 8 years of it, I was through. I'd had more than enough. I never wanted to run again. I'd much rather swim or bike. I loathed running so much that it became one of the core tenets of the religion Allan and I came up with: Thou shalt not run (for the sake of running). We even have friends that agree with this, and join our religion because of it. Of course, we also have friends that like running (Tabitha, Wayne, John S, I'm looking at you! Especially you boys with your crazy marathon addictions), but that's okay, they're still our friends. It's like Christianity is supposed to be-- love your heathen neighbors as your brothers and sisters anyway ;-)
How about you? What are your experiences with running? Do you like it/do it regularly? Or are you thinking of joining our religion? :-D
In high school I hated running as a training regiment for the basketball team. It was hard and it made my lungs burn. But back then I was also being forced to do it, much like you were in the Army. I didn't love running until the first "long run" I did with a group in 2007. I decided I wanted to check the marathon off my bucket list (having never run more than 4 miles). I got up early on a Saturday morning, cursing the early morning hour and my inability to party the previous night. I went out with a group of about 50 people and we ran 7 miles. Afterwards I stood around and chatted with the people I was sharing the experience with. On the drive home, I can't believe how good I felt. I felt tired, but there was something inside that made me feel connected and screamed "I can't wait until next Saturday!" I didn't expect to feel that way and I've been hooked ever since.
ReplyDeleteMy point is, you've never gone running purely for yourself. And you've never run long enough to get the elusive runners high that people talk about. So you might hate running, but it's because you've never done it for the right reasons.
That's a good point-- attitude probably did play a big role. I didn't start out disliking running, though, it was just another thing to improve on, like the pushups and situps and other military drills. But while pushups and situps were pain-in-the-ass chores, too, I never grew to dislike them the way I did running.
ReplyDeleteStill, I'm not sure there are any "right" reasons for running, for me. It's hard on my knees, and not worth the abuse, even if I didn't mind doing it. And to be honest, I can't justify doing ANYTHING for such an extended period of time-- be it running several miles or swimming for hours (and I love swimming!), or biking across the state. I mean, it's cool that people like striving towards large goals like that, and it's great that they derive such enjoyment out of it, but... that sort of thing just isn't for me. Maybe I'm too impatient ;-) Even marathon movie-watching gets tiresome after a couple of movies! ;-)
I hated running all my life until this year. Beginning of 2010 I could barely jog a mile but in the gym almost every day and then in September last year I said I would increase it to 3 miles or 5k by December and then 5 miles by 2011. It's the end of 2011 and I've run a 25k trail race, half marathon up a mountain and back and numerous 5k to 15k races. I especially like trail running. I run trail races without a time in mind, just enjoying the run and the scenery and finishing before the cut off time. I used to hate it, it's painful but now I'm used to the masochism and I don't feel right if I don't run every other day at least 4 miles or a hard hill workout on the treadmill. I'm hoping to do a marathon to 50 miles mountain run next year it's like hiking but faster! :)
ReplyDeleteI bet Lauren is being turned onto your religion haha! ;)
Haha... the masochism... I think that explains enough :)
ReplyDeleteLauren doesn't like running? It's surprising how many outdoorsy types (like her, and Teri, who commented on FB) are so averse to it!