Why Run? Part I

Some people drive by and honk. They sometimes hoot. They sometimes whistle. They sometimes scream, "Get out of the &%$# road!" They sometimes jeer or make a rude comment. They sometimes smile. Unless they are runners themselves, they probably wonder why we risk life and limb on highways and subject ourselves to extreme heat, cold, dog bites, and the endless aches and pains that comes from running.

What possesses people to run? Scores of reasons exist ranging from weight loss to getting faster to just "looking good." My running life started because once I was married with a job, getting together 10 people to play basketball three or four times per week became nigh impossible. After four months of marriage and teaching, I realized during the Christmas break of 2001 that I was out of shape. Not overweight, just under-fit. So, I went to the local discount shoe store and bought a pair of running shoes. I have not really stopped since.

It was not always fun in the beginning. However, I rarely dread a run these days. Much like prayer or studying or martial arts, it is a discipline. And it is a beautiful discipline. Most humans do not need any sort of apparatus to run. In fact, we would not even need shoes if we did not become so reliant upon them at an early age. It is a natural motion unlike many other forms of exercise. There is no gym, pool, weights, bats, balls, gloves, pads, mats, clubs, field, court, pitch, nets, racquets, flags, or anything else required to do it.

It merely requires the will to be in motion. A motion faster than your every day santering. It may last one minute or one hour, but the more it happens, the easier it gets. The results are more fluid motion, better mechanics, faster pace. When one thinks of running in terms of efficiency and fluidity of motion, the terms "fast" and "slow" become a lot less important.

So, do not be "fast" or "slow." Just be in motion.

Off-season/On-season

DAILY RUNNING MILEAGE: 8 miles

The college basketball offseason is rapidly approaching, and so is the 2006-07 version of The Bracket Board. I will be packing TBB away in mothballs for several months after the Final Four this weekend. It has been a great year, but by April, my brain has been battered with too many pace of play calcuations and too many hours poring over the RPI, conference standings, and efficiency statistics.

But, last off-season, I truly missed blogging. Therefore, I have created this blog as an outlet for other (and more important) topics. Life does not have "off-seasons," so I declare this April through October the "on-season."

A lot of what happens here will be running related, especially for the next few weeks. I have completed long runs of 20 miles or more for four consecutive Saturdays in preparation for the Derby Marathon (Louisville, KY) on April 28. This Saturday, I will be running a 1/2 marathon race (13.1 miles) in Bowling Green as a tune-up for the marathon (all marathons are 26.2 miles) next month. The ultimate goal is a Boston Marathon qualifying time at the race in Louisville.

That would set me up to run Boston in '08.

There will be lots more running talk later this week.