If I were to try to explain to you why I run, I don’t think I would be able to. The honest truth is running is hard and painful. It requires effort and when your done you end up right back where you started from. So what is it about running that keep me running back for more?
I remember as a kid, my friends use to race me down the street on our way to school. I was always the smallest one in my class and was cursed with short legs. I don’t even think I ever won a race, but I do remember always trying. It wasn’t till I was in my early 20s that I was introduced back into running. I got a job at the Running Room where I was surrounded by runners and triathletes, I was the odd one in the bunch coming from a gymnastics background. The only reason why I got hired was because I understood biomechanics and I was a quick study. I got familiar with running terminology as well as the different types of material that make a comfortable high performance running shoe. After working at the Running Room for a few years, I came to the conclusion that all runners were an odd group of people and had a weird sick obsession when it came to running.
When we think about running, the first thing that comes to your mind is fitness. This is true when it comes to running short-distance at a high intensity, it can get your blood flowing, strengthen your heart, increase your muscles performance and improve your cardio. For long-distance running those benefits diminishes under the amount of stress that we throw our bodies into. The medical community is still much undecided as to whether the benefits outweigh the risks of long-distance running. Yet, so many of these long-distance runners continue to training without knowing the consequences of the strain they put their bodies through with every run.
For me, my obsession began in 2016 when I decided to run at the United Way Rat Race in Toronto. It was a nice 5k though the financial district, and it was for a good cause. The pain and cramping I felt running reminded me of my youth and just like before I gave it my all. The combination of the city air with my asthma made running severely uncomfortable that I had to walk several times. After that experience, I’m not sure what changed in me but I began to grow an obsession about running like those runners back at the Running Room. To this day I have slowly increase my distance and have managed to complete several 5ks, 10ks as well as two half marathons runs. Now I am working towards completing full marathon and a Triathlon in the near future.
So why do I keep running back for more? The only answer I can give you is I enjoy the moment where your body hits that wall of exhaustion and it feels like you can’t go any further. You want to give up but you keep fighting your body to continue, breaking all your perceived expectations on yourself. After that moment, you feel above everything. No matter how difficult anything is in life, you have proved to yourself that you can attain anything. I guess that is what I have fallen addicted to.
