What for do you run?

I run to get rid of emotional stress after work.

Let's talk about it!

Comments

  • Hey Alex,

    I guess I run for a lot of reasons...

    Running is such a great escape, plus it's always nice to spend a bit of quality time with yourself - something that is very underrated.

    But I think the main reason I run is to challenge myself - no matter how fast or slow you are, there will always be someone faster (except maybe Usain, but I reckon I could kick his ass over 5k) or slower than you, so how do you judge your progress?

    You get out there when it's cold, wet and you'd rather be slumped in front of crap TV and you see just how far you can push yourself. There aren't many more better feelings image

  • because I enjoy it, i race against myself, set myself targets, but most of the time i'm doing it because i enjoy it, i like being outside in the country, 

    the magazines are beginning to annoy me in that they all seem to assume people only run to lose weight or assume we all hate it but have to. 

  • i started running in june in anticipation that i'd get a place in the '13 VLM. i'm doing it in memory of my mum and i wanted to do it properly, hence the early start.

    i thought i'd hate it as i always loathed runnning at school, but i'm really enjoying it. done a few races (St. Neots 1/2 this sunday), feeling fitter and i think i'll definitely continue after the big one.

    so as for why i'm runnning now; as well as the reason above, i find it gives me a chance to zone out from the stresses of work and having a young family. it chills me out. a bit of "Staring Time" as my mate calls it.

  •  first started running because I didn't do any exercise and knew I should.  It wasn't about weight loss, I was in the ideal BMI range.  I just knew that I needed to be fitter.

    This has progressed over the years.  I now know how much more alert and awake I feel when i've run so I run for that too now.  I also run because I know how much the quality of life of the average runner is so much greater into old age than it is for the sedentary.  I don't want to face an old age of immobility, illness and countless time spent in the doctors or hospital.  Running gives me the best chance of staving that off.

    More recently, i've now realised that I actually have some half-decent times in me and am running to see how fast I can go and also how far I can go.  I've never done anything close to what i'd call extraordinary in my life so far so I will be gradually building up to running ultras at some stage.  I want to be able to say i've done something in my life that not many people have or ever will do.  Something that other people look at and think "fuck me, I could never do that".  Maybe that's a bit of ego getting in the way there but i've always struggled with the idea of being totally ordinary.

    After that's all been tied together, I ultimately now just enjoy running.  I enjoy being out and not in, in feeling alive, in having thinking time on my own, in watching the seasons change around well trodden routes, in the character building of running in whatever the hostile north's weather can throw at me.  In knowing that i'm out there, making myself one of the fittest people I know, probably in the top 1% of fittest people in my town.  In just the absolute purity of man vs earth.  No balls, no nets, no bats or rackets or engines.  Just me, a pair of shoes and a few stitches.  Go do battle.

  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭

    I run to keep the lard at bay.  It's easier than eating less image

    Also to keep fit and healthy in general - my family tend to have long life-spans, and I want to be active and healthy in my old age.

  • I run so that when the world is taken over by monsters or robots, I can escape, while all the fatsos and smokers etc will perish first.

  • Hi Alex.

    I run because it's fun! Some of the best times running for me have been cold Jan/Feb mornings when the sun is out but there is still a bit of frost - nothing else like it! Or the moment when you reach and go over the peak from a long steep ascent when you can relax and your heart can start dropping a few beats. I've not done much running for a while now but hopefully I'll start again early next year so I can enjoy a few frosty mornings in Richmond Park!

  • I run simply because I can.

    I enjoy it most of the time although sometimes I have to drag myself out but ultimately I feel great when I get back.

    Oh, and it gives me the ok to knock back a few vinos and a Fri / Sat night curry.

  • JohnasJohnas ✭✭✭
    Strangely Brown wrote (see)

    In just the absolute purity of man vs earth.  No balls, no nets, no bats or rackets or engines.  Just me, a pair of shoes and a few stitches.  Go do battle.

    Where are my trainers.... Inspired!

  • i began running because my ex wife entered us both into a duathlon. The plan was i'd run the two 5k legs and she'd cycle the 10k in the middle. She had to withdraw because of injury so i ended up doing the whole thing myself. I didn't really train, had never competed in any sports, and was not very fit at all. But i managed it round and felt good about myself for the achievement. I then entered a 10k with some colleagues at work, and then a half marathon with the same colleagues. Most of them fell by the wayside during training, but i persisted, albeit with minimal training once again, and finished each race through sheer bloody mindedness. When i'd finished the half I decided "well that wasn't too bad, why not do a full marathon" not fully appreciating the task in hand. Whilst preparing for the marathon my marriage hit the rocks and sadly we eventually separated a couple of weeks before I ran it. I had missed so much training that I was really so underprepared it would have been wise not to run it. But at the time i needed the distraction, and when i hobbled to the end in just over 5 hours I felt an immense feeling of relief. I started to laugh to myself and continued for about 10 mins, which i think was just me letting go of a lot of tension.

    i've since run another couple of halfs. both of then a few seconds over 2 hours, so nothing spectacular. When i started running it was all about the goal of completing a race, then another race, then another. I didn't really enjoy the act but it served as a distraction, and it helped me feel good about myself that I was doing some exercise. I've never been overweight, so I too feel a bit excluded when I read articles on running that mention weight loss as though it's the main aim for running. For me, it's about some sort of achievement, something that i can focus on that is just for me, not about pleasing someone else. As i've continued I find that the more i run the more i enjoy the actual act of running for itself. I most enjoy running on a cold, clear, dry morning. The colder the better, so long as it's not wet and windy too. I like being up before most of the rest of the city, esp on a Sunday morning, and running along the river. Just being out at that time makes it feel like my place.

    I can now feel myself slowly graduating from being someone who runs so that I can complete a race, to someone who runs because i feel better when i do than on days that I don't. For me it feels like a tipping point. I was not a natural runner, and it certainly didn't come easy for me. It has taken a concerted effort to stick to it consistently for the last few months, since I started running again in August, to make it feel like a normal part of my life, not something i will try to fit in because of a sense of guilt, or because i need to stick to a training plan.

  • I run for pretty much what everyone here says. Fun. Fitness. And also I agree with mattDA image



    Running is fun! Fact!
  • Running keeps me strong, happy and full of the beans haha! Life is just so much easier when you're fit and healthy. If I'm ever in a bad mood, my family know it's one of two things; hunger or not been training that day yet! 

  • Steve_Waites wrote (see)

    Hey Alex,

    I guess I run for a lot of reasons...

    Running is such a great escape, plus it's always nice to spend a bit of quality time with yourself - something that is very underrated.

    But I think the main reason I run is to challenge myself - no matter how fast or slow you are, there will always be someone faster (except maybe Usain, but I reckon I could kick his ass over 5k) or slower than you, so how do you judge your progress?

    You get out there when it's cold, wet and you'd rather be slumped in front of crap TV and you see just how far you can push yourself. There aren't many more better feelings image

    Steve, thank you! I like your detailed answer.

  • AgentGinger - chapeau to your sir

  • I enjoy it.

    Habit after about 30 years.I've  been running since in 3rd Year at Secondary School.

  • Running is the best natural high I've found since quitting clubbing and chemicals.  Thats why.

  • Superb Strangely Brown.... thank you.

  • Well, there's nothing else to do at this time of the morning! image
  • Haaaaaaaa!!!!  I know!! About to go for a run image

  • Swimming for me today. Variation is the spice of life. But normally would already be out there plodding! image
  • Fitness and general body coniditioning. Also gives me something to do.image

     

  • As someone else said, it is easier than giving up eating and drinking.

    I originally decided running would be my smoking replacement, which worked but now I really enjoy it and pushing myself to see what else I can achieve.

    Also, kind of like the aching feeling from running, means I have been working and makes me feel more alive.

  • PAC76 wrote (see)

    Also, Kind of like the aching feeling from running, means I have been working and makes me feel more alive.

    Don't know how long you've been running for but if it's a year or so, make the most of it.  It will go (or at least it did with me) after a few years of constant running.

    I too used to love that feeling, made me realise i'd done some hard miles.  These days, most of my runs are easy/steady and I feel nothing in my legs after.  The only time I feel it a bit is after tempo runs or races, 9 out of 10 runs just don't give me that feeling any more and I actually miss it.

  • Been at it for over 4 years now.

    I am bit a sadistic in that I do go looking for hills when out running, if I just run on a flat route a) it's boring and b) I would not get the aching feeling and wouldnt feel like I'd tried.

     

  • I started as a way to help me loose weight. Had to stop and lose weight before I could actually run. Once I'd done that I found I love it , like others it's a good way to sort out your mind, also I have a sedentary job so getting some exercise helps me feel better over all.

    I love the views the fresh air and the feeling of being away from it all, just me and the world. My running is my me time.

    Bug has now firmly bitten and I'm not liking my month off after my first marathon, I want to be back out there running.

  • I started when a much healthier friend mentioned London marathon and I thought "heh, 10 months, I could do that." Within a few months I felt much healthier and people were constantly commenting on how much better I looked so I stuck at it even after giving up on London. As someone who always seems to have internal conflicts an hour or so out running is usually the best solution, and I'm much better mentally when I get back home. The weight loss wasn't an intention, but given that I started pretty hard (I was doing 8-12k 5-6 times a week for the first 3 months, even if to begin with that was mostly walked) the weight loss came pretty quick and by the end of the summer (I started in May) I was down 3 stone and, even though my training died down over the colder months and I tended towards weight training and biking, I was ~40% lighter in a year when May came back around. I wasn't bothered about this originally, but positive comments and having to rebuy much smaller clothes has helped confidence and stuff too, I guess.

    I think the mental point is the main thing, it's the best way to relax and resolve your problems. Oh also, it's free and makes you feel good in general.

  • I started running to lose weight because I live very far from any gym or pool and walking wasn't doing the business.  I absolutely love running when I'm out there and after I'm finished but dragging myself out the door seems to be the biggest challenge.....

Sign In or Register to comment.