Saturday, April 13, 2013

Why I Run?

A question that I get asked quite often. A question that I never take seriously. I mean running sucks. Its awful, it hurts, it makes your body feel like mush, it takes forever to do, takes even longer to get good at it, its cold for half the year. So if I haven't turned all of you off running yet, it does get better. But I mean, the thing that makes running suck the most is sun burn on my nose! One year I was burned from February to November!

I guess, what I'm trying to say, sun screen is a good thing.

No. No. No. I'm trying to say, well answer... "Why I run?"

I run because well initially cause I was good at it. Because I was the the fatest kid on the playground. Then slowly it became a tool of exploring, one can see a lot more if he travels faster. The trails is where my talent was born. Now, thats a weird thing to say, talent, to me talent doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Hard work makes sense. The trails is where I put in the work. I learned to love travelling through the forest. Then, XC a race that went through the forest, I was amazed! Turns out though, you had to run fast... And turns out, running fast is fun.

So, I run because I love to explore nature, feel the wind through my hair, let mud build up on my calves, climbing hills, taking in scenic views. But on the flip side, I love pushing my body to it's limits, I love hurting so much I can't walk after, I love the pain of lactic acid flowing through my veins. I love the feeling of raising my arms in the air crossing the line in 1st. But what I love more is the path that I take to get there.

Ask me if i have run a marathon?

I'll tell you to f*** off.

rj

Saturday, April 06, 2013

Solitude

A chapter from Loneliness.

I can say the last few weeks have been quite an experience. The loneliness is a term I use to describe us distance runners, we are a rare group of people who enjoy pushing their bodies farther than any other group of humans, we do it alone too. Not in the sense as we always run alone cause we don't. I mean we do it for ourselves we don't have to please anyone. Now I know my next statement is one that has been used over and over again, but it is very true. There are no time outs or half times in our sport, no team mates, just two feet and a heart beat. Speaking about myself personally, I've always had a squad of guys to push me in workouts and to enjoy a long run with. But recently due to outside unfortunate events, I have experienced some true loneliness. I'm not depressed, haha far from it. Solo everything, I leave the switch room with my shoes, shorts, watch and the drive to make it. Make it to the starting line fit as hell, and ready to give all I got. Rolling the die has never been so frightening. The Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner is not a bad thing, I have learned so much about myself that I never knew before, I have created an imaginary friend to talk to on runs, he is pretty chill. We don't talk politics though.

The other day, this pretty girl came up to me and asked if I was interested in doing a survey, and I have very rarely said no to a pretty girl. So, there I am gunna do this survey, now..."what is it about?"

"politics" she answered.

I think to myself this is gunna be fun. I don't vote, nor do I really believe in politics...

"question 1, do you vote?"

"nope"

"question 2, which political group do you support, liberal, conservative, ndp, green?"

"none."

"this is gunna be a long one"

Either way, after that, I think she stopped marking down my answers and began to draw fish on her paper.

It's been a while, nice to be back.
go get.

rj