How Not to Hate Running

You probably are not going to want to read this if you are not like me. I am a runner. Clearly, I am a minority. I am aware of that. Do you know how I know? Because I used to hate running. I loathed it. And likely, you were right there with me, dreading having to run whatever requirement gym class had designed for us. In school, I was a decent field hockey player, but I was cut from the team because I hated running.


But that is when things changed.

You don't tell me I can't do something. Even when truly, I can't. I began running for the <<choke, choke >> fun of it. OK, I will admit. I don't know if it was ever fun.

But my dad told me that the only way to be healthy, to stay in shape, to be fit, was to run. So I picked up that Walkman and a few tapes at age 12, and started mile by mile.

At this point, I run 20-30 miles a week. And now, I love it. I am not sure if it is the actual running I love, or the fact that when I am done, I have run.  Could also be some special hormones too. 

No matter. If you run or if you don't, you win! I would like to tell you about the things I am getting from my runs, through this blog.  Here's the first one.

Running 3 miles uphill is tough. No way around it. But it must be done to get over that hill.  And if you run, you get through it faster.  (I tell myself this often). And then you hit the peak and you fly down the hill.  THERE'S a thrill, provided you don't tumble or twist an ankle.

It almost seems too easy to relate life to a hill.  But the only time we do it is when we talk about being "over the hill."  And somehow that is supposed to be a bad thing.  

The hard part (barring injury), is pushing yourself up.  There is no easy way to go up.  There is pain involved.  And it takes time. Life was not meant to be easy. It was given to us to learn.  Enjoy it through the pain, knowing that once you are over that hill, it's all downhill