Why Do You Run?

Hi! Were you running on the Schuylkill River Trail this morning? I was the one in the blue Adidas jacket and white sunglasses that wanted to talk about WHY YOU RUN! Thank you so much for taking your ear buds out and for telling your story, all while running. I was intrigued by what you had to say. Your reasons weren’t always the same as everyone around you, yet they all had something to do with either physical health, mental health, or training for a race. Here’s what you had to say:

PHYSICAL HEALTH

“It’s good exercise.”

“I want to stay in shape.”

“I started running last year and then I started to lose weight…”

YES! Not everyone was out there training for a race. In fact, most of you looked like you were just enjoying the beautiful weather and getting some Vitamin D, an added health benefit! Running is a great exercise for your cardiovascular system and heart health. If done properly (e.g., you add in appropriate strength training), it can even ward off things like arthritis. Running, just like drinking milk, is good for your bones!

MENTAL HEALTH

The first person I came across this morning, responded immediately to my question, “Why do you run?” He said, emphatically, “Because I love it!” You and me both! What a great way to get ya feelin’ good.

Speaking of feeling good, running is a great way to meditate – someone on the trail today called it “active meditation.” For those who have tried to meditate by closing your eyes and focusing on your breath, to no avail, try lacing up your shoes instead and head out for a run. Focus on your breath, but keep your eyes open 😉

TRAINING FOR A RACE

Broad Street Run, Half Marathon, Triathlon, Mountain Ultra, your first 5K. You name it. You’re out there training for it.

Hey. Hey you! The one who’s running a 5K for the first time next weekend. You’re awesome and you’re going to do great! You were so steady today. Able to keep your pace and talk to me at the same time. And to decide to train for and run a 5K? That takes guts for a new runner and can be a very daunting task, but you did it – the registering, the training – and next weekend you will rock the race!

Okay Broad Street people. Listen up. Some of you don’t like running with other people because you think you’re too slow. Some of you chatted about lactate threshold and VO2 max. Some of you just want to finish while others want to run under a certain time. So, don’t forget to run YOUR race, not someone else’s.

Thanks for run chatting with me today! And if I didn’t get a chance to talk to you today, please tell me why you run in the comments below.