"Our" Running

“I'm going out for my run now.” If you live with a runner, you've no doubt heard this, or some similar sort of utterance, many times over.

My run.

As if it's a possession. Yes, there is a direct association that we, as runners, tend to make about this seemingly absurd pastime with which we are constantly exhausting ourselves.

I'm always taken by the way we think of our running, and that it seems to belong to us. “I have to do my run before we go to dinner. ” With my being the operative word. And we even take the possessiveness further with training and racing terms like “my per mile pace” or “my splits” or even “my PR.”

Indeed, we make these kinds of possessive relationships with all sorts of things in our lives. But for the most part, it is with people and things. “Hey, that's my car you're sitting on!” or “My little Jeffrey is such a good student.” “My living room needs painting." “My town has only one traffic light.” and “My phone can send email in six different languages!”

People.
Places.
Things.

But what about running? It isn't something tangible that you can touch, or carry around in your pocket, or visit, or even see for that matter. It's not like that at all. So what is it then?

I'll tell you what it is. This simple act of locomotion - of moving your arms and legs, of pumping air in and out of your lungs, of feeling the breeze move past your face in the glory of the great outdoors - is something that you can feel.

You may not be able to touch your running, but it touches you in so many ways.

It touches your senses, and sometimes in very profound and unique ways. It touches virtually all of the muscles and organs in your body, bringing experiences that draw the mind into oneness with your physical self.

It contributes to your senses of strength, discipline, and personal character. It touches all of these things, and many more….

And why does running do all this? Because running is real. And once you understand that, running does become yours. It belongs to you because you belong to it. It's a symbiotic relationship of the healthiest kind, and one that would most of the time be almost foolish to forsake.

No, your running will never send a rocket ship to Mars. It will also never cure Alzheimer's Disease, nor will it stop war between nations. And just like the body that makes it possible to run in the first place, your running will not live forever.

But the running is still yours. It's personal, it's very real, and for many of us, it may be our most treasured possession. Take care of your running. Treat it with the respect it deserves, and it will go on giving you its power for a lifetime.