the need to run

Most of the time, I run in the afternoon, just before the sunset. I am a night person and I am much productive when I work late so it is difficult for me to wake up early. Earlier today, when it was time for me to change into my running attire, I noticed the heaviness in my body. My arms were heavy, my legs were like lead and I did not feel like running at all. Picturing the route I intended to run, I dreaded the hills, did not look forward to inhaling the smoke coming from vehicles, and worried about it getting dark already.

If I felt this way last month when I had not yet started to train regularly, I would probably had given in to my body’s demands and stayed at home. I would have a lot of excuses: I only had a couple of hours sleep the night before, it was already too dark, I had just eaten, I was too sleepy, ad infinitum, ad nauseam.

What is wonderful about running regularly however, is that after a few weeks, you develop an “addiction” to running. When that sets in, it would no longer be a question of “will I run or not?” but “how long should I run?”

I like what John Bingham said, in his “No Need for Speed” column in Runner’s World:

I’m not sure exactly when liking to run became longing to run, when wanting to run became needing to run. I only know that, as there once were roads that had to be ridden, there are now roads and trails and courses that must be run. There are miles and moments and memories that only converge when the shoe strikes the ground. And, in that white-hot instant, the world makes sense.

There will always be bad days and good days, and days that I will feel tired or energized. However, whether or not I feel like lacing on my New Balance and going out the door is immaterial. I have to keep on running.