Chug-along-chica!

The title of your blog caught my attention (since we've been looking for a new piano teacher), but I just felt compelled to answer your question...

When I started running again after a number of years, it definitely wasn't much fun. I was trying to get back in shape and everything hurt -- during the run and for much of the rest of the day afterwards. It was just sheer willpower that kept me going for the first couple of months.

Then one beautiful spring morning, a remarkable thing happened. I was running down a familiar road next to a field of alfalfa and I felt like I was flying. I was moving faster than normal, but I felt no pain or stress. I heard the birds singing, felt the sun on my face and noticed that the vibrant colors of the wildflowers for the first time. I felt so alive at that moment.

I can't say every run since then has been pure joy, but I've had a lot of runs that were just as good and some that were even better. Sometimes those moments come when I really push myself, sometimes they come when I just relax and leave the watch at home. Sometimes it comes running with friends and most often when I have the chance to run with my wife.

Over the last six years or so, I've met so many remarkable people through running. It just seems to bring out the best in people. I hope you can find the same kind of enjoyment from running that I have.

Hello Lybia, and good day!

I go by Bill usually. I enjoy racing. but I also enjoy running with a group or club. Racing can be pretty intense and not every one enjoys it. Running is a good way to meet friends that have some of the same interests.

Hard to explain. There is something special that you gain from pushing yourself to the limit in a sensible way. There is something special when you feel you are in control of your body as opposed to the other way around when you do not run.

Good philosphical question. I love looking forward to things (future-oriented), and training and racing always gives me something to look forward to (ie the next race). It gives me something tangible to dream about and pour myself into. I enjoy the building process and progression as well. If you build correctly, something beautiful may result. Also, I love the people, and much of my non-family social interactions occur while running.

You guys are so aweome! Thanks for the feedback. It really gives me something to look forward to once I get in a little better shape.

One of the things that made me want to start running again was going to the St. George Marathon when my husband ran it. We went to the pre-race expo. I just milled around with all those athletes and I could tell a real difference in them--and surprisingly it wasn't that they all looked super athletic. They just seemed more alive. There was a fire in their eyes. Someday I hope to get that fire too. For now I'll have to be content with this fire in my lungs ;).

I am certainly not the fastest runner (although I always love your compliments), so winning is not what does it for me. For me, when everything clicks on a run, there is just this feeling of exhileration, like nothing else matters but the enjoyment of the moment. Like that one time you ran in the rain and just loved it. I love you and am so proud of you.

It's a question that can be answered in many different ways and each person has their own answer, but I think we run because it is in our nature. We were born with legs and a heart and it is natural that we should use them. Although we live in a modern world with every available convenience (a world in which we don't need to run to survive), running seems to tap something primitive and deeply human.

Running really helps me enjoy the journey of life, being outside, better mental attitude about personal challenges. For many bloggers, they are at the top in the Utah racing circuit. For me, racing is fun, but not the reason to run, I ran for 10 years without running a race. Your will understand when you go crazy for missing a day of running, it will become part of you.