Let me tell you that I have talked to plenty of people about my running. Some are totally intrigued by what I do and some of them could literally give zero shits about what I'm saying. In those conversations, I usually take the hint and shut up regardless of how excited I am about an upcoming run/achievement. After a generic "cool" response or head nod, the lackluster conversation is usually concluded with them telling me "I don't run."
I never used to run either.
2 years later, I have broken 300 miles in training while running a 27 minute, uphill 5k.
Before 2010, I was a dancer who used to whine when her teacher made her class do crunches. During my senior year of high school in 2005, we had to run a mile as a physical fitness test. I SKIPPED A DAMN LAP OF IT BECAUSE I HATED RUNNING. If anyone on EARTH "didn't run" -
IT WAS ME.
There is a difference between that time you ran to the bus stop in the rain and the running that myself and hundreds of thousands of others love so much. Running is a mental and physical challenge. For most people who lace up and drive to a 5k on a Saturday morning at 8am - they aren't going out there looking for newbies they can crush on their way to the finish line. They're there for one reason and one reason only: themselves.
If you have never crossed a finish line harder, better, faster, or stronger than a previous run - there is no comparison to that feeling of accomplishment. It's something I can't fathom NOT wanting to experience, and now - I'm unsure how I ever lived without it. There's no team, no coach, no nothing. It's just you out there. YOU got yourself there. It's amazing.
I started out by running 15 to 20 minutes three times a week on a treadmill from 1991 in my mom's basement. I remember the first time I ran 2 miles down there, I literally felt like an Olympian. It's a little funny to look back on, but I'm still proud of it. There is NO accomplishment too small with running. It doesn't matter if you ran a 6 minute mile or a 12 minute mile. What matters is that you ran it.
I don't find the novelty with laziness that so many people in my generation seem to embrace. If I don't take care of my body, nobody else is going to. I don't think getting fat is funny, and I don't think it's cute when someone my age is out of breath after walking up a flight of stairs. Am I supposed to? Yeah, being healthy is a choice and yeah, it takes a little bit of work. But honestly - what is more important to you than that? Time isn't our side, but in the same light - it's never too late, either. SCREW the people who think you're lame for ditching a night of drinking for the treadmill. Encourage them to join you, and if they don't want to or can't respect the fact that you're ready to make a change? Dust in the wind coming off your Asics as far as I'm concerned.
If you're thinking about starting running, I think you know what my opinion on that would be. But if you REALLY want to start running, stop effing talking about it or thinking about how swell it would be. Your plans to start "next week" or "after the holidays" aren't getting you anywhere. Someone out there who is busier than you, more out of shape than you, and older than you ran today. Schedule your runs and stick to them like the most important meetings you've ever scheduled in your life. Running one week and being "too tired" the next doesn't cut it. You can't expect to fall in love with something you refuse to make time for. And I promise you, no matter how exhausted you are driving to the gym or lacing up your shoes on the front porch - you will feel better after that run. It's not cliche and it's not a bribe and it's not me trying to trick you. It's true, goddammit.
It's November. If you want to start your love affair, sign up for a 5k in the Spring. Go to Active.com RIGHT NOW and search your zip code.Pick a race in April or May and sign the hell up for it. Send in your entry fee, get a confirmation email, and print that thing out and tape it to your mirror. When you're "too tired" to run, look at that paper. When you're "busy this week", look at that paper. You're signed up to run 3.1 miles in 6 months and yes, you're going to do it.
Get off of your couch and run.
