For the Love of Running: Why we Do What We Do

Happy Monday!!

Naturally with it being February and Valentines being less than a week away, a #runlove post is bound to happen. It’s the theme for February, and what a better time than when it’s cold, snowy, and icy out to have a remembrance of our love for running.

Sometimes there are days of wondering why I do it. Why I get up at the crack of dawn or why I run in the subzero temps. Why do we do it? 

When it’s -11 and the roads are snow packed or icy with strong headwinds, or it’s pouring rain and cars are splashing you with muddy water, or it’s slushy out with snow pounding your face, why do we do it?

Why do we get up at the crack of dawn, dragging ourselves out of bed when we rather hit snooze, and stay warm? Why do we hit the sack early instead of staying out with friends?

All for the love of running. No matter how much it sucks or how hard it is to drag your sore, tired butt out of bed you do it because you love it. It’s kind of a love/hate relationship.

Reasons Why We (LOVE the) Run:

• We do it for the love of our family – And our family loves us for it. Let’s just say we are more sane because of running. We love the run, because we love the way it clears our mind.
• We do it for the great legs – Let’s face it we love running, because we love our toned, strong legs, at least I do 😉
• We do it for the camaraderie – The running community is amazing. You feel like you’ve known other running bloggers or participants at races forever, just because you share the same “LOVE” for running. There’s nothing like it.

(Hard to believe we only met two days before this photo was taken, but yet Meghan was willing to carry me after an injury on my last leg of our relay. That’s a runner for you!!)

• We do it because our competitors are doing it – The love of beating our competitors or our neighbor down the street whose dog poops in our yard or blares there music or flaunts their new everything (hey it happens sometimes, you fill in the blank), is a motivation for running.
• We do it for the PR or for the Win – Who doesn’t love a new PR or an overall win in our age group?
• We do it for the challenge – Our love for adventure and achieving something greater, going further and completing the challenge fuels our love of running. It’s why I challenged myself to Run This Year in miles.
• We do it for the feeling after we cross the finish line – The sense of achievement after finishing a race, or hammering out 400s or mile repeats, hitting our goal times, only makes us love running even more.
• Ultimately we do it for the Love of Running – No matter how much we hate it, we can’t quit.

The other morning I woke up and thought, why I am doing this? Why I am freezing my face, toes and fingers off every morning and risking a fall just to run? Sometimes I have to think hard. But when someone asks me “Why do you run so much?” I quickly, without hesitation, answer “Because I love running,” as if it’s obvious. It’s part of who I am.

So next time you’re lying in bed and about to roll over to hit snooze, remember why you do it. Because you LOVE running!! It’s that simple. Your LOVE for running is greater than your hatred of running in snow and subzero temps or your hatred of sore, heavy legs after long training runs.

Next time you question why you do it, why you run so much, you know what to answer with “Because I Love Running.”

If your like me and love running or are starting to love running, join the Run This Year community for more support and more reasons to fall in love with running (and you might win some cool prizes for meeting your goals too 😉 ).

So why do you do it? Why do you run? Why do you LOVE it?