Creative Writing: Why Do You Run

“Why do you run?” It’s a question that I’ve asked many of the high school runners I’ve personally coached as well as many of the young runners I’ve met over the past few years while working at running camps in New England. While I’ve received an unbelievable number of varying answers to it, I’ve also received a few blank stares which translate into some form of the response, “huh?” But, the vast majority of the replies all seemed to be related to how they became interested in running in the first place and more importantly, what they have derived from the sport.

I ask that question frequently today because of an incident that occurred a few years ago. During one of my last years of coaching cross country at Griswold high school, the local

In my mind, I always felt that if I was going to race, then I had to train at a level that would maximize my potential; which in turn will hopefully produce positive results. However, many times in my exuberance, I fell into the trap of “more is better” which usually ended up producing a not-so-good result in the next race.

All competitive runners are continually looking for an edge by way of a new type of workout or by adjusting some aspect of their training regimen and I was no different. In high school and later in college, the training aspect of running was already decided for us. We had a coach, they told us what to do each day, and for the vast majority of us, we did what we were told.

But, for most competitive runners, the post-college years can produce a major period of stress. For the first time in their running careers, there is neither a coach to guide them nor a team to be part of or to train with. The main question then becomes: “What will be my motivation to run? Followed closely behind by “What am I supposed to do for

So after reading the commentary, I said to myself: “What’s the harm? If Dr. Sheehan recommends it, it must be ok.” It wasn’t.

That afternoon, after consuming the recommended amount of the amber colored carbohydrate/liquid I recall leaving my apartment heading out for my anticipated long run. It not only turned out to be a very warm afternoon, it was very humid as well. For the first mile or so, I was fine. While I belched a few times, because of the beer’s carbonation, I wasn’t too concerned. I should have been.

By the time I had reached the two-mile mark of my run, I started to feel very strange, but I simply attributed it to the heat and humidity. But, not more than a half mile after that, I realized that the white line alongside the road appeared to be weaving back and forth. Because, I knew that painted white lines on roads weren’t supposed to be doing that, I decided that maybe today wasn’t a good day to be attempting a long run or any run for that matter. Getting home as fast as possible was in my best interest. But, when I turned around and headed back towards my apartment, things began to get worse in a