Why Do I Run?
Reasons to run for me are infinite. “Running is good for you!”
Why do you love running?
The moment i hear this, I have to hold back a salvo of snarky retorts. “It’s a nervous habit.” “Skipping takes too much coordination.” “Why? Did you see me?”
What am I supposed to do with a question like that? It’s like asking why I like to spend time with my friends and family. Why I love my kids or why the Beatles were so good. Why a sandwich tastes better when someone else makes it.
You either get it or you don’t.
Okay, I thought, putting on my best Jack Nicholson, you want answers? You want answers? I had to roll up my mental sleeves. Let’s do this.
“Why do I run?”
Running makes me feel empowered and resilient
I run because I can. It is a GIFT from God. My mom ran. My brothers ran. My sister ran. A close friend, Fr. Mull ran. The Bishop ran. They influenced me. Alot of people I meet, run. Because when I do, there’s always the chance to be extraordinary. A chance to start unknown and to finish unforgettable. A chance to overcome all obstacles, to fight through pain and suffering to test my emotional limits and boundaries, to experiment with the potential of the human body and discover just how far I can push myself. And a chance to feel like a completely different person, a person who inspires others, and who they strive to be, a chance to start over, to re-create myself, to be the “master builder” through God. To be a better version of myself. Tony 2.0.
Running makes me smarter.
Running is about the time during the run when my mind wanders to my own special world where no one can reach me or touch me. Where I’m able to break down the barriers I never even knew existed or barriers I can’t break down that are outside my control. To experience pain that I’ve never felt before, and feel the determination, the tenacity, the pure and simple commitment to myrself for success. It’s about when the voice inside my head that keeps yelling, “I can’t” stops, and a new voice, a stronger voice, takes its place and whispers, “I can.” It’s about when the finish line is visible on the final straightaway, the next hill or when I hear them scream that you have one more mile to go. And I search within myrself to give it every last bit of energy I have left.
It’s about judging how well I ran a race not only by the time on the clock, but also by the feeling in my legs and arms after I’ve stopped running. The pounding of my heart after crossing the finish line, whether or not I was able to stand or speak right after shakily handing in my tag to the official.
It’s about those few moments of glory after the end of the race. Where the world around me is spinning and walking in a straight line is impossible — that moment when I can’t help but smile, because even though I may not have won or beaten anyone else, I know that I gave absolutely everything I possibly could into that race. There’s nothing that I could have done better. I endured the pain, I found the courage to fight through the misery. I found beauty in the ache, the burn, the sheer torment I inflicted upon myrself. That alone is an experience to be thankful for. While I might not have a shiny medal or trophy to show for it, I learned something much more meaningful in that the person I thought I was is nothing compared to the person I am, now.
Running is the one thing in my life, right now, that I improve at the more I do.
- It’s about how I took every ounce of strength and determination and passion and turned it into something to be proud of. Its not an object I can hold or touch or put on a shelf to show off to everyone, but a time, just a few trivial numbers thrown together by an automated clock. But each one of those numbers, down to the last split second, has a meaning beyond what I can comprehend.
- I run because I believe I have to earn my pancakes.
- I run because golf is boring.
- I run because God knows the best ttaining course for me, my life. And though he doesn’t author these hardships, he permits them to strengthen me for the race he has ahead for me.
- I run because this white stomach has to get tan somehow.
- I run because I’ve never really been a fan of my IT band anyway.
- I run because the runner’s high is real, and it’s legal in all fifty states.
- I run because I never want to waste money on laxatives.
- I run because there’s no swagger like a post-long-run limp.
- I run because I want to be a “good guy”. All runners are “good guys” “good girls”.
- I run because, yes, I would like a second piece of chocolate cake.
- I run because I think the1980s were on to something with their infatuation with neon and spandex.
- I run because I have kids, extended family whom I wish I were closer too.
- I run because the dreams I pray for will come true.
- I run because how can I not have adventure when I wake up at 4:30 in the morning, strap on a headlamp, and cover eight miles on foot?
- I run because if I want something I never had. I must be willing to do something I’ve never done.
- i run because trails get muddy when it rains.
- I run because 1,800 calories a day doesn’t cut it.
- I run because sometimes I need to cry.
- I run because sometimes I need to laugh.
- I run because sometimes I need to vent.
- I run because I need to recite mantra’s over and over and over.
- I run because sometimes I need to do all four. In the span of an hour.
- I run because there’s an old man who shuffles down his driveway in a white robe and house slippers at the crack of dawn every day and, gosh darnit, he needs somebody to wave to.
- I run because I can solve more of the world’s problems in two miles than the United States Congress can solve in a two-year term.
- I run because I don’t want to talk to anybody.
- I run because I won’t believe what happened yesterday and guess what my ex-wife just said or just did, and I had the strangest dream last night and did you hear about that one?
- I run because, if I’m not careful, I can eat an entire pie.
- I run because I want the free t-shirt that costs a $35 registration fee and 3.1 miles of torture.
- I I run because, let’s face it, it’s a lot cooler than rollerblading.
- I run because when I strap on my waist belt, I feel like Rambo.
- I run because I’ve never finished a run and thought, “I wish I hadn’t done that,” but I have felt that way after eating McDonald’s or listening to a Taylor Swift song or watching another episode of My Strange Addiction.
- I run because I like blowing my nose any way I want to, anywhere I want to, any time I want to.
Running keeps my stomach flat
- I run because I want to be strong, not skinny. My abs exist when I’m stretching my hamstrings or appear after my daily 200 old-fashioned sit-uos. I’d rather crush that hill at mile five than fill out my old extra-large t--shirts or fit into a pair of 34 waist jeans; because these legs are muscular and powerful and do everything I ask them to do, which is ridiculously amazing, if you ask me.
- I run because the little boy inside me still believes there’s a shot I could make this life great for every one if only I could discover my “distance.”
- I run because I like to drive down the highway and read the mile markers and keep driving and driving and driving and know that I covered more distance on foot during my last training run.
- I run because everyone needs to listen to Dark Side of the Moon straight through in its entirety. Twice.
- I run because I like being part of that group of people at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday mornings who are out there slogging the miles come rain or shine of hell or high water or all of the above.
- I run because I like to spit.
- I run because it adds something to morning tea that cream and sugar just can’t.
- I run because it makes me feel connected to the earth, to nature, to the universe, to myself.
- I run because it disconnects me from everything else.
- I run because I like being ridiculous.
- I run because I am the great conflict, ballistic and controlled, chaotic and focused, delirious and strategic, contained and boundless, gluttons for punishment and jealous for glory.
- I run because I am human, damn it, and my body was made to move, my arms were made to pump, my quads were made to burn, my calves were made to contract, my feet were made to fly, my nose was made to drip, my eyes were made to water, my gut was made to spill, my cheeks were made to turn bright cherry red, my lungs were made to explode, my heart was made to pump blood with frenzy and passion and single-minded obsession until I come as close to possible to unassisted flight, abandoning mortality and reaching, if only for a moment, the realm of divinity.
- I run because I’m alive. It’s about how I take every ounce of strength and determination and passion and turn it into something to be proud of–not an object I can hold or touch or put on a shelf to show off to everyone, but a time, just a few trivial numbers thrown together by an automated clock. But each one of those numbers, down to the split second, has a meaning beyond what I can comprehend.
I want to be the best version of myself
That guy who yearns to always be number one, that guy who dedicates his life to being a good sport, that guy who looks invincible and effortless when i’m running, like nothing can faze me. That guy I don’t believe I’m capable of being, until I stand on the starting line in position to run, waiting for the “Get Ready!”, “Get Set!”, “Go!” My heart pounding with adrenaline, My hands shaking with energy and fear. The race MC shouts “Go!”, and everything changes. From that moment on, there’s only one conscious thought pounding in my mind for the entirety of the race. Finish. At that moment, life is about being the best version of myself and nothing else matters.
That’s why I run.
Isn’t it symbolic of life? It is for me, now. I have to drive myself to overcome the obstacles. I might feel I can’t But I find my inner strength and realize I’m capable.
Now it’s your turn! What do you love most about running?
You can reach me directly at my email address anthony@anthonycrilly.com or (585)484 – 1456. Looking forward to connecting!
Best,
Anthony Crilly
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