NON RUNNERS

Yes, it is -2 degrees out with a windchill of -25 degrees, but I still need to run. My mother actually told me I was forbidden to go run today because "it's too cold" and "this cold isn't good for your lungs". Since my running clothes are now in the laundry, I can't defy her and run. It doesn't even seem that cold outside, I've ran in far worse weather. Besides, today was supposed to be my long run day, and now I won't have met my mileage for the week and I'll have to make up my run tomorrow when it's a warm 0 degrees. I have to be properly prepared for my race on New Year's Eve and the weather is messing my schedule up.

Any non runners reading this probably think I'm completely crazy but I've thought of that already. The idea of non runners not understanding runners reminds me of a post in the Runner's World discussions by xtrackaholicx. It is possibly one of the greatest posts ever about running.

"I'm not talking about running, some people can watch track on TV or attend meets, keep tabs on elites and get a pretty fundamental understanding of what times are good, how scoring is done, how training is done. all that technical running stuff that can easily be learned by any observant couch potato in the same way a person can watch "how its made" on discovery channel and understand how they make a car engine but never be able to do it themselves.

Basically, most people don't understand us RUNNERS, the PEOPLE of the sport.

Whenever we feel ****ty and out of shape because we have not run in a while, they assume we must be too mentally attached, or, in other words crazy. After all, who would be upset about NOT exercising right? They also don’t understand how we can make commitments without being miserable. "You cant drink soda? you have to run 70mpw? You have to skip out on a your friends beach party because of a meet? You can't do this? you cant do that? etc... how do you live like that!?"

Perfectly happy, that's how. Or at least happy enough to make it worthwhile.

But I think where we differ most is our perceptions of what an accomplishment is.

I run xx:xx time, I'm miserable because I feel it is slow and that I should be running so much faster. I get 4th place in a race. Most people patronize you by saying "Its not like xx:xx isnt a bad time! You should be proud of yourself! and 4th place is fantastic!"

No, your wrong. because I ran the exact same time 6 months ago. 6 months, 1100+ miles later, consisting of heartbreaking speed works, freezing morning runs, painful hills and long, seemingly endless runs. YOU go through all that, then YOU tell me that its okay and I'm being to hard on myself. It's not like you dedicated yourself to all those miles, only to find them worthless and without improvement. No sweat off your back right? And sure, its easy to say 4th place is great, after all 4's pretty close to 1 right? Well, it doesn't work that way.

I ask you,

Were YOU in the race, and coming around the last half mile YOU saw 3rd place, and did YOU realize that you needed to kick like hell to break it? How would YOU feel, if in that last 400m of the race, you saw third slipping away slowly, while cursing yourself to run faster, harder, ANYTHING just to get to him and finding yourself shriveling back, too afraid to embrace the pain needed to do so? And as third place crossed the finish, and you ambled across the line behind him, did YOU see the look on your opponents face, a look of agony, but relief? And did YOU realize that if only you had sucked it up, if only you had been tough and resilient like a true runner, you would have been able to out kick him? Did YOU look at 5th place, and see how deadly close he had been to passing you? Did YOU cross the finish line, looking at those who proceeded you, and realize that all your miles and hardships had amounted to second best, almost the winner, sorta good, coulda been better, should have tried harder, a secondhand runner. Did YOU look at the guy in second, and realize he was two years younger than you, and his feet over 10,000 miles fresher than yours, and yet still able to beat you regardless of your own work simply because HE HAS THE GIFT, and you do not. And did YOU realize that even though all this may be true, it is no excuse to stop. That you must go and pick up your trainers again in anticipation of another long, silent run, in anticipation of another brain numbing speed work,in anticipation of another day of seemingly endless hills,in anticipation of miles and miles and miles of work.And if even then you find yourself still a secondhand runner, to quit would still mean just that. To be a quitter, to give in and succumb to defeat, to surrender like hundreds before you and become another lost face in a crowd, dreams jaded and faded by a rough, unforgiving self-inflicted nature. To forget what it means to be a runner. To forget the strength it has given you and to forget how it has defined you by creating an ever-determined spirit filled with hope. In favor of succumbing to false realities where time, place, and numbers are all that matters

....

Yes, none of these things cross the mind of non-runners, they know only the numbers. And they patronize you by giving you soap-box pep talks and sanctimonious speeches designed to make you feel stupid for ever doubting yourself. A runner doesn't want to be shown for a fool who is too hard on themselves, they want to express their unrelenting pursuit of their goals by raising the bar higher and higher the further they can reach. Perfection is boring to a runner, to be told to take it easy, your doing fine, there's nothing wrong, some people are just better than others and there is nothing you can do about it. Such rationalizations are the opposite of a runners nature. We dedicate our lives to growing stronger and faster, we derive pleasure from the pursuit, not the catch. We may think that the catch is all we really want. But if your a 15:30 5k runner who has trained for 5 years to achieve that mark, you most likely feel more accomplished and pleased about that time than a gifted runner who ran that time ever since they first started running.

Non-runners don't understand this. To them, our whole world is numbers with no real tangible merit. you either run fast or you don't. The pursuit of victory has ever been dramatized by Hollywood as a glorious affair in which the underdogs eventually triumph over the unbeatable team.

They know nothing of the people who run day after day, mile after mile, hill after hill. only to come up short, again, again, again, and again.

and to still keep running anyway.

Because it's in our nature to always feel as if we could have run faster, harder, longer.

To tell us that we need to relax, that we should be grateful, that we should rest and just be happy with what we already have achieved.

how could you understand?"