I have had several people ask me how I stay motivated to keep at it, to keep working out through this injury. Where do I find the dedication to hop on the elliptical or do yoga week after week when I really just want to run. Why don't I just give it up? I don't know that it is easily explained to a non runner. I don't know how to put it into non running terms.
When I am driving in a car and I look over and see a road I have run on, and enjoy running on, I feel a pang of wanting to be out there running on it. I can almost feel it for a second when I close my eyes. My feet hitting the dirt roads in a happy run dance.
When I see a trail, a hill, or a fence line I enjoy running, the urge to run on it hits me and for a moment I am so sad I'm not at a point where I can go run it. For me there is no packing it in and accepting defeat. I want to get back out there and run. I want to be back out there loving it, pushing myself to new limits.
I'm am going to try to put it into non-running terms
You know when you go on a great vacation and have the time of your life. Later you look back at your pictures and you wish you were back there in that moment and you can almost smell the ocean and feel the sand between your toes and you want to be doing that again? That's how it is when I think of running. I want to be there again, I can feel it.
or those times out with friends dancing and having such a great time. The pulse of the music moves you. The loud bass beating out a rhythm that you jive to, the exhilaration of the movement and later when you hear that song you want to get up and dance to it? That's running to me. A happy dance to move my body to.
You know that scene at the start of The Sound of Music when Julie Andrews is singing and she has her arms open wide, in love with how "the hills are alive with the sound of music" I think of running that way sometimes, my arms open wide wanting to capture the feeling and never let it go. I want to feel alive with the movement of running.
That's all I got. Do think that helps a non runner get it?
How would you explain it to a non runner?
I think those are great! I especially get the vacation one. Every time I see a pic from a vacation I can just remember every moment of it. I think most people can relate to that.
ReplyDeletePerfect analogies!!! It is just when the rhythm and everything gets all in check and the miles click away...that's the sweet spot!!
ReplyDeleteGreat job explaining it. I don't have that same feeling that you have. Their are times I just want to quit, but I no how
ReplyDeletegreat I feel after a run or a
good workout. KEEP ON RUNNING
Great job explaining it. I don't have that same feeling that you have. Their are times I just want to quit, but I no how
ReplyDeletegreat I feel after a run or a
good workout. KEEP ON RUNNING
Well put! :-) Totally get the hills are alive scene!
ReplyDeleteGreat way to put it! I'd say that for me, I do all the other things in the midst of a lay off to make sure I can return to the sport I love sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteNot being able to run when you want is such an awful feeling :(. Is it any consolation that you put it into words really well? I love the sound of music analogy - one of my favorite movies!
ReplyDeleteWow, that paints quite a picture!
ReplyDeletePerfect explanation!
ReplyDeleteNicely put! I would compare it to that moment when you watch a beautiful sunset and you just think "wow, I am incredibly happy in this moment".
ReplyDeleteMaria @ The Good Life
Those analogies pretty much sum up how I feel about running, too!
ReplyDeleteThose are great analogies for how I feel about running. My struggle though, is not in conveying that that's how I feel, but in getting people to understand why. For a lot of people, running is work. It's not partying. It's not relaxing on a beach. It's work. But to me it's freedom, happiness, love. That's what they don't get.
ReplyDeleteGreat analogy post, hopefully you are able to get back out there consistently. I've been running more healthy recently, and I've been hesitant to try to go faster than regular training runs for fear of hurting myself again. Maybe in a while I'll work back up to being able to run fast again.
ReplyDelete