Why I run

On Monday I am hosting a motivational talk by Mark Sutcliffe, he is a runner, publisher and author of the book "Why I Run". He is also a big source of motivation to me in my running.  Neale brought a copy of the book home in May 2011 having met Mark at the Ottawa race weekend expo. He said I should read it and I thought, why would I want to read a book about running, I am not a runner.  At that point I was running 5K's and really did not like running, I just did it to stay in shape.  One rainy Friday afternoon in August, we were having a series of rolling thunderstorms and I turned my computer off.  I was looking for something to do and 'the book' was on the couch so I picked it up.  I noticed the forward was by Malcolm Gladwell and I like his stuff so I thought I would read that.  Then I read the introduction and could totally relate to his wife and her life where running was the priority.  I keep reading and at some point the thunderstorm stopped but I did not care, I was totally engrossed in the book.  I think we had scramble eggs that night for dinner as I read the book straight through, cover to cover, I could not put it down.  It sounds cliche, but I laughed and I cried, I was so caught up in the stories and as it ended I was sad it was finished.  The next day I marched into the Running Room and signed up for the next 10K clinic and the Resolution run on Dec 31.  I was so motivated and ready to conquer 2 long held dreams, to do an Olympic distance triathlon and to run a half marathon.

Fast forward a year and I did run a half marathon, I dipped my toe into the triathlon pool and am looking forward to next year when I attempt an Olympic distance triathlon.  We get motivation from many sources as runners and triathletes, magazines, books, websites, other blogs and they all help us achieve our goals.  Another source of motivation is my local running club where I have had fabulous clinic leaders and group leaders, I have had the opportunity to run with some great people and have made some new friends.  I have had runners stay behind with me on those Sundays I was having a bad run and I have stayed behind with others to motivate them when they were having a bad day.  These runners have all helped me get to the start and more importantly finish line of my races and when thing did not go as planned, they were there to pick me up and tell me it's OK.   One of the runners turned 50 this year, she ran the Boston marathon, did a 50K race and just recently a 50 mile race.  She is a beacon to me showing me that I too can be fabulous and fit as I too approach 50 and I can do whatever I put my mind too.

Back to the title of this blog entry...Why I Run.

I run to stay in shape, so that the weight I lost never comes back.

I run to get me away from my desk and to stop my clients from driving me totally crazy.

I run to show my kids that you can do anything if you decide to, work hard and dream big.

I run so that I will stay healthy and grow old with my wonderful husband, so we can continue to have new adventures together.

I run because I LIKE to run, finally I can say I AM A RUNNER.