10 Reasons to Run

10 reasons I like to run:

1. It's efficient. No gym bag, no complicated accoutrements (unless you count my railroad spikes), no driving. Just head out the door and start the exercise. Come back and take a shower. Done.

2. It's cheap. As long as I buy a good pair of running shoes regularly, I need no other equipment. Last year I bought some cold weather gear, but even that wasn't too expensive.

3. It can be social or solitary. If I need time alone to think or pray, I can go alone and have uninterrupted solitude. If I want to get to know a fellow runner better, I can arrange to jog with her.

4. It's weight bearing--good for building bone mass. My future postmenopausal self thanks me.

5. It's simple. I don't have to learn a bunch of rules. I just go out and move my legs the way I've moved them since I was eight years old running laps around the house asking my mom to time me.

6. I just feel better afterwards. I see why people say it works as a mild antidepressant. The kids love it when I run: less nagging; fewer lectures. Their mom has a little more energy, a few extra smiles, and a more peaceful demeanor. You'd think they'd be pushing me out the door.

7. Brownies. With running, I can have one. Without running, I can't. Actually, a broader statement would be that it helps me maintain a reasonable weight. When I eat healthy and run regularly, I look pretty good. I mean, there's still a bit of flab flopping around--from the brownies, I suppose--but it's not as saggy.

8. It's a self-esteem boost. When I come back from a run, I feel like I've overcome something inside of me, some form of laziness or lack of self-care. When I set running goals and achieve them, or set a PR, confidence translates into other areas of my life as I think, "Hey, I can do something I never did before!"

9. Energy. In spite of shuddering leg muscles after a long run when I push myself, I end up with more energy overall. It's just getting in shape, and running isn't the only way to achieve it...but it's the way I achieve it, or try to. It just seems so contradictory--go out and expend something, then end up with more of it in return. Kind of like a good stock market investment--just as it takes money to make money; it takes energy to gain energy.

10. Slows me down. Seems like I'm zooming hither and yon to deliver my kids to or from school, soccer, AWANA, youth group and so on. When I run, I plod along one of four or five routes I take from my house. This slower pace allows me time to ponder the neighborhood, nuances in seasonal changes, a chance to nod and wave hello to people working in their yards, dog-walkers, fellow joggers, bicyclists. It's a contemplative sport, for a contemplative mom.

BUT when it gets cold, I'm a wimp, and I must dig down deep to drag myself out there and put in some miles. Sometimes I need to review some good reasons to run in order to keep myself at it. Remind me of this post tomorrow. I think it's supposed to rain.