I Want to Run

I want run
I want to hide
I want to tear down these walls that hold us inside
-Where the Streets have No Name, U2
I got into running kind of late in life. Oh sure, I ran as a kid and even a bit in college, but it was more of a distraction than a hobby. But recently I have attacked running with gusto and it became a very important part of me. I ran in local races to give myself goals and to keep me motivated. Eventually, I decided to take on the ultimate goal: to run a marathon.
I attacked this goal with a little too much gusto. I downloaded a training schedule and stuck to it religiously. But the early mileage was less than my base and I felt it needed to be more challenging. So if my training schedule told me to run three miles, I thought, “Sure, I’ll do three, but I’ll do them on hills.” And so every time I had a low mileage run, I would do it on hilly terrain. While this concept might be sound for many runners…it is not recommended for those carrying around a few extra pounds. As you may have guessed, I injured myself and I was out of the Chicago Marathon with a stress fracture.

While this may sound like the end of a challenge, it was actually the beginning of my biggest challenge: surviving the next 9 weeks without running. I tried swimming and biking, and enjoyed them, but not as much as running. With running if you felt like a quick workout, you just left your house and came back 30 minuets later after running 4 miles. With biking or swimming there seemed like much more preparation, and to get a similar amount of exercise; it felt like it took longer. Traveling also had its problems. With running, just pack your shoes. Swimming or biking on the road often meant hoping a hotel had a pool where you had to do twice as many laps or worse: riding on a stationary bike.

Now that I can run again, I appreciate it more. I am having even a harder time pacing my come back. I want to put in that frequent high mileage right away. I will try to avoid hills in the beginning, and then when I introduce them, I will do so in moderation. But I missed it so much that I want to get back that lost time.

I will remember for a long time that first day back after my injury when I started very slowly to test my leg. I was not even paying attention to the music in my MP3 player; I didn’t even know I had turned it on because it started so soft. And then all at once I recognized a familiar guitar riff, then the words broke out, “I want to run…”