Why I Run

So, in light of beginning my marathon training schedule today in preparation for the SunTrust National Marathon in Washington, DC, March, 26 2011, I’ve been trying to rationalize this crazy new addiction to running I have.  I’ve come up with a few reasons:

1.       I have quite the affinity for technical fabric.

2.       It gives me a non-perverted excuse to rub petroleum jelly on my nipples and bum.

3.       “Carb loading” as an excuse to eat excessive amounts of pasta.

4.       My toenails have lived their life, and now just need to move along.

5.       Finisher’s medals.  Enough said.

6.       Perpetual playlist perfection.

7.       Justification for a guy to have a shoe fetish.

8.       Post-race meal:  whatever the hell I want.  After I’ve been running for hours on end, who the hell are you to judge the fact that I’m eating 147 cajun spiced chicken wings and drinking 147 ounces of beer?  What did you do that Sunday morning? Oh yeah, slept till 10am.

9.       The quiet nobility of blisters.

10.   Restoration of the metabolism I had as a teenager.

11.   Race spectators.  Seriously, the people that come out to stand on the side of the road for a marathon or half-marathon are just amazing.  And some of them give out beer.

12.   Gizmos:  iPhone apps, GPS watches, noise-cancelling headphones, oh my!

13.   My legs look great in those tiny shorts.

14.   Small packets of gel loaded with carbs and caffeine.

15.   The 30 pounds, two inches in my waist, and 6 body fat percentage points I lost, and have no intention of ever recovering.

16.   Gawking at all the newest stuff at the race expo.

17.   The much talked about “runner’s high.”  Yeah, it exists.

18.   Icing down.  Is it wrong that I enjoy it?

19.   “I wanna go fast!”

20.   And finally, and seriously, I’ve seen many times what a lifetime of bad habits such as smoking, poor diet, and sedentary lifestyle can do and the havoc they can wreak on someone’s body.  I’ve seen the pain a person can feel watching their loved one waste away, damned to live the rest of their life tethered to an oxygen machine because their lungs are wrecked, or to a bed because they’re too obese to move .  I don’t want that life for me, or to have my family live on the other side of that story.  I want to set an example to my daughter of how an active lifestyle can extend your life and vitality.  That, and get some more finisher’s medals and cool t-shirts.