Regimented Running a Buzzkill?

So running is fun, right?  That's why we do it.  The wind in our hair, the test of woman against the elements.  Can I really run in just a long sleeve Tech shirt?  Do only wusses wear gloves if it is 40 degrees?  You can see scenic places on foot.  By the way that picture is not me beside a dumpster...it should have been a sign for the Silver Comet Trail, but either our Parks Department is replacing signs all over the trail or we have the weirdest thief working in our area.  Today Hubby and I headed out to enjoy our last partner run of our two week vacation.  It has been great being off and having time together and we have had some great runs and done some nice hiking.  All good things must come to an end, especially if we plan to, I don't know, pay for food, a place to live, running shoes, etc.?

 

So anyway after running I have been on this New Year goal of us eating out less and eating healthier.  Healthier for us and out wallets.  So we were sitting down to salad and Spinach Ricotta Tortellini post our run.  We started talking about brace yourself...Running.  We were discussing that several of our friends on Dailymile seem to have just dropped off the face of the map.  We recognized a couple things they had common.  They had a very specific goal.  You know?  A holy grail PR or a "I am going to run a marathon."  They either achieved these things or they missed their goal.  Either way the results were the same.  They stopped running.  For some they checked that bucket list box and did not know why they needed to run anymore and for the others they let disappointment and failure to reach an arbitrary goal steal away running.  What both of these folks had in common was while they were pursuing that goals through regimented training plans, outlined in lengthy posts that gave me far more info than I needed to know about their Oxygen threshold; they forgot one thing.  They forgot to fall in love with running.  Just running: not performance, or accolades, or admiration.  Just lacing up shoes and heading out to run.

 

They never let the goal go long enough to actually enjoy running.  I know sometimes it is about how we look in our jeans, or the number on the scale.  Sometimes it is nice to see your name in the top of your age group.  To me all of these things are icing in the cake.  When I think of running tomorrow, resuming my 4:30 AM solitary run I haven't once thought maybe I should do intervals.  I did think I hope Beyonce's "Run the World (Girls)" comes on my mix as I crest the first hill home after a morning spent watching the stars and enjoying my health and how strong my body is.  Sometimes you have to put the goals aside and just run.  We talk about training bases for races, but what about the very base of a lifetime of running...an actual love of running!!