Why do you run?

The other day I was looking at something on my blog, don't remember what or why, but I was taken to this post which I found interesting.  I forget about all the firsts I have had.  I tend to focus on the first half marathon, the first full marathon, I think fondly back at my summer of first longest ever run distances, but I don't ever think of my first 5k.  It's kind of funny to think that I had the same fears with my first 5k that I did with my first full marathon.  I was worried about not finishing, not being able to run the whole thing, and apparently really worried about getting a picture (I'm still really bad at remembering to take a picture at a race).  

It's seeing posts like that one that makes me so happy to have this blog.  I don't have many readers, and I never will, and I'm okay with that. I like writing, and I love looking back at my old posts and see where I came from, and what I was thinking. I have a spot where I can go back and look at my marathon recaps, and all of my race recaps.  My running has evolved and changed so much that it's barely recognizable, and yet it's still just running.  

A little bit ago I read a blog (dare I say where, or can you guess? of course it was Katie at Runs for Cookies) (promise I read others, I've been following MaryFran at Believing in Myself almost as long as Katie, and many others) . . . anyway, Katie, she commented, I think she got it from a book, about how we train.  She used to run (train) solely to write it on her blog.  She would set a goal and then feel like she had to reach it because she publicly announced on her blog.  The book asked would we train the same way if no one was watching?  If we weren't putting it on facebook or instagram or a blog?

This made me think, what would I be doing if I wasn't on FB or instagram or writing a blog?  Would I be doing a runstreak?  Would I have kept it going for 866 days if I wasn't posting it on instagram?  (I don't post much about running on FB anymore.)  And for me the answer is yes.  If you follow my instagram you know I don't post a lot on there.  There have been a few times where the only post I do is my long run on Sunday, and there were probably a few weeks when I was only running one mile on my treadmill for months that I didn't post anything.  I don't have many followers there, I'm definitely not an influencer, and the most reads I have here are in the 20s (I just looked, I had a post in September reach 50 reads, that's a pretty high number for me).

I suppose the biggest outside influence on my runstreak would be my Dad and a few of my friends.  My Dad always asks me if I ran today when I talk to him, and if I can't say yes, I'll say not yet.  I think he secretly has wanted to be a runner but never did it.  And I think he's secretly really proud of my running.  He asks me a lot if I'm going to do Ragnar again (I don't really want to) because he enjoyed following me around for that one.  But do I do it for him?  No. Honestly I do it for the numbers, even if I'm the only one that knows, that 866 days in a row is a source of pride for me. And I think it would be almost impossible to stop on purpose because that is a long freaking time and what's the point if I just stop?

Anyway, this is a lot of babble about nothing.  I hope all you 20 readers are doing well, thank you for reading.  😀 Also, I write for myself, not for you. Why do you write, if you do?  Why do you run?  I'm curious.