Running Thoughts

My normal running speed is slow. Very slow. There are two reasons for this: I'm slow; and while I'm running, I'm thinking about the day ahead, and many times, the days behind. The present counts for little when I run, which is why I'm not much of a runner.

The truth is, I don't much enjoy running. I do it for my health, physical and mental. Running is work, and it hurts. It's also very dull, which is why I fill it with all those thoughts. Some days at the end of a run, my only proof that I've exerted myself is that I'm sweating. I get so lost in a mental maze, I'm not conscious that my knee hurts or my face is frozen or my heart is pounding. Usually it's not pounding because I'm running in slo-mo. Only thinking about running makes you push for a faster speed. It does not guarantee it, of course.

My running thoughts have helped me work through problems. They've helped me focus my ideas and energies in ways that sedentary thinking does not. I have conversations with people dead and alive and occasionally out loud. Running has helped me claw my way back from serious illness and been a tremendous boost to my self -esteem. It's therapeutic in so many ways I often wonder why more people don't do it.

I'm not here to promote running or thinking on the run. It's not for everyone. But it's a way of multi-tasking that works for me.