Why I Run
On the Fiery Gizzard Trail
I run because I can choose to be without focus. On the trails that I know so well, I can let my mind wander and allow room for ideas, thoughts, dreams, insights to happen. Priorities, answers, and possibilities can find their way into my consciousness. Back home, when the run is done, I find that the body is pleased, and the mind is clear.
On the other hand, I run because at other times I can be totally focused — on running itself. Being an outdoor athlete, like almost any activity that you can think of, offers a process of mastery. It offers a way to think about becoming better at something, steadily, over time. It allows depth of thinking, intentionality, focus. On the trail I can pay attention to pace, to breathing, to stride, to posture. Running then becomes not only exercise and meditation, but also an ongoing practice.
Finally, I run because for me it creates spontaneous joy. I can immediately think of several times when I’ve stopped somewhere on my home trails, surrounded by the trees, rocks, streams, and birds that I know so well. I’ve looked around me, or looked out from the Cumberland Plateau across the far horizon, and without conscious thought the words have come to my mind, and my lips: “thank you, universe.”