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July 14, 2011

On the run: Why do you run?

On The Run

Jay Kumar

Everybody’s got their own reasons for lacing up the sneakers and hitting the road or treadmill. All of them are valid.

Some run because their parents got them into it. Some began running to lose weight and got hooked on it. Some run to stay young.

As for me, I came to running in a roundabout way. I’ve always been athletic, spending much of my youth playing sports. My high school soccer practices involved tons of running, but I can honestly say I hated every minute of it. I liked running when it served a purpose in a sport, but just running for running’s sake seemed pointless.

It wasn’t until I graduated from college about 40 pounds heavier than when I arrived there that I started to consider running. Even then I didn’t really like it, I eventually ended up joining a gym and working out regularly using the Nautilus and cardio machines. I quickly lost 25 pounds in about three months and became hooked on working out. It made sense to me, and I liked the feeling of accomplishment after I finished a workout.

Still, I didn’t run. I started playing soccer again and did plenty of running in that arena, but I preferred lifting weights at the gym to running.

Several years later after I turned 30, I started running with my girlfriend (who later became my wife), whom I cheered on as she ran the Boston Marathon. A few months later, I decided to try running a 5K race with her. The race went well, although I pushed myself so hard at the finish I thought I would get ill.

But I kept running, just two or three miles at a time. I ran another 5K and then the following spring, started training to run a 10K, which is 6.2 miles. That distance seemed insurmountable when I first decided to train for it, but I conquered it. Then I decided to do a half marathon. And then another. And then in 2002, I ran the Boston Marathon. That fall, I did another marathon in Maine. In the nine years that followed, I ran 12 more marathons and countless other races. I’ve also run races of nearly every distance shorter than a marathon and several relay races. I don’t have any desire to do an ultramarathon, which is essentially anything greater than 26.2 miles.

Indeed, this spring I decided not to run a marathon because I was a little burned out. Training for a marathon requires grueling work over several months. You find yourself worn down at times, you feel great at others and you almost always sustain nagging injuries that hamper your performance. And race day is always a big question mark because so much depends on the weather, how your body reacts to running that day, what you ate in the 48 hours previous, whether you have a cold, etc.

I’ve had races that went perfectly and I’ve had ones that were disasters. You just never know. So after I ran the Baystate Marathon last fall, I decided to take a break. I’ve been doing smaller races and ran a couple of half marathons this spring. I’m not going to do a marathon this fall, either.

That doesn’t mean I don’t love running. There’s a great feeling of accomplishment you get from finishing any road race, no matter the distance. And there’s a great camaraderie among runners. I enjoy running alone and I enjoy running with others. It’s fun to commiserate with other runners about different facets of the sport, whether about training for certain races, comparing gear or just complaining about bad drivers.

Everybody’s got their own reasons to run. Whether it’s to simply stay healthy, stave off the effects of age, lose weight, release stress, whatever. It doesn’t matter why, it just matters that you get out there.

Starts and stops

There are plenty of great running resources on the Internet, but here’s a new one to check out: Science-Based Running is a great new blog written by Dave Munger, who provides “reasoned information and advice about running, based on peer-reviewed research.” Munger launched the blog last month and has already written posts about running cadence, marathoning and heart disease, carbo loading and running potential. Check it out at http://sciencebasedrunning.com.

¢¢¢

It’s a little early to start talking turkey, but the Salem Park and Recreation Department has announced that the 8th annual Wild Turkey 5-Mile road race is all set for Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, at 8 a.m. The race has grown in popularity each year since it made its debut. A new wrinkle this year is the addition of chip timing on the race bibs. If you’re not a procrastinator, you can sign up now at https://racewire.com/register.php?id=428.

¢¢¢

On The Run, a column on the North Shore running scene, appears every other week in The Salem News. You can contact Jay Kumar at Jay.Kumar@gmail.com.



Upcoming races

Friday, July 15: Miles Over the Moon 4-mile road race, Salem Common, Salem, 8 p.m. Very fast and flat 4 mile course. Race shirts free to the first 300 runners. Contact: Alison Phelan (Wicked Running Club) at 1-978-998-0118 or milesrace@gmail.com.

Saturday, July 16: The TriROK Foundation Families Get Fit Festival at Patton Park in Hamilton, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The festival includes the ROK-a-5K road race and the Kids-ROK Off-Road Triathlon, which features different distances for different age groups. Learn more and register for the events at www.trirok.org/programs.cfm?sec=events.; Greenbelts 4th Annual Run for the Hills 5k and 10k Trail Race, Pingree School, 537 Highland St., South Hamilton, 9 a.m. 5K & 10K trail runs. 10K part of 2011 North Shore Trail Series. Contact: Sheilagh Doerfler (Essex County Greenbelt Association) at 1-978-768-7241; Ipswich YuKanRun.com 10-Mile Road Race, Ipswich High School, 134 High St., Ipswich. Contact: Rich Morrell (YuKan Sports LLC) at 1-978-879-9007.

Wednesday, July 20: Danvers 5K Fun Run, Sweet William’s Garden Center, 141 Pine St., Danvers, 7 p.m. Free, timed run. All welcome. These events are part of a weekly 52-race series. E-mail adam@danvers5k.com; 42nd Annual Lynn Woods Summer Cross Country, Great Woods road entrance Lynn Woods, Great Woods Road, 6:30 p.m. Part of a free weekly 19-race series through Sept. 28.  Three races: long, short and a kids’ race. Computer timed. Contact: Bill Mullen (Lynn Woods Summer XC) at 1-978-535-3905.

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