Why Do You Hate Fun?

A rookie running coach on just having a good time.

If you were to ask someone who runs casually why they do it, what do you suppose their answer would be?

A conversation with one of my closest friends, a former teammate in college who I still run with.

Most are driven by a goal like a desired waist size or upcoming race. Something to provide them a sense of accomplishment as a direct result of their hard work.

This isn’t to say that these are bad reasons by any means, but our culture of overachievement is getting in the way of just enjoying the basic act of putting one foot in front of the other.

That’s silly.

I was running with my friend quoted above in Central Park the other day and I saw so much despair and pain in the faces of runners we passed by. At one point I wanted to stop them and ask “why are you doing this?” Look at the faces of some fellow joggers on your next run and just count the number of people who look absolutely miserable.

The ultimate irony that I see is when athletes stress so much about their regimen that they would end up better off just walking for half a mile and relaxing for the day. The negative effects of increased stress and cortisol far outweigh the benefits of your workout regimen, especially for extended periods.

This is what I tell my athletes when they go through this:

• Stop measuring every single step. You have no obligation to keep up a planned pace or run a certain distance every single day. Your friends and family will still come to support you at your race whether you win first place or walk the whole thing, I promise.
• Learn to enjoy the act of actually running. It’s far too boring, arduous, and painful to do otherwise.
• If you don’t feel like running, then don’t run. Unless you get paid for it, in which case, you probably could use a day off anyway.
• Sometimes you have bad days. I’ll give you a few hours to figure out what you think went wrong, and then that’s the end. We move on from there.
• If you’re not actively enjoying your runs, then we stop and reevaluate. I’m not here to torture you and you’ll achieve whatever goal you want much easier if you’re enjoying the process.
• Follow my nephew’s example.

My five-year-old nephew, Daniel, loves running. Sometimes he just runs around because he has the energy to. Other times we go to the track and he wants to race me. It’s all just fun and games for him. He’s not wearing an iPhone on his arm. He doesn’t need Rihanna to get pumped up. He’s not stressing that he hasn’t gotten enough mileage in for the week. He’s not counting calories burned.

He’s just enjoying himself.

Go have fun. Enjoy the spring weather. Make it a game. Smile. Make a friend or two and then race them (if they’re up for it). Happiness is contagious in this community. Why on earth would you run away from that?