Running Part IV

(Ok, last running entry I swear! I'm sorry if I have been boring my non-running readers with all this stuff.)

Running = Independence

Why? (and, you know I'm gonna tell you ;-)

“WHERE ARE YOU GOING?” my father shouts from the barn as I try to get into my car without being noticed. It is 1984, I am 16 and have my first car – a ’81 Mustang coupe and I cannot wait to get as far away from that farm as possible.

For almost half of my life I could not do anything or go anywhere without checking in with someone my whereabouts. My father was (and, still is) a control freak and enjoyed telling me when and where I could not go. My mother was the constant worrier that never wanted me to leave. "Don’t drive after dark, why are you going there, something could happen", etc. When I was in high school I joined track just because it was something I was good at, it kept me away from home longer and I got out of alot of farm work that way.

When I went to college I ran on my own and I started to keep things from them. I traveled to places like California when they had no idea. I went to Chicago, Pennsylvania, Florida. Sometimes my mother would find out that I went to these places without telling her and she would be very angry with me and ask why I didn’t tell her and I would say, “Because I didn’t want you to worry”.

When I graduated from college and moved to Atlanta I almost immediately met and moved in with the woman I have had my longest relationship with. She was exactly like my mother(Especially, when it came to buying a motorcycle).

That relationship ended almost simultaneously with my mother’s death. And, since then I have lived alone for many years (and, bought a motorcycle). I do not check in with anyone (unless, of course it's my boss on company time). Most of the time I don’t impart information of what I am doing or where I am going unless I am making plans with someone.

I find I like it this way.

I think that is why I like to run so much. I am out the door and down the street – not really knowing what my route is or where I am going. I don’t have to plan anything, talk to anyone about it or wait until a certain time. I don’t need anyone else to motivate me to do it. I am solely on my own.

So, when I talk about running people say, “You should train for a marathon.” I find this statement ridiculous. Why do I have to train for anything? Not everyone runs to train for a race or marathon.

It’s like saying that because you like to shop in the produce section of the grocery store that you should raise vegetables in a greenhouse!
(I love shopping here but that doesn't mean I want to raise all these things!)

Runner friend: “Why don’t you join my running group?”

Me: “Sure but I have to see how my vegetables are doing in the greenhouse before I can commit”

(Hey, can you get that tractor out of the way - it's on my running shoe)