Tuesday, April 27, 2010

If running could be effortless, would you even want that?

So I'm a nerd and I was thinking about superhuman powers on my 5 mile run today. I thought to myself as I passed by the sorority and fraternity houses on campus "if I could have any superhuman power what would it be?".

The first thought that came to mind was "I wish running was just... easy. Like I could go out there on any day (even if I took a few weeks off running) and run without any pain and stomach issues as if I was training daily that entire 2 weeks, and my lungs never felt like they were going to explode...."

And then I continued to think and I realized that if the challenge was gone, if there was no reason to keep pushing, if there wasn't a reason to train consistently, I wouldn't. A big reason I like running is the challenge. It's hard, and not a lot of people like it because of that. I want to be seen as the girl that isn't afraid of hard work... hard, sometimes frustrating, sometimes painful work. And it's the requirement of work. I like the fact that I won't get better unless I push it, and find ways around the pain. If it was easy.... I'd hate it.

lol what do you think? If you could have a superhuman power of "effortless running all the time" would you take it?

p.s. for arguments' sake let's say you still burn the same amount of calories and such.... the only thing that changes is the way you FEEL.

7 comments:

  1. Nope I wouldn't want it. I run to challenge myself. If it doesn't burn, or make me sore, then I'm not challenging myself enough :)

    Heck, I'm not even training for anything right now....I'm just running because I can, because I want to, and because of the way it makes me feel when I look back and go "holy crap I just ran 12 miles without stopping...cool!". That and I'd be way too hyper if I didn't do something to tire me out...hah

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  2. ^^ I totally agree Harold I love the "holy crap!" moments :D

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  3. wow. good question. on the surface, i want to say YES, I'd take that super power. But then...probably not. You're right, the challenge is a big part of it.

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  4. Interesting post. Yah I probably wouldn't take it... but it would be nice to have the whole calories burn effortlessly thing goin on. ;)

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  5. Can I just have that power on certain days? I guess that means I would have to say no. Good question!

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  6. How about just running injury free? No pulled muscles or missing toenails...

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  7. The funny thing is...I've actually had races where I finish and think "that wasn't that hard."

    It's happened to me twice. Both times I ran with a slower friend. I usually train alone. But it's pretty crazy what a lot of hard work can force your body to adapt to!

    I do like the challenge of running. But I also think I like the feeling of running. Especially the days where I feel like I could run forever. If running wasn't a challenge it wouldn't be so rewarding. But I'd probably still do it!

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