For the Love of Running

The best relationships require balance. Are you expecting more out of running than you're giving in return?

You just walked out of Chipotle with a burrito bowl that is obviously loaded with double meat and extra guac (#gains). You paid $16.32 in a transaction to fuel your body and taste some delicious, somewhat healthy food. Transactions are just that. We "pay" some sort of "fee" in order to receive something in return. At Chipotle we paid money and time in order to receive fuel and energy so we can can chase our kids around for another two hours at the zoo. But, what about the things we received we didn't set out to? Maybe we made a new friend in line. Or maybe we had the opportunity to pay for someone who was in need and didn't have the cash they thought was in their wallet (ok, it's 2025, where's their credit card Derrick...). What if there are other things in our lives we are viewing as transactions but we should also take the time to not view them through that lens? What about going for a run? Do you view that as a transaction?

What We Pay

With running, we have lots of "payments" to participate. We probably bought shoes and running gear and we need the time to get the run in. I'd say even more people might pay for a gym membership or a treadmill or fancy gels to slurp down on their run (the real ones know Sour Patch Kids are the GOAT). Point being, we end up dedicating more resources than we're even aware of to running. But to one specific run, we might just pay with our time and maybe a little bit of health if we're getting less sleep in order to get them miles in.

The true running addicts probably don't view it this way, but the average person unconsciously considers this every time they plan to lace up their kicks. That house project isn't getting done, my wife has to single parent for a bit, or maybe you get a little less work done that day and need to trade time for some weekend work. This is probably the main reason people skip their workout or run. They convince themselves other stuff is more important. We are always considering what we have to pay for what we might get in return. Is this the right way to think about it...? We'll unpack that later.

What We Get

In my post on why I run, you can gather A LOT of examples of what we might gain from running. The physical health benefits are obvious. And then the mental health benefits can manifest through community, meditation, fulfilment, etc.. For those chasing athletic goals like specific times or distances, there's also the 'brick by brick' approach to the journey you're on. Each run is a brick in the wall that you're building to set the foundation for goal achievement. The 45 minute easy run today is part of the 60 some odd workouts you need to do to get you across the marathon finish line.

Similar to the Chipotle transaction, there's probably things we received we weren't anticipating. Maybe it's the new friendships, new scenery, new passions, or even the fruitful conversations with a friend you wouldn't have hung out with if it weren't for a run together. However, there are some negative things we weren't paying to receive. We didn't expect to sprain our ankle. We didn't expect to need to shamefully ask the gas station attendant if we could blow their bathroom up without purchasing a big gulp (ok, I usually expect this scenario). When the Nike package shows up at our door, we didn't expect our wife's eyes to roll so hard she gave herself a concussion. See, lots and lots of negative things can happen as well. 🙂

Every Once In A While

The point I'm trying to make is that we're inherently weighing trade-offs and therefore looking at things predominantly through a transactional lens. We do this with almost everything in life, not just running. However, there are examples where we might not care at all what we receive even though we know what we're giving up. Most decent humans will help a friend move a piece of furniture without expecting anything in return. Yeah, you might call and ask them to return the favor at some point in the future but chances are you'd ask them even if you hadn't helped them first. That's just what friends do. Or maybe you donated a bag of clothes to Goodwill.....get it? goodwill? Yes, in both of these examples you could have a slight end game in mind. A tax write-off or maybe getting out of the house to hang with the guys for even just 30 minutes. But, for the most part these are things that cost us something and we don't expect anything in return.

What if we treated running in the same way? Maybe not running in general, but at least every now and then we treat one run as purely transaction-less. Of course we still need to pay the man with a unit of time, but not expect a darn thing in return. No watch. No headphones. No workout or intervals. No route. No selfies. No anything. With the goal to receive absolutely nothing. "But Derrick, I know running is good for my physical and mental health. How do I not think about 'receiving' that?" Don't. Don't think of those things as part of a transaction but more of a bi-product of how you chose to spend your time. The crazy thing that will happen, which is slightly contradictory to my entire point, is I bet your mental health actually improves MORE if you can pull off this magic trick.

But the real benefit? Only you can find out. I can make some hypotheses but I'll leave those up to your imagination. I'll add a disclaimer that I could be 100% off my rocker. Maybe you'll hate it. Maybe that run will be when you do get an injury or it's 35 degrees and pouring. I say good. Your relationship with the activity and sport that's given you so much is now more in balance. You didn't ask anything of it and yet it still gave you something in return for your commitment and love for movement. That's what I challenge you to lean into. That's what I'm challenging myself to lean into.

If you're brave enough to embark on this journey, let me know how it goes. I'll fill you in when I build up the courage to take my own advice and leave my Garmin behind with my headphones. When I hit the streets purely because I crave intimacy with that three letter word we all love to hate and hate to love.

Much Love.

Derrick