Reasons to run

I did a run this morning with no ipod, no heart rate strap and no plan except to get a run in to start my day and talk to the Lord. I need more good habits like this ;-)

I usually don't read all of the SPAM emails I get but this topic related "reader wisdom" in an email that I got from Trail Runner Mag caught my eye and it hit home.

10 Reasons I Run
by John M. Bernhisel

1. It is the best addiction I can think of. Gambling, alcohol, pornography, tobacco, shopping are all bad. Running is superbly, staggeringly good.
2. I’m uncoordinated. I can’t pass, kick, throw, catch, dribble or do the backstroke but as long as I can tie my shoes, I can run.
3. My dad didn’t. He had a heart attack at age 52. I’m running from high cholesterol and a spare tire from growing over my belt.
4. I’m a book lover. I load five or six audio books onto my iPod and listen to Grisham, Clancy or even Dostoyevsky as I run. I’ve sometimes put in several extra miles in order to solve the mystery.
5. It cures my depression. Kids, my teenage daughter’s cell phone bill, my boss, a broken dishwasher, the mother-in-law, phone calls, bird flu and global warming are all forgotten on a long run.
6. I’m a mathematician. If I run five miles at a 7:40 pace and then slow to an 8:25 pace for the next four miles, what will be my total time? Then what is the most fun, charting my pace and miles on the computer.
7. I love to cook (and eat). A 15-mile run burns 2000 calories. What that means is that I can eat twice as much as most people and still fit into my jeans.
8. I’m an insomniac. There is no finer way to spend the 2 a.m. hour than go for a run under a full moon and then go back to bed (Yes, my wife makes me shower first).
9. I believe in God. Running for hours in the mountains or sagebrush of Wyoming reaffirms my belief in a Creator that loves me.
10. My friends hate to run. I love them dearly, but if any of them wanted to invade the euphoric joy I get from a run alone, I’d have to get new friends.

John M. Bernhisel has been a runner since the seventh grade. He most recently won the Lean Horse 50 Mile race in South Dakota’s Black Hills.