Running to Stand Still

Aside from the fact that I’m a lover of U2’s heroin/suicide song, I selected this title to fit my new…hobby(?), running.

I’m not a runner. Let me just get that out of the way. But recently I started running in an attempt to improve my endurance for my real passion, hiking. I’ve been hiking a lot more lately and am preparing to hike Yosemite’s Half Dome in August (16 miles round trip, about a 12-hour day). So as I hike longer and more challenging trails, I realize that I need to increase my endurance so I don’t, basically, die on the way up to Half Dome. But this post isn’t about hiking. It’s about running.

In a way, my decision to start running was actually a lot like the opening lyrics of the song:

And so she woke up

Woke up from where she was lying still

Said, "I gotta do something

About where I'm going"

I knew that I couldn’t keep being all talk about my love of hiking and my attempt to try harder and more challenging trails if I didn’t get my body in better condition. If I was going to be able to breathe deeper, hike longer, and carry a heavier load of water (cuz I drink way too much), I had to kick my conditioning in the rear end.

So far the running attempt is going well. And so far I’m actually enjoying it. What I get most from it (besides a good sweat) is time to let my brain focus on nothing while I struggle for breath and try hard not to look at the timer on my phone.

I hate wasting time. I always have. And so this is one of the few times when I feel like it’s really okay to waste time because I’m actually being productive by exercising my body. But my brain is actively doing nothing, which is amazingly relaxing. In essence, I’m running to stand still.