Run Because You Can

No matter how grumpy or stressful I feel during a work day, there is always something that I look forward to... my lunch time run. At 11:30 AM I make sure to empty my protein powder into my water bottle and guzzle it down before 11:50 AM. At noon, it's go time. Luckily my gym is 2 blocks from where I work, so I head over there with my shorts, tank top, shoes and my Ipod. I quickly go to the locker room and change and then head to the treadmills. As a gather my hair into a pony tail, I am filled with excitement and all my worries are forgotten.

This particular day I started out feeling sluggish and it continued throughout my workout. Some days I will start slow and then get into my normal gait, but it was not happening today. It was frustrating, since all morning I was thinking about how great a run would feel and here I was just plain miserable. I switched my music to hip-hop. . . not working.. . . then electronic music. . .no way. . then rock music. . .seriously not even rock is going to inspire me? I stared at the tv's to watch some CNN, but they were talking about bullets made with sound waves. Normally, this would be so interesting to me, but I wasn't enjoying my workout and sound bullets were getting on my nerves.

Then, the treadmill next to me became occupied. It was a gentleman, late 60's and wearing cotton shorts and a t-shirt. He keyed in all his stats, time, incline and speed. He began to jog at a fairly slow pace and it looked painful. He had a gait which compensated for some sort of leg handicap. He used the momentum of his arms to help keep him in a jog. I quickly glanced at him in the mirror and his left leg was badly handicapped, but he jogged. I wondered if he was an athlete when he was younger or if he had a life filled with injuries and jogged, like I did, to relieve stress. I looked down at my legs and heard a big voice in my head say, "Les, stop your complaining and do this. This guy is jogging and handicapped and here you are healthy and able to run. . . so run!" I got over my complaining and powered through that workout, making sure to increase the incline as well. :)

It got me thinking about how I take for granted my ability to run. I don't always realize that there are people out there who are unable to run and how luckily I am that I have found this sport and love it. How would I handle a situation where I was unable to run? I have had injuries which have left me out of service for a day or week, but I have never had to go months or even years without running. I'm not sure how I would handle this situation, but I know that after seeing that man jogging on the treadmill I have a new perspective on my running......treasure this gift that we have been given.