Running

I took up running pretty seriously almost two years ago..it was after a guy I was dating disappeared off the face of the planet..I mean he just DISAPPEARED..one minute we were dating..and the next I never heard from him again..I took this hard, WELL WHO WOULDN'T?? I mean couldn't there have been a little bit of closure..a "Gee, thanks but no thanks.." kind of an ending..in any case, I needed to DO something and so I started running..one minute, I was not a runner, the next I was..
There is a store in Uptown called the Running Room..Shaun HATED this store..he said it was owned by witch doctors who cast spells on the patrons in order to convince them to buy ridiculously over-priced running gear. (or something like that). Really it all stems from the guy he witnessed outside the Running Room one day on his lunch break in a business suit running up and down the sidewalk trying out a pair of ASICS...BUT the point here is that I ventured into the Running Room because my shins were killing me after a week of my newfound passion.
"Well how much are you running?"
"Um..I don't know...five times a week..about three miles.."
"'You're running fifteen miles a week? Did you progress to this?"
"No, I just started running."
"You didn't run before, and now you're running fifteen miles a week? You JUST STARTED RUNNING this much?" a look of disbelief on the sales' guys face.
"Is this not the way to start running?"

People run for all kinds of reasons, and sometimes it's not for exercise. I am not sure why we do this. I think it comes back to fear. I think at times we are afraid to own up to what part we may have in things.
I know it was easier for me to concentrate on my feet on that path everyday then to think about why someone I dated never wanted to talk to me again.
It's easier for people to avoid their "responsible part", rather than to face the truth that the decisions they may have made are the kind that have to be answered for.
Running doesn't solve anything, in this case. It doesn't make us authentic, true people. (There you snooty blog guy, take that to the bar with you!)

I had to slow my work out program wayyyy down. I went from 15 miles to 7...and my shins didn't hurt anymore. Gradually I worked my way back up. The right way.
I also saw the guy I used to date one day while I was out on my daily jog..he was holding hands with someone...(I tripped them both! NO I DIDN'T I am JUST kidding!) But I guess that was my closure...
In the end, though, I met Will. And I have tried to stop running from the truth and towards it instead, the best I can. I am hoping that other people will do this too...