At the end of January, Chris McClung did a podcast episode called “Back to the Basics, 5 Pillars of Long Term Running Success.” According to him, the five pillars are: Consistency, Maintaining a Stress/Rest Balance, Weekly Strides, Strength/Mobility, and… Finding your Running Purpose.
Chris has done entire episodes on creating your statement of purpose, which he deems necessary if you want to set and achieve big goals. But he wants you to really delve deep- your statement of purpose should be something that gets you out of bed on those hard mornings, or gets you through the last miles of a marathon when you want to quit.
He wants you to dig so deep, in fact, that I’m still working on my statement of purpose. You should reject anything that’s extrinsic, such as “I run so my kids will be proud of me.” (Your kids will still be proud of you even if you don’t run!) Or “I run to lose weight.” (You can lose weight in other ways, and what if you don’t lose as much weight as you want- would you stop running?) He wants you to figure out what it is, deep inside of you, that makes you run.
After plugging up the holes in our fence, we’ve recently started letting our cat outside in the backyard- a development that she’s thrilled with. She spends hours out there, running back and forth, chasing butterflies, and exploring. While I watched her run today, I thought about how it’s in her nature to run, just as it’s in the butterflies nature to fly, and thought, “Hmm! Maybe that’s my statement of purpose! I run because it’s satisfying something deep in my nature.” That sounded good- running connects me to the world and other creatures in this fundamental way.
But wait!
Flashback to many, many years ago, when I was in high school and was telling my dad how many miles I ran that day, how many I wanted to run the next day, and the next day after that… and he said “Why are you so obsessed with miles? Why don’t you just run until you’re tired, and then stop?” Wait. What? Why would I do that? That would be CRAZY! Everyone keeps track of their miles… right?
I can’t even imagine running without logging the miles. Counting the miles, comparing it to last week and last month, planning mileage for the upcoming week… not to mention checking my pace on my Garmin, and charting the progress from my speedwork. It’s all part of running, and I love that part.
But then… if my statement of purpose is to run free in nature like my ancestors (and my cat) why does it matter how fast and far I’m going? Because it does matter. So obviously my statement of purpose goes beyond that primal urge to run. Maybe it also taps into that desire we all have to improve ourselves. We constantly want to build on the progress we’ve made to get to the next level, and the next level after that. When people reassess monthly goals, you never hear anyone say “Last month was perfect! March will be more of the same!” There’s always the desire to make it better.
You can see why my running statement of purpose is a work in progress. Anyone have any insights as to why you run? I mean, there are lots of other ways to keep fit, that don’t involve being out in the cold, ice, rain, heat, and subjecting ourselves to potential injuries. What is it that makes you love running?
12 Responses
I agree with his pillars except for strides. Why strides??
Yeah the purpose statement is a tough one. I started distance running for health purposes. but I continue to run because I love it.
It’s the best way to connect with nature., but that said, I don’t mind a treadmill run either.
Many runners are connected to pace and improvement. I used to be but no longer.
Yeah, I thought strides was an interesting choice there. His explanation for the importance of strides is that they improve your form and get you faster over the years. But it doesn’t seem like it fits in the category with the rest of them.
I run because I enjoy it & it’s one of very few athletic ventures I can do with some finesse. Hmmm… maybe it’s an ego thing LOL About the number of miles… I’m not into all the Garmin stats, but I do want to my distance (hence, the number of miles). Several years ago, myself & some friends trained for a 12-hour overnight ultra. We were in different cities, but two of the gals trained by “time” and I could not grasp running for xx minutes/hours & not worrying about the actual miles…
Wait, you trained for an overnight ultra???? That sounds epic!!! I do think that’s a lure of running- you don’t have to be skilled the way you would be to play a lot of other sports.
Oh, good question, Jenny. I’ll have to think about this one for a few days like you.
My first thought was because it calms me down and I feel satisfied when I come back from a run. It releases all the feel-good hormones and I’ve become addicted to it.
Unfortunately, I’m quite competitive, so tracking all the miles and seeking improvement plays well into that.
Yes, it’s funny how there’s that relaxing feel-good side and the competitive side as well!
I love this post! My all-purpose lifelong answer is “because I have a lot of energy and it needs to go somewhere”. In this phase of life, the answer is also “because I want to see what my body can do” (which partly explains why I track all of my data). Before I was a runner, cardio was key to losing and maintaining weight. Today I feel like running is a roadblock to losing those last ten pounds, but also it’s just ten pounds so I don’t have a lot of motivation there to start with.
Keeping track of all of the data is a gray area….yeah kind of as a way to measure progress, but there’s something more to it than that. Garmin, Strava, SmashRun, etc, etc, plus an Excel sheet. I think that tracking numbers is probably a separate hobby/obsession. What can I say, I’m an accountant.
Hmm! That’s a good point- maybe there’s the running part and separately, the numbers part. You feel like running is keeping you from losing the last ten pounds? I’m curious to know why. I would agree with you that it’s not worth it- keep the running and the pounds!
oh I am going to have to think about my statement of purpose! I run for my health and also because it makes me feel strong. Not sure that is specific enough. Something to think about for sure
Those are good reasons! Running makes me feel strong and also young. There’s a whole list of reasons and it’s hard to distill it down to one purpose.
Interesting question. I don’t log my Miles weekly and even wear a watch. So I don’t know my pace.
Racing used to be different. I was pretty obsessed with speed and awards.
My purpose is vague. I need to work on it.
Great post.
Darlene, you are definitely in the minority! But it goes to show, you don’t need to record every mile and pace to enjoy running.