Why I Run

There are a lot of different reasons that I run. Every once in awhile I'll post about one of them.

I'm a very laid back person, I just go with the flow. If you graph my emotions throughout a day it would pretty much be a flat line. It's not so much that I hide my emotions as it is that I don't have any to show. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a robot. From time to time I do have emotions and I'm not afraid to show them. When my Grandpa died I cried, when I gave a speech at my wedding I got choked up (some might say I cried). When I found out about that I could go to Ireland with Amy and get school credit for it I was ecstatic. When the trip was postponed a year I was disappointed (I'm not real confident it is ever going to happen, but I am very hopeful). Both times I found out my favorite band, The Doors, were going to play close by I was excited, when both shows were canceled I was disappointed and upset. I rant about things with some regularity but they don't really bother me enough for me to do anything about them. To Amy's dismay it's just that I enjoy ranting.

When I run I feel a lot of different things though. Sometimes I'm excited about an upcoming run, sometimes I dread it. When a race is coming up I get excited and full of anticipation. As I'm running I'll feel pain and have to fight through it. If I do fight through it I feel a certain amount of joy and pride. If I let it get the best of me I get frustrated and/or upset. Of course I have to mention the runner's high that one gets after a race knowing they left it all on the course.

I run so I can feel.

I'm not trying to say the pride of breaking through the wall compares one iota to the joy of finding that special someone and marrying them. Or that the disappointment of giving in when it hurts and walking up that hill or skipping a run is even a fraction of a percent of the pain that comes with losing someone you love. But when I run I do feel something, and that keeps me running.

Why do you run?

First Post

Welcome to my blog. I'm going to use this blog mostly as my running journal. Hopefully it will keep me motivated and accountable for my training and my goals.

--- A little about me ---
My name is Brandon. I'm 25 and I live in Kearney, NE with my wonderful wife Amy. We've been out here for a couple of years now. I'm a computer programmer at Cabela's and Amy runs a daycare and teaches preschool for the kids of the staff at a nursing home.

Earlier this year I decided to start running again. I signed up for a 5k and started training. That lasted a couple weeks, then I took the month before the race off but I ran the race anyway. I was hurting a few minutes into it and I stopped and walked many times during it. I ended up running a 29:09 and feeling like a loser. This actually motivated me to run because I did so bad I realized how out of shape I really was. Amy decided to start running after that race too.

We both signed up for a two mile race that was three weeks after my 5k and set somewhat lofty goals. I wanted to break 15 and Amy wanted to break 20. We both ran pretty consistently for the three weeks until the race and it paid off. I ran a 14.53 and Amy ran a 19.55. I'm still a little surprised that I actually made my goal. That run was just this past Saturday so that pretty much takes us to today.