Is running like kale: you only do it because it’s good for you?

This week was the big one in Sun Run training – the week you really take it up a notch and almost run a 10K.

The training program for the Run Faster group calls for a 65-minute run where you have to brisk run for a total of 27 minutes in intervals of five, three and one minute over the run. It was challenging. But it was also a sign of how far we’ve come since starting back on Jan. 19.

It was a beautiful night and even though our group has shrunk a bit since we started two months ago, everyone seemed to enjoy the run. We almost hit the nine kilometre-mark (it would have been longer except we hit a few traffic lights while out.)

So now that I’m at this mini-milestone – I have pondering the question that many training for the Sun Run ask themselves: Do I like running?

Is running like kale? I just eat it because it’s good for me? Yet I constantly search for recipes to help make it more palatable.

I like that I can run, especially being in my mid-50s. There are times while running that I feel really good, mostly because I reach the point where it seems almost effortless. I love the feeling of satisfaction after I’ve done a run. But there are still times when running is not fun and I don’t like it, but I do it anyway.

So the short answer is that I’m not sure I know whether I like running or not. Or if it’s as simple as liking it at all. We have many relationships in life that are complicated, whether with friends, family or work.

My relationship with running is complicated too. It changes from day to day – sometimes from minute to minute when out on the road or trail.

But like most of the complicated relationships I have, I think it has generally improved my life!

Sunday update:

I wiped out at Pacific Spirit  Park today. Not a spectacular wipe-out. But I tripped on a tree root on Council Trail and went down hard. At first I thought `this is it, I won’t be doing the Sun Run after all.’ I banged my right knee and shin. And there was blood from rocks and the root. It hurt. I dragged myself up and decided I would have to walk out.

After limping for about 50 metres, I tried running on it. It still hurt, but no more than it did when I was walking. So I turned around and carried on with my run. And I finished it in decent time! The knee’s is stiff now, but I think it will be fine.