WOW! Right? Bite your tongue Katie!
But I’m serious and I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately as I’ve been on a quest to get back to basics. And NO, I’m not breaking up with running and I’m not recommending you do either. It’s just a question.
It all started when I got my heart rate tests. Turns out I just have a naturally high heart rate and as a result it doesn’t take as much to get my heart rate up to 185 or so. Take, for example, yesterday’s run…I sped up, I could’ve gotten more out of my legs but I was winded. I looked at my HRM and saw a 190, then I looked at my pace and saw a not so appealing 9:15.
My conclusion…my heart and legs aren’t on the same page and possibly never will be.
My next thought was…Is it physically possible for me to improve? How do I accept who I am…a slower runner than I would like to be? Then somehow I made the drastic leap to…
What if I weren’t a runner at all? *GASP*
Asking this question plays out in my head similarly to the inkblot test.
“What do you see when you look at this?” INSERT INKBLOT THAT LOOKS LIKE A COW WITH A MOHAWK
Would I be a bodybuilder? Nope, probably not. I just don’t fit the image that immediately comes to mind.
A Yogi? No chance. Not because I don’t want to be but again, I just don’t fit the image in my head.
A cyclist? HA! I am what I would call a “wanna be”. I wanna be able to ride and love it but it’s just not ingrained in me. I’ll do it but it wouldn’t be my go-to.
Wouldn’t it be a fun if we could all sit down with a sketch artist and describe what each of these look like in our minds. I would love to compare.
What do you think you would gravitate towards? Do you think you would seek out a new label? I don’t know the answer but I just found it interesting to ask.
I guess what I took away from asking the question is well….nothing.
There isn’t a next-in-line for me. After running, everything else just kind of averages out. Well I guess volleyball but my days of daily volleyball are LONG over.
What about you? What if you weren’t a runner?
I say, do what you love the most, and if that means running, well then STICK WITH IT!!!! 🙂 It is so weird to think about what I would be like if I didn’t work out – What I do know though is that I would be SUPER GROUCHY! lol!!!
Running, isn’t about going fast… it’s about running. At some point, we all stop being able to run our fastest, so we alter our goals. Try a trail race where endurance is more of the goal, rather than speed. Try longer distances where you have to maintain a pace, rather than sprint.
Or… ummm… become a unicyclist.
I’ve thought about this when I’ve been injured. It sucks not being able to run but being able to move and sweat is just as important to me. You gotta do what ya gotta do! I have a friend who was a runner for life until she hurt her ankle so bad that she’s no longer able to run more than a mile without pain. She switched to cycling and loves it but says it’s not nearly even close to her first love, running.
I’ve actually had to consider that question seriously lately because of some injuries. If I ever do have to put running aside, I will channel my energy into something I CAN do. I know I can transfer the love in some ways but I will always be a runner at heart.
I too spent most of last year pondering the same thing. Not running forced me to pursue avenues I didn’t think I liked as much: like cycling and hiking. It also got me back in the gym. While they are not running, they all grew on me, and I am better off for it. Making peace with the level/intensity of running that is right for me was not easy, but it can be done. Hugs!
I think running for me is about spending time in solitude to relax and regroup and pray most times – even when I don’t run I make time to do those things and also repair injuries / T25 and teaching group fitness is now how I get in that time to release!
life is funny, isn’t it? i’m not a runner (right now) but hope to go back to it someday. luckily, there are so many options in the fitness world!
Funny question that you have posed. Made me realize, I couldn’t be a Yogi…I don’t have that kind of calm and patience. I couldn’t be a biker…I’m a klutz and like to run into things. Body builder? Eh…I’d be lopsided. I only like to work my core and lower body and tended to slack where my arms are concerned. I’m really not sure…Here’s to hoping I never have to stop running.
As someone who would have to stop doing everything else in her life to train to BQ, I say just keep running. I agree with PavementRunner. Look into trail running more, and just enjoy the run.
If I couldn’t run anymore, I’d go full force into classes. I’m currently obsessed with a local fusion training, Unite Fitness, but I’d get back into spinning, yoga, kickboxing, etc.
I’ve tried to become more balanced and do a variety of exercises but running is always my first love! Nothing else comes close… as you said… I just get bored so much more quickly. Do what you love!
I couldn’t run for a while, and ended up in Crossfit. So I bet I would end up in something that is a little challenging. Probably would end up doing all the classes at lifetime- ha ha! However I would have to run or hike just to find a way to be outside.
For me running is running. There will never be a substitute, even if I can’t get my heart rate and my legs to cooperate. Just do what makes you happy!
I think you should do what you love. Otherwise, you may not do it at all (talking about me here lol)! I’ve come to terms with the fact that I am a slow runner (your 9’s are fast for me) and I am happy just being out there and enjoying the journey!
There will actually come a time (aka when we decide to have babies) that I will have to give-up running. Not forever, but for a while – likely a year+. And I think my second love would be yoga!
But the idea of giving up running pains me slightly!
I have actually asked myself this question before. You think about weird things while out on runs…. I am still not sure of the answer but I know I would still be active.
Before I was a runner I was a walker! I just loved being outside and spending time with others while getting in some exercise! Like Mindy said, it’s just about enjoying the journey!
Before I was a runner I was a walker! I just loved being outside and spending time with others while getting in some exercise! Like Mindy said, it’s just about enjoying the journey!
I was a ballet dancer before I was a runner. I imagine that if I wasn’t a runner, I’d go back to my first love of ballet. But it’s really hard to imagine!
Sadly, I am in the same category. With injuries, I wish I did have a close second, something that would fill me up as much, but it doesn’t exist!
You are always you. Running doesn’t define you, it’s merely a big part of your life at this juncture in time. Not being able to run for 9 years and then getting to for 2 and then having to give it up again possibly for good has been a challenge, but it has shown me my resilience and flexibility and openness. I miss running a lot and hope to try again but I am no longer labeled or defined by my choice of activity. Good luck to you 🙂
Running was like a close friend I relied on a lot and when it fell out of the picture (LAST MAY) I realized CrossFit and other fitness activities couldn’t replace it. Perhaps running was TOO big a part of my life that I just deflated to doing nothing when it left and my desire to be active partially went with it. So, if I wasn’t a runner, I obviously wouldn’t be anything else in terms of a sport I do for hobby. I would still do something but…it took me nearly 4 years to “become a runner”…so it could take another 4 years of doing something else, like cycling, before I’d consider myself a cyclist. Bah!
It’s definitely something I’ve been thinking about since my last marathon. With a strain of crazy life events post race I feel like my running is so off from where it was, then add the weight gain.. maybe I shouldn’t run!? Then I’m like, why?? It’s what I love. I just have to get back to the runner I was pre-marathon and like another suggested, maybe I’m not suppose to always run at a faster pace.
I’ve been asking myself this a lot recently, because I’m dealing with a foot injury. It feels *okay* to speed walk. It hurts when I run (and trust me when I say that my running and my speed walking aren’t that different with pace). So, I suppose if I couldn’t run, I would speed walk. Or swim. Or bike. Or do hot yoga. I can’t NOT move though – that’s just not an option!
I am not one thing. I do the things I enjoy…no labels 🙂
Yes!
I used to do a whole bunch of different martial arts, but had settled in with Jiu-Jitsu when I took a bad fall and got a herniated disc in my C6-C7 vertebrae. Once it was diagnosed with an MRI, I went to a Sports Medicine doctor (I was experiencing a lot of related symptoms that needed massage, chiro, accupuncture and physiotherapy to manage) who recommended I simply give it up. Forever. I walked out of the practice and started crying. A grown man of 34 crying on the sidewalk. I’ve made a lot of recovery and still get on the mats from time to time just for kicks (pun intended), but I’ve mostly moved on from there… but that’s what I would choose as a replacement for running/triathlon.
This post really resonates with me and where I am right now with running and life. I was a former high school and college 400 meter sprinter. It wasn’t until a few years ago, when I turned 35, that I really returned to running. I picked up my consistency and mileage and ran a few 5ks, then 10ks and finally three half marathons. Now, I do wonder what lies ahead for me with running/racing. I will be 39 years old in April. In my heart I know that I want to run forever. Years from now I just want to run because it makes me feel good.
I tend to stick to things I love (I know, I need to try new things) but I LOVE running and yoga. If I weren’t a runner I would become a yoga instructor!
Karen @karenlovestorun
I’ve taken breaks from running. Short breaks. I did not find the same comfort in lifting weights, spinning, body pump, etc. I love it. I am not breaking world records, or even local records. Don’t care. I run for me. And that is enough.
I too have a really fast heart rate. My resting heart rate is 70-80. Seriously. I have to love all the things about my body, even my rabbit paced heart.
Runners find peace with themselves out on the road. And that is why we run.
Keep running!
I’d be sad. I cannot imagine not being a runner. I may be slower than most, but I still love it.
If I wasn’t a runner I’d go back to being a rower which was my original passion or perhaps try something new and become a yoga instructor but I think my flexibility might greatly need to improve 🙂 You will find your best pace and I am guessing running will continue to be your passion 🙂
I guess this is one place where my exercise ADD comes in handy. I just like doing so many different things and I try to keep a variety of things in my life. So if I couldn’t run, I would be really really really sad, but I would move on to something else.
Running is so much my first love that this is hard to answer! I do love to lift, but mainly to supplement my running. I also love yoga, but I hear you on not feeling like I ‘fit’ the yoga mould. Maybe hiking? That would be the closest approximation I can think of. Good question, Katie!
This is an amazing post! I’m talking about it on my blog tomorrow because it’s seriously that awesome. I don’t think I’d be very active without running, so I’m not sure what I would be! Probably a bit heavier with a higher cholesterol level 🙁