Why Do You Hate Fun?

A rookie running coach on just having a good time.

If you were to ask someone who runs casually why they do it, what do you suppose their answer would be?

A conversation with one of my closest friends, a former teammate in college who I still run with.

Most are driven by a goal like a desired waist size or upcoming race. Something to provide them a sense of accomplishment as a direct result of their hard work.

This isn’t to say that these are bad reasons by any means, but our culture of overachievement is getting in the way of just enjoying the basic act of putting one foot in front of the other.

That’s silly.

I was running with my friend quoted above in Central Park the other day and I saw so much despair and pain in the faces of runners we passed by. At one point I wanted to stop them and ask “why are you doing this?” Look at the faces of some fellow joggers on your next run and just count the number of people who look absolutely miserable.

The ultimate irony that I see is when athletes stress so much about their regimen that they would end up better off just walking for half a mile and relaxing for the day. The negative effects of increased stress and cortisol far outweigh the benefits of your workout regimen, especially for extended periods.

This is what I tell my athletes when they go through this: