Running til the End (of the Story)

Recently I took up running.  I've never been a runner, no one in my family is a runner - well Bob ran some while in the military - I've tried running before, and that normally lasts about 2-3 weeks before I give up and go back to being a walker, elliptical exerciser, or just a lazy person.

But a friend is doing a 200 mile relay race in September to raise money Camp Calumet and in order to help her train she has signed up for various 5Ks, including a Run or Dye in Hartford in July.  The other year when a different friend ran a Color Run (same idea, different name) I said that if I ever ran a 5K it would be one where by the end you look like an Easter egg and nobody cares about the time, just that they are coated in color powder.  So to support my friend, I signed up to run a 5K.

And here is the odd thing - I can run a 5K fairly easily - I actually have been running at least a 5K 2-4 times a week for the last two months.  And I have even increased my distance, now running 4.25 miles on most of those runs.

Now most runners I know, take a while to find their groove - their pace, their route and even what they listen to while running.  Many find music helpful to their running, keeping pace with the music.  Others enjoy the sounds of nature.  Well I tried the later and immediately get bored, and the former doesn't work for me as I have bad cell reception were I run meaning listening to Pandora or Spotify on my phone doesn't work.

Instead I have found NPR podcast.

Yep that is me, listening to radio personalities like Ira Glass, Peter Sagal, Jad Abumrad or even those who are on the radio for the first time telling personal stories on The Moth.

And I have found myself doing something odd for me, the non-runner, and lover of NPR.  Instead of being one of those NPR listeners who sit in the car in the driveway as they wait for the story to finish, I run until the story has ended.

Isn't that a great metaphor for life - that we should run until the story, our story, has ended?