"In vacant or in pensive mood..." I am: Bekah; 24; Law Student / Favorite Things: Carbs (so there!), Johnny Damon, Smiling at babies, Grilled cheese, Comfortable silence / Favorite Supreme Court Justice: Brennan / Favorite Wilson: Owen by an inch / Today's Special: Song: Elliott Smith, "Bled White"; Quote: "You know, there's like a butt-load of gangs at this school. This one gang kept wanting me to join because I'm pretty good with a bowstaff." Please love me: mmbekah@yahoo.com


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Is there such a thing as a latent runner?

There was a period in my life when I could call myself a runner without reservation. I ran a minimum of 6 miles a day, with a few 9 mile runs thrown in, and a 10-12 mile run on the weekend. I was, admittedly, addicted. If I missed a day, I forced myself to make up the mileage. There was even a period of several months where I had to adorn my feet with a complicated combination of duct tape and vaseline just to be able to get through a run without my blisters bleeding through my socks. Tasty.

The first year of law school, however, forced me to put a stop to my obsessiveness. It was a combination of the workload and the weather that did me in. When it's 95 degrees outside and you have 200 pages of reading for the next day, a run is not first on your list of priorities. So I started spinning, and running every once in a while when the temperature dropped enough to be able to breathe. But those sporadic runs just didn't feel the same. They weren't automatic. I didn't feel the emptiness I used to feel when I missed a day.

Given my 1L experience, my question now is: am I still a runner? If a painter stops painting for a year, does that mean he stops being an artist? Or is there something more fundamental--something that makes me remain a runner, even if I've been on a somewhat year-long hiatus? I went for a run this morning, and it was absolutely incredible. I just woke up and felt like I had to run. The weather was perfect. My feet felt great. I got that feeling again, like this could be a running rebirth. Huge stuff.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I find it interesting that as soon as the temperature drops below 90, people feel the need to wear sweatshirts and jackets: "It's a blustery 88 degrees, I better break out my parka."

posted by Bekah at 9:25 AM :: |