Obsessed Runner Blog
2024.11.13 - The elusive enjoyable run
What happens on the run is not totally explainable. How can working so hard to get from point A to point B become our passion? I’ve been asked this through life, “Do you really enjoy running, it seems hard and pointless?” Always followed up with, “I hate running.” I get it that they don’t get it. Some days the run is as hard and seems as dumb as the sedentary world portrays it, but once it’s over, we are always happy we got out the door. But then, some runs are magically effortless and take us to a state of nirvana, runs that we wish would never end.
I believe that it takes a lot of runs, a lot of miles, to fully understand the run and its nuances before it becomes a passion. I seriously think everyone has the potential to become a passionate runner, including all the run haters. The obstacle to our sport is the time and hard miles it takes to finally get to, and understand the magic of the run. I’m so glad we made it through the gauntlet, I am so glad to be a runner. Let’s keep trying to explain the unexplainable and help change the lives of our sedentary friends.
May todays’ run be magical,
Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner who continues to attempt to bring more people into the light, or perhaps it may be better explained as over to the dark side. Magic is mystically cool stuff!
2024.10.30 - Running Sunday!
Football owns the front page when it comes to sports, so when Ruth Chepngetich shattered the woman’s marathon record in Chicago, on a football Sunday no less, this news was hidden from the world. Ruth ran 2:09:56, 4:55 per mile, less than 2 minutes slower than the first American male. Just sayin’. We understand personal records, we know what it means to train, we participate in the same sport as Ruth, we are runners, we are the athletes, no matter what the pace. On the other hand, I’m guessing the majority of football fans have never played on a team. I’m not against football, I admit I’m excited for the Lions, I’m just sad a marathon world record, or our sport, is not worthy of the front page. We may be armchair quarterbacks on Sunday afternoon, but we can be proud of our own weekend run, proud of our own performance and stats. Your name deserves to be on the back of YOUR jersey. Run like you own the team, you do! Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner on my one person team, who is proud of everyone who plays our game.2024.10.16 - Run a mile when you have no time to
We all have days, weeks, even years when the world overwhelms us. Periods of our live that are all consuming, it’s not right or wrong, just reality. Family crisis, impossible work deadlines, medical nightmares, deaths, hurricanes … Tragedy is a part of life, it will find us. During these times we may go for days without a run. The run may stay out of reach, or for sure seem out of reach, but, getting out the door for just a mile or two may be an important part of mental survival, something that keeps you intact and able to function. Forget long runs, but enough to breath, and to be in a different moment, to feel the natural world. Like plugging in a phone at 8% for just a couple minutes and finding it at 40%. If you run yourself to zero, what you thought was the worst will surely be the worst. Take an unselfish few minutes to be of value to others.
Run when you’re sure you can’t,
Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner who writes this stuff to himself, because the concept is a difficult one to pull off during dark times.