Runners think differently

Runners have a different way of looking at life. You will hear people say the following to runners; “You are crazy.” “You are not normal.” Runners see life and its ups and downs just as they see training; it is a proving ground and a chance to figure out how to rise above any challenge to the rewards waiting at the end. Here are some examples of the way a runner thinks.

There is a 15k next weekend, but Sally has not run more than four miles all week. A normal person would say “I have not trained for this; I’ll work at running more and do the next 15k in a month or two.” This would be a normal response but because Sally is a runner she says “15K? No training? Why not? No problem!” There is a can-do attitude among runners, a gritty I can do anything mentality.

The biggest difference between runners and nonrunners centers on injuries. Most people would say that they need to rest to heal whatever is injured. A runner does not see an injury as a need to stop but rather as a bump in the road that needs to be overcome. That’s why most runners have compression sleeves/socks/bands/ athletic tape and rollers of every variety. It’s not that we don’t want to let our bodies heal; we just don’t want to lose the result of all the hard work that we have already invested.

Although all runners would really like to be that person who finishes when most people are starting mile two, the truth is that runners see the real inspiration at the back of the pack. We admire that person who is struggling just to run at all because it takes courage and grit to start running and it takes, even more, to do it in a public forum surrounded by some of the fittest people in the county.

Runners always think they could have done better. Listen to the conversations after a race and see how many people are saying a version of if I had only done things differently scenario. Runners have goals that are constantly shifting and often becoming more demanding. They want to see growth or improvement.

Runners are some of the nicest people you will meet but they lie. I am guilty of saying “I think I am going to go nice and slow today. Do not believe this for a minute! Runners are the most competitive people on the planet. The go-slow today comment is to ensure that if the runner does not do well, he can just say that he was going slowly. Also do not believe the ploy that some runners use about having an injury, chances are that everything is in working order!

When runners are running distance, they are thinking about all the things that they would like to eat, nothing profound, just food!

Distance runners are the hardest for nonrunners to understand. When I started to do ultra-marathons, my family said, “You want to do how many miles?” When they saw the blisters, the black toe, and missing toenails, they looked at me as if I had lost my mind. Running distance is an exploration of what your body can do. I have learned a lot about how to fuel my body and become stronger.

If you love a runner, just understand that we are wonderful people to be around, but you sometimes have to struggle in order to figure us out!