Press "B" to Run

There are a lot of really great things I could say about running that explain why I do it.  I could tell you that it makes me feel energized for the rest of the day, which is true.  I could also tell you that it is a great way to get in shape and shed some weight, which again is true.  Or I could tell you that it feeds my competitive nature and that passing just one more person keeps me going in a race, so very true.  Except that isn't what I am going to focus on at all.  Here is the silliest reason of all I run, especially on trails, and sometimes even enjoy it: Video games.  And yes, I am serious.

I grew up in a household with two older brothers, which meant for me that no one played Barbies or Dress-up(not that anyone could get me in a dress back then).  Instead I played video games with my big brothers, when I was allowed to, and got my butt handed to me time and again.  We played any game really, but my favorites were the role-playing games like Final Fantasy.  Now part of the reason I liked these so much is because there was no competition and so I couldn't lose to my siblings, and I was a sore loser to be sure.  So what does this have to do with running?  Everything.

Running on a trail is a lot like running in a game like Oblivion, you want to get to point "B" from point "A" but you can't just drive a car, and you are far too broke to buy that horse you want.  So what do you do to get to there?  You run, for as long as you can and as far as you can.  Then when you can run no longer you are forced to walk until you regain some stamina.  I should mention this isn't the case in Skyrim where like most games you can run forever.  So for me this is a lot like my running routine.  I go out and run as far as I can, always a little further than the last time, and when I just don't have anything left to give I walk.  This repeats over and over again and eventually I look back at my first time out and realize just how far I have come.

That is what happened this past weekend for me.  I ran in my first ever Half-Marathon and never once stopped.  So here is what that means.  My first run of this year was late March(I believe) where mom and I went out and managed a while 1 mile in about 14 minutes.  As a runner I can tell you - that is slow.  As of this last weekend I ran 13.1 miles in just under 2 hours and 45 minutes, a HUGE improvement from the start.  Now as silly as it is, when I am running along I sometimes imagine I am a character from Oblivion running to increase my endurance just one more level.  I can't say my level is maxed out yet - but I can say I have definitely been leveling up!  

So, what level are you today?