A Case for Running: Because Now You Have To

I've given you 9 ( I think that's right) reasons why you should become a runner.  I hope the majority have started their running journeys well before I got to the 9th reason.  So this is my last Case for Running.  My tenth reason is that you have to.  I know it sounds like a lame reason.  You might say, "Well, I don't HAVE to do anything!"  If you've become a runner, you may know what I'm talking about.  This sport isn't something that will give you up very easily.  Even if you had to drop the sport for every pregnancy, injury or life altering circumstance, many of you have found your way back, or rather the sport has found you again.  All the wonderful benefits, all the times you were hit with a truck load of endorphines, all the races you've competed in, all the times you beat your last time or ran farther than last time; it's all just too good to give up and you find that you can't.  Running becomes a lifestyle, not just something we chose to keep the love handles away.  When you really get into it and for all the reasons I've listed over the last few months, it becomes a part of who you are.  If you've become a runner, then now you have to run, because to go back to spending too much time on the couch is just not an option anymore. 

I'll tell you what running has done to change me.  If I'm driving and I pass a runner, I have to resist the urge to screech to a stop and jump out and run with them.  When I hear any of my running mix songs, I get antsy to get out and pound the pavement.  When I'm depressed or life just sucks, I no longer turn to food or other self-destructive behaviors, I got out and run.  If I hear anyone complaining about their weight or the way they look, I immediately go into a prepared sermon on the wonders of running until I'm sure I'm about to get decked in the face. 
I have to do this!  I have to run.  That's the best reason.  So much of the time I think we suppose that we'll do an exercise routine until we've reached some arbitrary goal.  But that's pretty flawed thinking.  You need to change an entire portion of your life if you want to be healthy and fit.  Why not change into runner....for good? 

So I'm going to assume that I convinced you a long time ago and you are now a runner.  And you've probably made the realization that I've stated above that now you have to do this, you simply have to run.  If you haven't become a runner, go back to my first reason and read through them all over again until you become a runner and you'll understand this last Case for Running.

If you've become a runner, you are stronger, you are faster, you are healthier, you are happier.  And because of all of that, you have to keep going.  Don't stop.  Never stop.