Think about it, we get to run.

We don’t have to run, but many of us do.

As we step out the door to run today or tomorrow, think about how fortunate we are to be able to challenge ourselves physically and yes, mentally each time we get to run.

Running is not always easy or even the first priority on our to do list for most of us. As a result all too often you hear runners use words like: have to, drudgery, struggle, grind, chore, and all those other negative terms we use when talking or writing about running to describe our relationship with it.

Why do we talk so negatively about running and yet continue to go out and do it so often?

I will be honest and admit that I have used all those negative words and more to describe how I am feeling too many times before getting out the door for my run.

Why? I really do not know, but an old Chief Boatswain’s Mate once told me that a “bitchin sailor is a happy sailor and when they aren’t bitchin about something, something is wrong.”

So I guess a bitchin running is a happy runner. Because we do an awful lot of bitchin about our injuries, how we are feeling, our running shoes and everything else we can think of before, during and after our runs.

As much as I might complain about my running, for me my running has evolved over the years into something that I get to do versus the idea of having to run. Running is something that I am lucky enough to still be able to do, after so many years. Yes, I can honestly say that I enjoy running more now than I ever thought would be possible.

Even if running is something that I might complain about too much and can be damned hard to do at times.

You know like – a challenge.

What about you, how do you see your running? Is it something you get to do or have to do?