I Hate Running. I Love Running.

Last week, I was driving to work down Lake Shore Drive. For a short while, I was behind a Volvo SUV which had the following sticker on it's window:

I smiled at the sight of it. Ok, I thought. I get it. You're sick of seeing the patchwork of 13.1, 26.2, 70.3 and 140.6 stickers on proud endurance athletes' vehicles. Or, quite simply, you really hate running.

I hear "I hate running" or "I would run, but I'm not a runner" a lot. Let me first say that I don't believe every person should run. I believe each person has to be focused on living an active and healthy life, and thus, should find an activity that they enjoy doing. If golf, tennis or Pilates is your thing, go do it and do it a lot. Do anything that gets you moving.

My relationship with running is a love/hate one. I think most runners would say the same. How can you possibly love it all the time? Sometimes you hate it - you have a bad run, an injury. And then (hopefully a short time later), you rekindle your romance with it.

I don't believe I was born a runner. I disliked running most of childhood. Even in high school I didn't like running - and I was on the track team. I had to decide that maybe running was ok before I started running, for lack of a better word, fun. It was a number of years after that before I fell in love with running and would call myself a runner.

Through the highs and lows, life carries on. As does your relationship with running. Maybe the "I hate running" people's journeys will evolve in time, too.