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The Pikes Peak Region has inspired people for hundreds or even thousands of years. It is a place for good ol' fashioned introspection.
Next time you're out, ask yourself: Why do you run? Why do you ride? Then share your answers with us. Could make for some great reading. Who knows, your words may inspire others to lace 'em up and start down a new path.
I'll go first. Why do I run? Because when I run I am 16 again and the world shines with possibility in every stride.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dave Adair on
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I ride because I can't imagine what it would be like not to. When undergoing chemo two years ago, I still rode and did the incline. I even carried that &*(@)!$ chemo bag up the incline. Not because I was trying to prove anything, but because I wanted my life to be normal and normal means riding/hiking/skiing/climbing.
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Permalink Reply by Pikes Peak Sports on
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This is from PikesPeakSports.us member Rebekka Hannula:
" I run so I can stay young for my grandsons and to keep them supplied with medals:-)"
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Permalink Reply by Brian McCarrie on
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This is a tough question. I started running in college mostly because I had a bunch of friends on the track team and my roommate was a runner, so I started running. It turned into a way for me to feel more alive, a way for me to feel like I"m a part of nature, a way to stay fit but more so a way to push myself and to test myself. Now I run because it's a part of me. If I don't, I feel like I"m missing out on something. I especially love running trails when no one else is around and all you can here are your feet hitting the ground and your own breath and feel your heart beating. I just love it.
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Permalink Reply by Nicole Odell on
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I rode my bike a lot as a kid - I could get to the parks/playgrounds quickly that way. Didn't run much unless it was playing football with the neighborhood boys. I high school I avoided PE like the plague...was more focused on band and my studies. In college I ran a little to try to lose some weight and rode my bike to get around campus. Then I started Taekwondo and that was my sport, but for some reason I always owned a bike so in grad school when my mountain bike got stolen, I replaced it with a used road bike....
Then I move to Colorado and sell the bike before moving, but eventually get a new mountain bike and ride a little. I just always had to have a bike around! Then I get an itch to try triathlon in 2006 with Team In Training...
I discovered my new love!!!! I thoroughly enjoy the sport, but there is much more to it than that. We have unlimited running and riding challenges living here, fantastic people to meet, and incredible views every time we go outside. That's why I ride and run.
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Permalink Reply by carley hyman on
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It's very simple. I run for serenty.
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Permalink Reply by Bill Schmeister on
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I have always loved to ride bikes on the eastern plains of Colorado. I just wish I would have had more push and opportunities as a kid to build on that skill. I did not my first 10 mile ride when I was about 12. Then when I was 17, I rode about 30 miles on dirt back roads to visit a girl I wanted to date.
Move 25 years in to the future, and my mom just passed away from heart failure. After a visit to the cardiologist, to evaluate my risks, I learn my cholesterol is slightly in the high range, and with my family history, he suggests medication to bring it down. I decline and tell the doctor that I can bring it down with diet and exercise. Nearly two years later, I have been able to drop over 50 points from my total cholesterol and lose 10 pounds. To do this, I ride my mountain bicycle 5-6 days a week for 90 to 150 minutes each, or only 45 minutes if limited to stationary bike or treadmill due to travel and weather. Plus I have modified my diet a little - little to me that is.
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Permalink Reply by Ty on
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I run so that when the bears attack that I am the fastest in the group
Seriously, I run because I enjoy it - I feel good when I am out there for a quick lunch time run or going for a long training run. The running community in CoSpgs is awesome and all the support from every runner out there just helps me to keep going
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Permalink Reply by Wade Genova on
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I run because I used to wrestle. Huh? I was very competitive in wrestling for 20 years (former National Team Member and Olympic Alternate). As I approached 50 years old, last year, I was still missing the challenge of competition but didn't think I wanted to beat myself up on the wrestling mats so I signed up for a road race. My first race was the Austin Marathon. I am now hooked on competing in road races and triathlons of all distances.
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Permalink Reply by Vicki McCann on
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I run to win. To win a happy, healthy body and maybe my age group once in a while.
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Permalink Reply by Vanessa Shawver on
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Below is my favorite passage on this topic:
Why do I run?
Those who don't can't understand.
The pain is real, everyday. Is it easier now? Not really--
The same pain I felt the first day I began,
only easier to cover greater distances in shorter periods of time.
The pain is the same, and I understand it always will be.
I dread it, and in a sense I crave it.
Why do I run?
To stay in shape, to keep my health, to feel better--all partial reasons,
I suppose. The real reason is confirmation--confirmation
that I am in control. Every day I must make a choice--a choice
to experience pain and discomfort in order to achieve a higher goal or to give in to
the body's urging to do something else more comforting and pleasurable.
Who is in control? My body, or me? Every time I run, I verify to me that
I am in control and that I can be the master of my own destiny.
That is ultimately why I run.
I feel guilty when I don't run-- when the body wins
Running is a test of my strength-- Not just my physical--but my mental.
Running is a challenge of my "will"-- of mind over matter, of me
against myself. Running is mental conditioning as well
as physical. It's therapy of the "will" for me.
Each run is success--the richest and most deeply satisfying.
Strangely but unmistakenly tied to self-discipline, self-denial and self-control.
In a world where I often feel helpless, victimized and controlled, running
helps revive feelings of hope, strength, and conviction that
I can make a difference and I can be responsible for me.
An addiction or choice, you say. And you're right--there's a danger.
So long as I "choose," the value remains true and real.
So long as I control running and not
running—me. Positive addiction or not, the value
is in choosing. When the choice is gone, I become
controlled and victimized again, One more thing in my life that tells me
I am not in control, that I am simply a pawn of fate and circumstance.
I must run as a choice, not out of necessity or its real value again is gone from me.
Why do I run?
I run for success, success in the ultimate contest.
The contest of me against myself.
***James Loehr’s book “Mental Toughness Training for Sports”- Chapter 1***
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Permalink Reply by Tim Bergsten on
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Here is a quote by Kara Goucher that I swiped from Runner's World. It fits the theme here.
"When I run by myself I have my most intimate thoughts. I look for meaning in some of my important memories, I work through present difficulties, and I try to chart the best course for my future. I also do a lot of dreaming when I run. I can't tell you how many state championships I won in my mind back in high school, how many NCAA titles I won in my fantasies at the University of Colorado, and how many Olympic medals and major marathons I've won in my head in the past few years."
Kara, it seems, runs to set her mind free. She runs to dream.
Why do you run (or ride)?
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Permalink Reply by Colleen Sharkey on
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I run because I can't conquer it. It pushes me out of my comfort zone, makes me fight harder to become a faster and stronger runner.
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