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BENEFITS
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BENEFITSMost of us probably take running and the lifestyle that accompanies it for granted. But every once in a while we're reminded how different we are from the general population. One of these moments came last month. I own two cars and wouldn't you know it, both cars needed work at the same time (a corollary of Murphy's Law). Well, you all know what a hassle getting a car worked on can be! And one of the worst parts is getting back and forth from home to the garage and vise versa. The task always seems to involve another person, rental car (or lender), a long wait or something of the sort.
For a runner, the solution to such problems can be remarkably simple. For example, I drove my Datsun from San Carlos to the mechanic in Lemon Grove. After checking it in I ran home. When the car was ready the next day, I ran back to Lemon Grove to pick it up. Round trip: 13 miles.
Two days later, I drove my Toyota to the dealer in El Cajon, checked it in and ran home. The next day I ran back to pick it up. Round trip: 13 miles. No problem. No hassle. Just 26 miles of running split into four segments. The whole episode represented nothing more than routine daily workouts. Any veteran runner could do it. But you ought to see the reaction of the garage personnel. Evidently, this way of doing things must be a very rare event in their lives!
Runners are different in lots of other ways too. For example, I try to avoid many modern labor-saving conveniences. Elevators are one; I almost always take the stairs. Furthermore, I prefer to run up and down stairs rather than walk. It must look a bit weird to a 55-year-old man to be running up and down stairways, but who cares?
At San Diego State where I work, I park on the ground floor of a parking structure. Then on some mornings I climb five flights of stairs to a footbridge crossing over College Avenue to the campus. I jog up the stairway. Upon reaching the top my heart is pounding, but it feels good, I enjoy the mini-workout, and it helps me to wake up. One morning, I met a colleague in the parking structure and we began chatting. So I decided to take the elevator with him. Well, wouldn't you know it, the elevator was out of order that morning (Murphy's Law again). No problem; the stairway was nearby.
We started walking up the stairs chatting as we went. But after a few floors I was doing all the talking and my companion seemed to lag back somewhat. I didn't think much of it and kept going. When we reached the top, I turned toward him and was shocked at his appearance. His face was flushed and looked puffy. Terror was evident in his eyes. This man was in trouble! I immediately suggested we stop for a moment and catch our breath and I began to look for a way to handle the situation. Fortunately, he recovered after a few minutes and we proceeded on to the campus.
What a frightening experience! I suppose many people who lead sedentary lives might have similar difficulties getting up five flights of stairs. What a sad commentary on the fitness level of the general population. To a runner, of course, the effort is nothing. How wonderful to be in condition where you don't even have to think about such things.
Well, the above stories probably don't mean much to a runner. Even the average runner is in such good physical condition that he or she could perform tasks that would dumbfound the general public. And we do it all the time, of course. Every long training run or race is beyond the comprehension of most of our sedentary brethren.
But if runners are in such good physical condition and can travel long distances with ease, why do they all try to park as close to the registration area as they can get when attending a race?
March 1992
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