No Rules, just run!!

If there's a ten commandments of running, I've never seen it and you can bet that Madison Marathon Runner 573 (Michael Johnson) hasn't either. Who says you can't smile and be happy to see your niece (blondish blob on the bottom right corner of the picture) at mile 22? There are no rules to running whether you're just getting off the couch for the first time in a long time or you're at mile 22 of your first ever marathon (or any race over 5 miles in Michael's case).

There are three personalities that make great runners: stupid people because they don't know any better, smart people because they can look at the big picture and learn, and the third are people who don't care, people who don't limit what they can do by putting themselves on a bell shaped curve. Make your own rules, don't allow other people's rules of running slow you down or hold you back. Seek advice and be smart about what you do. If you want proof that rules don't apply, go volunteer a water station at a marathon. I had the pleasure of working the mile 25 water hole at the Madison Marathon yesterday. That's where you see the rule breakers: sure the leaders fly by running their sub three hour pace but then you start to see the running magic. . . women and men, short and fat, tall and skinny, Asics and barefoot, basketball shorts and an Amare Stoudemire jersey, men in all pink top and bottom with the matching compression socks. You try telling one of them some rules of thumb of running at that point and see what happens.

In the last 3 weeks I've found my rule of running, how contradicting is that since I just bashed all rules. Here goes: if you can't smile you're running to fast. If you're not able to smile, you're not enjoying what is truly happening and what you're accomplishing; you're running past the happiness and joy of what you're doing and if you can't smile it becomes work. Running was work for me, training was work for me. It was too much about how fast and how far and at what heart rate did it all happen. I forgot to smile. I've got my running grin back and feel better than ever. I may not PR next Sunday in Minneapolis or in Estes Park the following Sunday, but that doesn't matter, what matters is running.