How I Came to Love Running After Hating it Most of My Life
And how you can too. An essay on the intrinsic human-ness of running.
During the pandemic lockdown, I started running. We have some dumbbells and kettlebells and bands and other exercise paraphernalia in our apartment, which made up for the gym being closed. But my motivation to start running was for more than just exercise—with literally nothing else open, it was an excuse to get outside and do something.
Now here’s the thing: I hated running. A couple years ago, everyone was mulling around the TPM office in New York trying to register for the New York City Half Marathon. I was flabbergasted. All this energy and consternation about trying to exercise in a large group? In fact, if I remember correctly, they were having trouble signing up because the website was overwhelmed with people who just wanted to run.
I remember saying something to the effect of, “I fucking hate running, I don’t understand any of you.”
At the time, I was a Kenny Powers guy. “I play real sports, not try to be the best at exercising.” In reality, I didn’t play real sports, or even fake sports—I just lifted weights at Planet Fitness, a gym for plebs who don’t really work out much. In high school, I ran track, but I didn’t take it very seriously. It was training for football. My track coach probably thought I was an asshole, and he would be justified.
But there I was in 2020, and it was time to run. On the first run, I didn’t really know what I was doing, which might sound silly, but I had really only ever done sprints before. The pace and gait required to run longer distances was uncomfortable. I ran one mile and wanted to die.
Iconic runner, T-1000, played by Robert Patrick in Terminator 2
But I stuck with it, and over time I came to love it. Every day, there was a new challenge. Could I run a little farther? A little faster? Would it be a little easier? Each time I finished a run, I felt a sense of satisfaction I didn’t feel with other forms of exercise. I had heard about the runner’s high, but had dismissed it. It’s similar but not the same as getting a “pump”1 when lifting. It also doesn’t sound weird and gross like “pump.” I wondered if maybe there was just something about running that was particularly good for humans.
It turns out, there is. One of my core beliefs is that if you can better understand human nature and the human condition, then you can better navigate the human experience. In other words, if we understand more about the fundamentals of being a human, then we can live more fulfilled, healthier, happier lives. The purpose of Rhapsody is to learn more about what makes humans human. When I started running, I admittedly didn’t know how essential it was to our species.
Humans are the best distance runners on planet Earth. While plenty of other animals are faster or stronger, nobody can match Homo sapiens in an endurance competition. You may be thinking, “What about dogs or horses?” Well, we’re better than them, too. There’s a race called the Western 100 in which runners race people on horseback2. The record for runners, 14 hours and 9 minutes, was set by ultramarathoner Jim Walmley in 2019. This was two hours faster than the closest horse and rider. Through evolution, we gained a number of adaptations that help us to conserve energy. For example:
Specifically, we developed long, springy tendons in our legs and feet that function like large elastics, storing energy and releasing it with each running stride, reducing the amount of energy it takes to take another step. There are also several adaptations to help keep our bodies stable as we run, such as the way we counterbalance each step with an arm swing, our large butt muscles that hold our upper bodies upright, and an elastic ligament in our neck to help keep our head steady.
Even the human waist, thinner and more flexible than that of our primate relatives allows us to twist our upper bodies as we run to counterbalance the slightly-off-center forces exerted as we stride with each leg.
But the most important benefit is that we are mostly hairless and that we sweat. While other animals just get hotter over time as they expend more and more energy, our bodies are working to keep us cool, which is especially beneficial when it’s hot. Anthropologists like Harvard anthropology professor Daniel Lieberman have said this is what allowed humans to hunt big game while other animals couldn’t stand the heat.
So we evolved to run, which helps us hunt big game. But I don’t need to hunt big game. Is running still beneficial to me? I like what trainer Joe Holder said about running in his first column for GQ:
“Human bodies are made to move. So for me, being able to run—moving my body as one unit, without pain—is the best indicator of physical proficiency. We've gotten so far from what our bodies are meant for. When you had to start running from a lion, you weren't like, ‘All right, guys, let me warm up my hammies.’ Obviously we're not worrying about predators much anymore, but you should be able to run down a cab without hurting yourself. That's what being in shape is. It's not just about body composition or how you look. It's: Can you move? That's why I believe everyone should have a base level of running. It will help you be in the world.”
Long before there were cabs to chase, humans had other reasons to be on the move. In his most recent book, Freedom, journalist Sebastian Junger posits that running was essential for, well, freedom. He points out that the groups like the Apache or Yahi protect themselves by staying on the move, which helps them avoid (or delay) subjugation by larger, more powerful groups such as white colonizers. But this advantage wouldn’t exist without the unique ability for humans to cross large distances on foot. To underscore the point, Junger points out a number of distinct advantages.
“Exertion causes the brain to release endorphins that mask pain and are mildly narcotic, and the repetitive nature of running or walking can lull the mind into a kind of hypnosis.” (This also may explain the “runner’s high”)
“Almost all running distances have a gender performance gap of around 11 percent, which is much lower than it is for weight events...throughout human history, women’s ability to run long distances means that entire communities could be on the move without sorting by gender and the tactical problems that would create.”
Research has shown that elite athletes and Marines actually perform better on cognitive tests under extreme stress. Junger theorizes that “[in] societies like Apache that expect almost everyone to run or walk all day long, this elite response to stress might be so widespread as to be utterly remarkable.”
It’s also interesting to note that studies show children have better endurance than well trained adult endurance athletes.
It seems clear that running is physiologically core to the human experience. But most people neither need to chase down prey nor pick up and move. Most people simply run to stay in shape. So why run when you could do other things? Well, first of all, if you really hate running, you don’t have to run. Let’s get that out of the way. But I do think there are some aspects of running that are particularly suited to human well-being, and I will once again lean on my old pal Self-Determination Theory3, which holds humans have three basic psychological needs that are key to wellness:
Autonomy, or the need to self-regulate one’s experiences and actions
Competence, which is our need to feel effective and to master skills
Relatedness, the need to feel socially connected
If you are a teacher, you’re familiar with the concept of a “proximal zone of development.” If you do yoga, your instructor may have at times said to “meet your appropriate edge.” If you are a coach of some kind, you may be familiar with the concept of an “optimal challenge.” These are all different names for the same concept: engaging in an activity that is difficult enough to provide a stimulating challenge so you don’t get bored, but not so difficult that you become hopeless and give up. It’s a key to teaching students, it’s a key to training athletes, and it’s a key to growth in general. When you attempt to solve a problem or master a skill that is on the boundaries of your ability, that is where improvement comes, and the sense of competence one feels from mastering skills and growing is, according to Self-Determination Theory, an intrinsic part of being human. We need this feeling.
Legendary runner Forrest Gump.
Running is perfectly suited to support the need for competence. Yes, there’s a competitive aspect to running, but most people are just running against themselves. Especially when you are first starting out, each run is about trying to get a little better. Maybe you can run another half mile or cut your time by a few seconds. You can always find a new challenge, and this provides almost infinite opportunities to feel a sense of efficacy and mastery, which supports psychological well-being.
As I said, when I started running, it was terrible. But as I stuck with it, I really began looking forward to running because I wanted that sense of accomplishment that came with getting a little better each time, which leads me to autonomy. In SDT, motivation exists on a spectrum from autonomous to controlled. When you do something because you authentically want to do it, that is autonomous motivation. When you do something because you are forced to do it, that is controlled motivation. There’s a lot of nuance that I’m glossing over here, but that’s the basic idea. When I first started running, I’d say it was more toward the “controlled” side. Yes, I was choosing to do it, but that’s only because I knew I needed to exercise and stay healthy. As I continued running, I was running because I truly wanted to run. I wanted to experience that sense of competence, and now with that sense of competence, I was feeling a sense of autonomy. It was no longer a chore, it was something I looked forward to (and still do). Yes, there are days where I’m not really in the mood to run, but those are few and far between.
Finally, a sense of relatedness. I’ve often heard that you can tell someone’s a runner because they will tell you so. I’m obviously writing an essay about it, so, guilty. But just as it is with most hobbies or passions, like-minded people enjoy talking about it with each other. In this respect, running isn’t really different from many other activities. But I think many view running as a mostly solitary pursuit when it doesn’t have to be. I have a friend who joined a running club. I have many friends who find inspiration and community via apps like Strava or Nike Run Club. I personally just like having something else to talk with friends and family about.
S-Tier commercial featuring several people running and even a song about running
While I think running is core to the human experience, and the ability to run in a functional, everyday way is a foundation of fitness, it’s not inherently better than other forms of exercise. Weight training, swimming, yoga, martial arts, and a laundry list of other activities are all great. My editor, who happens to be a certified personal trainer, was quick to point out that only running is not advisable.
But that being said, I think running is dope as hell. I never thought I’d say that. Before I researched any of what I wrote above, I tried to think about why I took to running so quickly. I think it really comes down to the sense of accomplishment that washes over you after a run. It’s hard to keep your body moving for long stretches of time! When I finish, even though I’m tired, I feel so good mentally and physically. On longer runs, I feel like I enter a flow state and even though the run is a challenge, the challenge feels good. So yeah, I think you should give it a shot. The key to getting started for me was to just take it day by day and try to get a little better each run. There’s no need to compare yourself to other people or get discouraged when you aren’t as fast or fit as you’d hoped. The thing to remember is you were born to run, I was born to run, we were all born to run. Just about everyone was born to run! So no matter where you start, you can just focus on improving yourself, and you will get better little by little, and it will feel extremely good, I can assure you that much. Like The Boss said, baby, we were born to run.
Bonus Content:
I recently wrote an essay at TPM about some books that were very important to me. Check it out here.
If you aren't familiar with this, kudos to you.
I took this fact from Sebastian Junger's recent book Freedom
These basic psychological needs are the foundation of Self-Determination Theory. These particular definitions come from Ryan, R., & Deci, E., (2017) Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness. The Guilford Press