Different Kinds of Runners

There are lots of different kinds of runners.  There are optimal weather runners who come out in the spring and fall (sometimes very overdressed) and run.  There are ultra-marathoners who thrive on long, hard runs that take days, not hours to finish.   There are newbie runners who started running for fun or exercise or to raise money who may become one of the other types of runners, but aren’t there yet.  There are runners who run to compete in races for fun.  There are runners who run for exercise and that’s it—no more, no less.  And then there are runners who run because running is part of who they are.  This type of runner may also be one of the other types of runners (and I apologize if I forgot a category), but when running is part of you, your day or week isn’t complete without running.  It is an outlet.  It is a time for reflection.   It is you time.  If you have an injury and can’t run the not running is almost as painful as the injury.  Matt is in this last category.  When I question his judgment about running in bad weather or the dark or fill in the blank condition he gives me a look that tells me he just needs to get out for a run.  It doesn’t have to be a good run or a long run, but he needs to have that time alone with the road and his thoughts.  As I put in one of the write-ups, running was an outlet for Matt when he lost his vision.  Although he’s accepted his vision loss, he has bad days.  There’s nothing I can say that will make him feel better.  But for whatever reason, even a twenty minute run seems to help him.  I’m a runner too, but I don’t have the same connection with running that he does.  Maybe it is because he doesn’t need to ask for help to run.  Or maybe he’d need running just as much if he hadn’t lost his vision as he does now.  But whatever the reason, describing Matt as a runner is just like describing him as a redhead.  He just is.  We’ve been having bouts of torrential rain the last few days.  I have opted to skip a few days of running, but Matt has been out there.  He did suggest doing track on Thursday this week, but Amazon said that his new spikes arrived so I am guessing he might be out there anyway.  That’s just the runner that he is.  What kind of runner are you?