Go to the Corner
by Eddie Suarez
I’m a runner. The majority of my facebook friends are runners. My job is running. Running is everywhere in my day to day life. Yet the days that I don’t want to run far outnumber the days I do. I know I’m not alone. I guarantee every runner has struggled getting out that door too.
Runners have mantras. We usually need those to get through the last miles of a marathon. But what do we do if we need a mantra before we even get started? My favorite mantra is Go to the Corner. No I don’t mean the corner Baby was put in, and I definitely don’t mean the corner of the bar. I mean the street corner. I tell myself, “Just go to the corner. Put on your shoes, walk out the door, and make it to the corner.”
If you’re like me, your brain is usually screaming that we can’t run because it’s hot, or it’s far, or I’m tired, or I have work to do, or it’s Monday, or it’s late, or it’s early, or it’s cold, or wet, or dry, or sunny, or not sunny enough, or how wings would be perfect right now, or how a cold beer would hit the spot, or that we need to watch the next Mad Men. My brain fights me every time and I trick it by saying that we’re just going to the corner.
I will confess I don’t always pay attention to my own advice. Some days there’s nothing that will get me to the corner. But I know that if I can get to the corner then 9 times out of 10 I will keep going. Once I’m at the corner, the brain may keep screaming but now the body is moving, and blood is flowing, and the muscles are pumping. Then the endorphins and dopamine start being released. Oh yeah baby endorphins AND dopamine, the brain’s natural happy drugs. And then the feel goods come in and you get the little boost of energy to start that last mile. Finally you’re in happy town, enjoying the runner’s high. In the end, you’re thankful that all you did was go to the corner.
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“One bright minute. One bright minute.”
The White Lantern!
There are no bad runs!! (My best friend Cookie came up with that!)
“I got this, one more minute”