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From: diveintomark <rssfeeds@example.com>
Subject: Six
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2002 08:00:03 -0000
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URL: http://diveintomark.org/archives/2002/10/09.html#six
Date: 2002-10-09T19:54:41-05:00

Actually, 5.6. I clocked my &#8220;long loop&#8221; today and discovered that 
the run I thought was 6 miles is actually only 5.6. And the &#8220;short 
loop&#8221; I thought was 5 miles is actually only 4.6. I have an off-by-0.4 
bug. This is very upsetting. I've lost 0.4 miles somewhere. If anyone finds 
them, can you please let me know? Thank you. 

I ran 9 miles last week, and 10 so far this week, even taking into account my 
off-by-0.4 bug. I fear I am turning into a runner. My father and I made fun of 
runners when I was growing up. He used to say that you never saw a runner 
smiling. We'd drive by runners, point at them, and say, &#8220;Look, another 
runner... not smiling!&#8221; This weighed heavily on my psyche in my formative 
years. So it is with some measure of shame that I admit that I am becoming a 
runner. 

Becoming a runner is actually not that difficult. Not surprisingly, it involves 
running. There's other stuff, too, eventually, but running is the important 
part. If you can run a mile, run a mile. If you can only run around the block, 
run around the block. Tomorrow you'll run around the block, and the next day 
you'll find you can run around two blocks. And next week you'll find you can 
run a mile. Then one day you'll run a mile, then stop to catch your breath, 
then get invigorated and run another mile. 

And then you're a runner. That's it, really. It's not complicated. You run, and 
you run, and you run. And one day, you discover that shoes are important, and 
that the old sneakers you threw on the first time you tried out this running 
thing out aren't actually very good for running. So you go buy new shoes, and 
you run, and you run, and you run. And later, you discover that stretching is 
important too, so you stretch and run, and stretch and run, and stretch and 
run. 

There's other stuff too, but it doesn't really matter until you're already a 
runner. You learn about differences in running surfaces. And how many miles you 
should really put on one pair of shoes. And when in the day you should run to 
maximize calorie burning. And how to train for a marathon, and so forth. Don't 
worry about any of that now. Just run. Running is key. Otherwise you're just 
another fat schmuck lying on the couch reading _Runner's World_.



