WHY

"We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it
and cannot help ourselves...The more restricted our society and work
become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving
for freedom. No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this,
or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable."
- Sir Roger Bannister

A little over a year ago I was not a runner. In fact I hated running. In high school I played soccer one spring, but the coach ended up more or less kicking me off because I didn’t like running and he wanted me to run more. Then something changed in me.

In December 2004 I was newly married, had moved into a great apartment in Santa Monica and was headed off to Thailand with my mother and sister for Christmas. My husband was mad that I was going away for our first married Christmas, but I went anyway arguing that it was a girl trip and I needed the time with my family. December 26, 2004 a giant tidal wave hit the Southern Coast of Thailand. When it hit I was in Bangkok. I had been at the exact place where it hit on December 25th, but flew out that evening to the big city. Many people who waited on us, drove us on their motorbikes, people we met by the pool all died that morning. Many others were physically and emotionally wounded. At that moment when news of the Tsunami began filtering across CNN something in me changed.

I went home and started raising money to send to Thailand and in the process a man gave me a ticket to fly back there to hand deliver the $12,000 I raised. A week before I was scheduled to leave my husband said he wanted a divorce. He had fallen in love with someone else.

Needless to say I was shocked for a second time in a short amount of time and something shifted a bit more in psyche. In early March I flew back to Thailand and while there, started running on the beach every day. Running gave me time to sort out my thoughts, allowed me to cry quietly where no one could hear me or watch me, let me get angry and in general became a necessity for my sanity. As I traveled throughout the Andaman region of Thailand, going to home after home or pile of rubble and refugee camp after refugee camp where children, wives, husbands, fathers and mothers had been lost in the Tsunami, I pulled my thoughts and my strength and my spirit together.

When I got back to Los Angeles I filed for a divorce and continued running. That summer I moved to Sun Valley, ID for a few months and this was where “Women Who Run” came about. Seal Press, a publisher that focuses on books by women for women, asked me to write inspirational stories about women from around the world who run. There were no guidelines other than that the stories had to be about running. As I started the project I quickly discovered how running is this incredible thread that links complete strangers together, whether in a marathon or fun run or on a track team or a women’s group. It helps us make friends, get strong, learn more about ourselves, and our environment. Running is therapy and it’s a vice. For some women it is a necessity, for other women it’s a pleasure. Some days are amazing and other days every block seems like a mile.

The hardest part about writing this book was that there were so many amazing stories I didn’t know where to stop. I could have continued writing on and on. There was an 84-year-old marathon runner named Helen Klein who I spoke with on the phone, but never got to meet, who started running at 55 and has since run over 200 marathons and ultra runs. There was a triathlete from Australia who I wanted to write about whose brother was killed last year while running. He was hit by a car. They were training partners and he was also a triathlete. To get through the pain she ran more in honor of him and to help herself heal. Running is healing. This much I learned personally and from all of the women I interviewed and from my own experience.

In writing “Women Who Run” I learned more about myself and learned how to push myself in both my writing and my running. I made new friends writing this book like my editor who lives and breaths for running and was so excited about my book, as well as all of the women I met while writing this. I learned that things change in life. I hated running once and now it’s an important part of my life. When I don’t run for a while I feel crazy and like something is missing. When I do run I always wonder why I don’t run more or why I missed a week of running. Getting in the groove every time I fall out seems easier the longer I run. I don’t set limits on myself. If I want to run ten minutes I run ten and if I want to run two hours then I run two hours. Women who don’t run always ask me how did you get into it? They tell me they hate running. I say get an iPod, load up 10 of your favorite songs, lace up your shoes and start counting how many songs you make it through. This time it might be one or two, next time five. It’s surprising how quickly your body adapts to running. The little aches and pains in the beginning eventually go away and are replaced by smooth, even pace, deep breathing, a calm feeling. Just give it a try and you’ll see.

When you have a chance read this book. The women in those pages are bound to inspire you to get off the couch and go for a run.