Jogging versus Running

MAY

112012

It’s an old joke:

What is the difference between jogging and running?

Answer: Running is my speed and faster, anyone else is just jogging.

I have been running/jogging on a fairly regular basis since I was 25, so that is 40 plus years now.

In thinking about it, the reason I run is split 50/50 between wanting to stay fit and the internal cleansing I feel after a half hour run through the neighborhood. I have often equated running to taking a shower on the inside.

I attempt to go out four times a week, anything more often and I start to feel run-down and lose interest. I try to augment the running with light weight work outs at the local YMCA, but I have never been able to maintain that for longer than a couple of months at a time. Running is so much easier, just change shoes and clothes and you are out the door.

I go out all year long, but avoid the streets when there is snow and ice as I have taken some falls. On those occasions I avail myself of the YMCA indoor track (16 laps to the mile), but that feels more like work than play.

When I used to do a lot of business travel, I would take my gear with me and try to get a run in in the evening.

I prefer to run the many fairly smooth dirt trails we have here in Boulder. However, I avoid those steep, rock and root strewn tracks along the foothills. On those, I believe it is not a question of if you will fall, but when.

I think about various things when I run and lately I have done some calculating in my head. I believe I am approaching having accumulated enough distance running to have circumnavigated the earth, 25,000 miles.

So, as I grow older and my pace surely slows, I’ll still be running, while those slower will only be jogging.