“At first I needed to keep reading about the many benefits of running—to get out the door. Now my friends have to shut me up when I keep talking about how great running is.”

Many scientists who study the primitive beginnings of mankind believe that before our species was clever enough to make tools and coordinate hunting strategies, our ancestors survived because they covered long distance all day, walking and running to gather food.

Competing for a limited supply in an increasingly arid climate, and lacking speed and strength, our forbearers kept moving, collecting the “leftovers” that other animals had overlooked or left behind. In the process of pushing on to the next food supply, these primitive predecessors developed the muscle adaptations to cover long distances along with a variety of psychological and spiritual rewards for their “going the distance.”

So, in the eyes of many experts, mankind evolved because he was a long distance animal in—that walking and running are at the core of our being. Other specialists in primitive man believe that the covering of thousands of miles every year in small groups forced the development of human traits like cooperation and mutual support.

What is the evidence that our ancestors ran? Take the Achilles tendon. This is a marvelous mechanical unit which allows humans to move forward very efficiently and quickly, with a minimum of effort. This degree of sophistication is not needed for walking. Bio-mechanical experts believe that the Achilles evolved to its advanced design because our early ancestors ran. The proof is pointing to the fact that we were born to walk—and run.

Is running better than walking?

Walking is a great exercise which produces few injuries, while burning calories and building fitness. Once conditioned to recreational walking, one can burn many calories without realizing it. The purpose of this book is not to get walkers to switch to running. A high percentage of today’s runners started as walkers, and continue to walk regularly.

The evolution of a runner

•	At first, the walk was a bit of a challenge to the sedentary body.

•	Each walk delivered some exertion-related relaxation and inner satisfaction.

•	But after several weeks or months of regular walking, the walker’s improved fitness level reduced the post-walk rewards.

•	The walker inserted a few short runs into the daily walks.

•	The run segments became more frequent.

•	After the run-walk days, the walker felt better than he/she initially felt in the beginning stages of walking.

•	The walker becomes a runner.

Reasons given for running

Many walkers start running because they need to squeeze their exercise into a smaller block of time. Often this results from running into a neighbor, co-worker, family member, etc., who was wearing a running T shirt, or who was running through the neighborhood. The list of benefits from an individual will vary widely. Since I hear them every day from satisfied running “customers,” the following are some of the most common:

Top reasons that walkers switch to running

1.	Running burns twice as many calories as walking the same distance.
2.	Running delivers more relaxation.
3.	Running controls fat much more effectively.
4.	Running leaves one with a better attitude to face the rest of the day.
5.	Running burns the same number of calories in about 30% of the time.
6.	Running leaves one with a better dose of sustained physical energy.
7.	Running bestows a greater sense of accomplishment.
8.	Running gives one a sense of freedom not delivered by other activities.

As you begin to run, you will discover a wide range of positive feelings and experiences from body, mind and spirit. This is your body’s way of overcoming the challenges of fatigue, aches, pains, and mental doubt. As you deal with each of these, you tie into the internal strengths that have been part of the human condition from the origin of the species. The result of this “gearing up” is an afterglow. A common reaction is that the run cleanses the mind. The rewards just keep on coming, and there are few internal feelings more powerful, or more directly connected to our being than those that come from running.

Internal rewards

While the physical rewards described later are substantial, most long-time runners acknowledge that the psychological ones are unique and more powerful. Every day I hear from runners who have participated in a variety of other life activities. They tell me over and over again that running leaves them feeling better than anything else they do.

The “Runner’s High”

If you expect to be swept way into euphoria after every run, you will be disappointed. A very few runners experience this, on a very few runs. For most, there is a feeling of relaxation and enhanced well being, with increased confidence. Once you get used to these subtle rewards, they become an important and powerful boost to your day.

But, don’t be discouraged if you don’t get your version of the runner’s high every day. While a few beginning runners tap into the good feelings from the first day, most new runners, however, experience many peaks and valleys before the rewards become consistent. If a friend seems to enjoy running more than you do, just be patient and observant. By building your base of conditioning, and by fine-tuning a few elements, you can enjoy almost every run almost every day.

Endorphins

These hormones are natural pain killers. But, they have a positive psychological effect, producing a lasting boost that can last for hours after a run. When you start running, internal monitors sense there will be pain, and initiate endorphin production to manage it. Many of the good, relaxing, positive attitude effects of a run come from these natural drugs. . .which are totally legal.

Vitality

After a run, you should feel energized with the motivation and the awareness to cope with the challenges of the day, or a good attitude that will help you enjoy your free time. When you are running within yourself, you feel more alive, better than normal for several hours if not all day. If you don’t feel this way, you need to make some corrections usually in pace or diet mentioned in later chapters.

An attitude adjustment

Of all the things people do to improve attitude, running has been shown to be the best. Attitude research on people doing a wide range of sports, hobbies, art, and other lifestyle activities have shown that runners have the highest levels of the positive factors, and the lowest levels of the low (depression) factors. After almost every run, you will come away with a better attitude if you pace yourself conservatively, and don’t go too far. When in doubt, go slower at the beginning and take more walk breaks.

Achievement

Covering distance by foot gives one a sense of achievement. This is one of the simple but satisfying rewards that have been passed on by our primitive ancestors. The bottom line is that we feel better about ourselves when we have covered some distance on that day. There is even more enhanced self-esteem in pushing back your current endurance level. As you keep going further on long runs, you feel an inner glow not experienced in other life activities.

The marathon has become a major lifestyle achievement for many people. In fact, only one-tenth of one percent of the population finish one of these 26 mile events each year. By conservative training using my run-walk method, almost anyone can do it. The sense of achievement from finishing this, or any event that is a challenge for you often changes people for the better, and can last for a lifetime.

Creativity

A number of artists have told me that they run because it improves their creative response. It has been known for some time that running is one of the best ways to activate the right side of your brain—the intuitive center of creativity. When athletes get into this right brain in a game, race, match, etc., they say that they are “in the zone.” You can be there, too. If you run at a level of exertion that is within your capabilities, the steady rhythm of the feet will often stimulate brain activity on this right side.

Runners often are surprised that after trying to solve a problem all day long, it is on a run that the solution seems to appear. For example, a runner at work often hits a logical wall when using the rational left side of the brain. While running, the creative right brain works quietly and subconsciously searching for a way to get done what was needed. Many experts believe that the creative resources of this side of the brain are unlimited.

Your intuition or gut instinct is engaged when you shift into the brain’s right hemisphere. As you intuitively run along, you return to some primitive areas up there which have subconscious judgement capabilities, and other powers we don’t usually use.

I’ve conditioned my right brain to entertain me. I often start with a current problem or incident I’m trying to resolve. Ten minutes later, the right brain has often taken a portion of the original thought and mixed in a personality of someone, saying the words. After about ten more minutes, there is so much mixing of images and thoughts and association mixed images that I have to laugh.

Laughing is a right brain activity, and so is the series of images. After that, the right brain can send me a mix of various images—some real and some very abstract—without any connection to anything that came before. And on many runs each year, the solution to the original problem just drops out into a conscious thought.

More productivity, less fatigue

When beginners start running, they expect to be more tired during the day. The vast majority, however, discover that the opposite is true. A run in the morning sets your mind and body for the day. You are energized, with a good attitude to deal with problems, and bounce back. Those who run during lunch hour, when they used to work through lunch, find that they are more productive on the days that they run. Some say that the run forces them to plan better. Others say that the mental boost and relaxation gives them a boost. Many say both of these are true and more.

Friendships and bonding

For thousands of generations, humans have walked and run together. During these journeys experts believe that many of the positive team-building and caring traits were developed: sharing trust, relying upon one another, and pulling one another through difficult times. These primitive instincts are revisited in almost any group run.

Even when running with one other person, you’ll find yourself sharing feelings and emotions you wouldn’t share when sitting down to a cozy lunch. While running, under the influence of the right brain, you can bond more closely to your running friends, than to many family members who don’t understand what running means to you.

Pushing back your physical capacity for life

I regularly see runners in their 70s, 80s and 90s who don’t look their age. When I look closely, the face and skin may give a general indication of age. But, the vitality, mental energy, and good attitude would indicate an age of 1-2 decades less than the chronological one.

Why is this? In the act of extending your endurance, runners maintain a positive mental state. By “flooding“ themselves with endorphins, they are more relaxed and confident. By using the muscles regularly and infusing them with oxygen on the run, these senior citizens feel good, have a healthy glow about them, and are physically able to do almost anything they did in their 40s.

A greater sense of personal freedom

Many CEOs and other busy and famous people have told me that the only segments of time during the week when they feel almost totally free is when they are on a run—sometimes with others, but often by themselves.

Without a cell phone, pager, boss, or family member around, you can explore the inner parts that are YOU. Longtime runners express this freedom in many ways. This is another way that running promotes a more free way of feeling and thinking.

You are empowered

A primary mission of this book is to help you move into the rewards more directly and easily. You can use this chapter to push you out the door on those days when gravity seems to be greater. Think about the good mental feelings after the run, and you’ll have a “carrot on a stick” to keep you going when you want to quit. There will be times when you’ll need to apply a reward or two as a psychological salve when overall motivation goes down on the hopefully few days when inertia seems overwhelmingly against you.

The information and suggestions inside have been forged through 30 years of working with beginners, and feedback from over 150,000 of them who have become runners. The chapters that follow can significantly reduce or eliminate the negative effects of running.

Practically every human being can enjoy the many significant rewards of running. Yes, you can start being a runner now, and unlock a continuing stream of rewards which can enrich your life in more ways than I can describe in this book.

•	You are pulling from resources that are inside you.

•	You find yourself becoming more intuitive as the right brain kicks in.

•	You feel the confidence to grapple with a problem that is not solvable.

•	You find that you have more internal strength and creativity than you thought.

•	This enhanced feeling carries on to other areas of life.

Running pushes you to a higher level of physical awareness, stimulating positive activity of the brain at the same time. Whatever time we have on earth, as a runner (even a part timer) you’ll have an opportunity to enjoy it to the fullest.