I'm kinda in between training and running for fun. Some people say you should know what the purpose of every run is, and most of my runs are only for the purpose of running. (does that count?) I follow no set schedule or training plan - I completely wing it. I try to do a long(er) run once a week, but if the weather's bad sometimes my long run is only 7 or 8 miles. I try to do something with a faster pace once a week, either tempo or wave run, but some weeks I don't have the energy. I run lots of hills but that's just because of where I live, not because it's a scheduled hill run. Most runs are just because I like to run. That said, I do track miles and sometimes pace in my log. I think if your running is meeting your own goals and needs, then you're doing it right.

Well, mostly I just run to eat.....

I sure as heck aint doing it for the money. For me training for and running competitive marathons is fun or I wouldn't do it That said - I don't really enjoy shorter races - so I don't do them. - I don't like the drugery of intervals or repeats etc. so I don't do them etc. And of course as Stevie Ray points out, chicks dig marathoners. Ray

I run so Holly can eat, I've stopped doing that.

Awww Henry! That's so sweet! And having met both of you, I can vouch for the fun factor you bring along. Like Nono, I run primarily to carve out that quiet "me" time that seems so hard to get otherwise. That being said... I also like to race and with that comes training. Sometimes the training gets to be a drag when you start worrying about missing or messing up a scheduled run, but mostly it's pretty good if you don't become a slave to it. Like Ray, nobody pays me to do this and if I don't want to do something, so what. The only one who knows is me. One thing I do find interesting though... if I run mostly for fun, why do I get so freaked out and anxious when I can't run for awhile (either schedule or injury)? Makes me think there's a little more than just "fun" going on here...