In Defense of Junk Miles
I can’t stand the term, “junk miles.” The construct that every run must have some higher purpose or nobler goal is just ridiculous. In fact, it almost feels a little privileged to say it. Ask any one runner who’s been sick or hurt. They’d happily take junk miles if it meant any miles at all.
But I wasn’t always that way.
“Whatcha training for?” I’d regularly ask any runner I’d see along the road, or stuck at the same stop light with me. We’d talk back and forth about plans and schedules and such, and it never seemed to occur to me that someone would just be out “running.”
I’d been running since before freshman year of high school and really never stopped. And I’d always seemed be training for something; the upcoming season, an upcoming race, or the next season or the next race. Ever run the rubber off the wheels of a baby jogger? Granted, I had some help, but we managed to do it. On three of them, as I recall. Junk miles? Hardly. More like resistance training. Or running the resistance out of sleepy toddler that just wouldn’t lay down for a nap.
And one day it was different.
I stopped to introduce myself to a runner I cross paths with regularly. Out of either habit or obligation, I popped the question. “So, what are you training for?”
“Nothing. Just running,” he said.
Just running.
We went our separate ways, and I rolled that one over a few times. Just running. And what’s wrong with that? Not much, really. Truth is, “just running” actually has a benefits all its own. I was just slow on the uptake.
Over time, “just” running can help you build a positive and healthy habit. The sheer repetition of getting up and getting out consistently is literally the secret sauce to becoming a runner.
Jeff Hudnall says he’s run many a “junk mile,” and loved every one of them.
“I admit this habit is an addiction, but an amazing one that takes me to places and people that inspire me daily,” added Hudnall, who’s currently in his own training cycle. “I will return to junk miles for mental stability and enjoyment after my training block for my marathon goal race of the year.“
But even if a goal race or PR isn’t the point, running just to run gives you time away from work, from school, family, or other commitments and distractions that is hard to come by these days. It’s a simple pleasure in a complex world.
“I’m a ‘run for enjoyment’ kind of person,” said Jenice Jamison, a Novant Health Charlotte Marathon Ambassador. “It’s a blessing at the end of the day to be able to do this. So while being competitive is good, I try to keep things in perspective.”
Kayla Corbin is a certified health and wellness coach who admits she’s new to the term “junk miles,” but says she’s always thought of running as enjoyment and a way of moving her body. She just recently started to participate in local races.
“I view them as an added bonus of ‘fun’ competitiveness,” adds Corbin. “Now, I go in waves of training for a race and just going on a run for the mental and physical benefits.”
The key, friends, is balance.
Even if your training and racing schedule is packed as tightly as a tin of sardines, or you’re just trying to make it through another busy day; there’s probably room for running with no agenda, no goal, no finish line. Just running.
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