The Hardest Part About Running

The Hardest Part About Running

Near the end of Season 2 of BoJack Horseman, there is a scene where BoJack starts going for morning runs again. In it, he looks exactly like anyone who has just started running: after only a few steps he is already exhausted, gasping for breath, feeling that running must be the hardest and most annoying thing in the world. Before you start running, you may have done plenty of preparation — bought all the gear, learned the most scientific training rhythm, and imagined yourself finishing your morning workout as effortlessly as the protagonists in TV dramas, ready to begin a new day.

And yet all those dreams may begin to fall apart after the first ten minutes. Your legs feel heavy, breathing becomes difficult, and all kinds of thoughts about giving up come rushing in... Why did I choose this sport? Maybe I should just stop here today? Would swimming be better instead?... Like so many scenes in the show that make people smile in recognition, BoJack’s experience clearly comes straight from real life. In fact, this very much not-for-children series often quietly reveals, in many ways, the director’s deep understanding of life as it really is.

As the protagonist, BoJack is simply a man — or rather, a horse — in his fifties, growing old while still holding on to dreams. He once had his glory days, having starred for nine seasons in Horsin’ Around, and after that his life went into a steady decline. He has a dream of his own: one day starring in Secretariat — a dream he has carried since childhood. Yet he also has all kinds of fatal flaws, and those flaws cause him to miss possible success again and again. He grew up in a troubled family, though in truth every family has troubles of one kind or another... In a way, there is something of all of us in BoJack.

Perhaps that is why BoJack is a character people both love and hate. Sometimes we sympathize with him, sometimes we pity him, sometimes we understand him, and sometimes we feel frustrated that he cannot do better... much the way we feel about ourselves. BoJack may simply be acting out the many problems in our own lives, giving us a chance to face what is really inside us.

BoJack is lonely, but it is the kind of loneliness hidden behind all the noise. In his life there is Princess Carolyn, Todd, Diane, and Mr. Peanutbutter. Yet he is still lonely. He has his shell, a fortress built around the softest and weakest parts of himself, parts he is unwilling even to confront on his own. Just like everyone sitting in front of the screen. But no matter how lonely you are, the world still exists, and sometimes it reaches out to help when you least expect it. Just as BoJack is about to give up on running, the man who runs past his house every day shares a bit of his own experience.

The advice is actually very simple, but it is the kind of thing only someone who looks as though he has run across mountains and rivers like Forrest Gump could sum up: it gets a little easier every day. Your heart and lungs, your muscles, gradually adapt to the rhythm. At first even one kilometer may feel impossibly far away, but once you get used to it, three kilometers, five kilometers... somehow no longer seem quite so difficult. Running itself is not the hardest part.

The truly difficult part is “every day.” Running does not become easier on its own little by little; the premise is persistence, and that is often the hardest part of all. Many books about running mention that even the greatest athletes do not treat it as something naturally easy or self-evident. The hardest part of sticking with running is the moment when you are fully dressed, standing at the door, and pushing it open to go outside. Once you take that step, everything afterward is not nearly as hard.

Confucius said: “I have not been able to meet a truly good man; if I could meet someone who is constant, that would be enough. To pretend there is something where there is nothing, to appear full when empty, to seem grand when in want — it is difficult indeed to be constant.” And the difficulty of persistence goes far beyond running alone.

Some theories hold that running every day is not scientific, and that proper rest intervals are necessary. But the point here is simply to emphasize persistence. If you really want to run, you should still follow a gradual and well-designed training plan.