How little can I run

Something I see people asking all the time on running message boards is “how little can I run to achieve x?” or a slight variation “How much do I have to run to achieve x?”

Such a strange question for someone who enjoys running to hear.  As someone who is limited both by time available to run, and my body’s ability to handle high mileage I always prefer to think in terms of how much I get to run, not how much I have to run.  If you think of running as a chore to be checked off a to do list, I don’t know how you will ever excel at it.  While I may not have Ryan Halls JOY of running, I do quiet like it.