I think there are some people who are built for it more than others.

I was a competitive runner from 5th grade through High School. I had the best coaches (pre-Olympic) and our team was fantastic. I broke school records but amongst my peers in running, I was not as good. I rarely ran for a school team, I was good for the school team. In my pre-Olympic team, I was adequate.

I remember running for years then we'd get a new person who just "took" to it.

Like anything, some people are more gifted than others. The rest of us can work on it and be ok but never great. We each have something we are better at than others so I figure it's ok.

I've started running again for a tri. Half the time it hurts (got orthotics) and there are times I seriously doubt my sanity and wonder where all my efforts are going. There are other days, however, when I feel good! I'll never be great but sometimes it is almost fun.

One last thing is maybe get a coach? Just someone who can look at your form and give you pointers. I did that with swimming and it made SUCH a huge difference. You just want to be comfortable and get through what you need to do and a coach can help you work on that.