I love to run now, but I didn’t always. There was a time in my life when I genuinely hated it and it’s not hard to remember why. The first time I tried running was in middle school when I decided to join the cross-country team, mainly because it was an all-inclusive, “no try-outs required” sort of team. I found myself slogging through muddy parks and up hills, putting in what felt like 100% effort only to come last, again and again. I was not a natural runner and found the entire experience to be so hard and demoralizing that I added “running a marathon” to my bucket list. There was only one other item on my bucket list at the time, and that was to go on a loop-the-loop roller coaster, something which truly terrifies me. The roller coaster still has not happened. Surprisingly, the marathon has, and even more surprisingly, quite a few times.
I am now someone that people associate with running because I do it quite a bit, but it really started off as something quite small that I did just for me. I rediscovered running during my undergrad when I started to do it as a stress reliever, and it’s stuck ever since. I find if I go two or three days without running that something doesn’t feel quite right. I run because I enjoy it. I do it for the mental break it gives me. To try new music on my headphones. To meet new friends. To get outside or to the gym. To explore new places. To add structure to my day. To put things back into perspective or to mull over an issue. To set new challenges and work towards a goal. I run because I love it and I want to share my experiences – and in particular the lessons I have learned the hard way – with you.
Especially now that we are facing a changing world, the things I have discovered from running seem even more relevant and I hope that this blog provides you with some inspiration during what is a difficult time for us all.
