Global running day is today so I thought I would write about this sport that changed me
I use to hate running. When I was in high school I thought it was the worst thing ever, I mean who would want to voluntarily go out and just run? What do you even think about while running? What do you do with your hands? How can you make your body just go for miles and miles on end? My friends would make me go running with them during breaks, serious girls I would think, it’s Christmas break where we are suppose to be sleeping in and eating all the holiday treats, not waking up early and run in the cold. Needless to say they were making me a better person even though I hated every minute of it. I hated running in all the sports I was involved in and I hated running in PE. I think that is where it started, its not that I was unhealthy in my teen years but I was definitely never the skinniest and I guess I had this perception from places like PE that you could only run if you were thin. Which now I am learning that is farthest from the case.
As cliche as this may sound, running changed my life at the beginning of 2018. I was engaged and doing long distance, Adam was in California and I was in Missouri from August 2017 until we got married in July 2018. Goodbyes with him were the hardest thing I have ever had to do, there were lots and lots of tears and lots of emotional eating. I remember the goodbye so vividly, it was February and he was back for a long weekend during Valentine’s Day. I think that goodbye was especially hard because I knew it wouldn’t be until the end of April until I saw him again. Over 2 months without that man that I loved was going to be extremely difficult. I cried the whole way to the airport and the whole way home after dropping him off. I got home and cried and the only thing I wanted was a hug, my mom has this weird super power where she knows what I need sometimes way before I do, and me being not much of a touchy feely kind of person, I walked in the door and went straight into my mom’s arms. I don’t know what it was or what happened in my mind but after that hug with my mom I asked her if she would go with me (being alone was the last thing I wanted to do) and I wanted to buy a pair of running shoes and I have loved the sport since then. I know emotionally I could have gone 1 of 2 ways that night, I could have did what I did or I could have sat there and moped around with a woe is me mindset without my fiance next to me, which would have taken me down a long depressing unhappy road. But I realized in that moment that there are always choices in life and you and literally only you have the power to go left or right.
Since that night in February I have ran 3 half marathons, the last being virtual which was not what i was expecting, and I have learned way more than just how to make my body go for miles and miles. Running for me started to be a way to unwind and release anxiety and to this day and I think forever it will be that for me. I keep running as a celebration for my body and my mind, I don’t run to lose weight or to have a “runner’s body” or to finish 1st in any race but I keep running because of what it does to my mind soul. It allows me to focus on me and only me, its a reminder that I am more capable than I think I am and it’s a reminder to never compare yourself to anyone which is something I struggle with. Through the process of running I have also learned truly how to fuel your body with food for races and how certain foods have an effect on your performance. I even learned to not be afraid of certain foods and learned to love carbs, but that is a different blog for a different day 😉
As Always,
Abi
As Always Abi 