13.1 of Satisfaction
It’s no secret to the current generation of twenty-something’s that running has become our favorite pass-time (whether you’re running or making jokes about the people that do). I grew up playing soccer and was convinced that I hated running- little did I know, I actually loved it. When I was a junior in high school, I got injured while playing soccer and after a few months of physical therapy, I decided that I no longer loved the sport. I still wanted to move my body, so I took up cross country.
When I started running I thought I was terrible and wanted to quit over and over, but there was some little voice that kept me going. The way I explain running to people is that most of your runs you dread- there may be excitement before, and there is always joy afterward, but while you’re in it, it sucks. THAT FEELING is exactly why you keep going. There is a different kind of pride in yourself that comes from finishing a run, no matter how bad it was. I often forget just how much I dislike the discomfort that comes from running until I’m up and running. What keeps me going back is the accomplishment that comes at the end.
Late last year, I decided that I was jokingly going convince my brother to sign up for a half marathon- he obliged immediately. My family has always leaned more on the athletic side, this means that at any given moment somebody is down to go for a run or throw a baseball in the backyard. When my brother said yes, I was all that surprised but I realized that it was going to take a lot more than a jog or two to train. Over the next couple of months, I would wake up early before class and go run. Some days I would skip it to sleep in but the guilt of not getting the mileage would keep me up to the point where I would go run at night. Once my friends started hearing about my runs, they’d ask me routinely how much I had ran or what time I woke up to get it done. There was a sense of self-respect that grew each time I heard their surprised responses.
Running isn’t about proving yourself to others, or finding a quick way to lose weight. It is about building a mind and body that can take you further than you thought. Some people work out to look good, but what follows is always a greater reward than expected. The self-respect you gain from realizing you did it for yourself and proving that you can do hard things is richer than any gift money can buy. When I ran my first half-marathon, I realized once I stepped over the finish line that I had woke up and moved my body 13 miles. I told everyone for months that I was going to do it and I finally did. Once you accomplish something hard there is a realization that you can climb mountains that seem impossible if you put your mind to it.
So the next time you see somebody completing a half-marathon in your feed, ask yourself what you can do today to accomplish something bigger than the scope of your current bubble.
