Guest Post By: BackAtSquareZero
Why I Run
I started running because I realized I wasn’t healthy, and I wasn’t happy with the way I was treating my body.
I hoped running would be the spark that would light a fire underneath me.
I was shocked when I actually fell in love with running.
Along the way I have discovered so many amazing reasons why I run – I could go on and on forever and ever.
However, as I’m sure you all don’t want to sit here for years, here are my Top 10 Reasons Why I Run (in no particular order).
Top 10 Reasons Why I Run:
10. Stress Relief & Reflection – I found myself with nothing much to do on long runs except think. This gave me lots of time (probably more than I would have liked at first) to reflect upon my day, my job, my relationships, etc. I found that by taking the time to think about these things little problems disappeared before they turned into big ones. Now, I look forward to my run time as it is my time to relieve the stress of my day and reflect upon it. It is true what the say – running really is cheaper than therapy.
9. Better Decision Making – What I do in one areas affect others. – Ever try to run 20 miles at 9am after staying out all night and eating fast food at 2:00am on the drive home? Let me tell you from experience, it’s horrid! Running showed me how every aspect of my life influenced something else. I stopped staying out late, started eating healthier, stopped taking in liquid calories, and noticed how much better I felt running. Then, I realized how the same was true for so many other areas of my life and started to make more conscious decisions in everything I do. I am way happier now when I am spending my Friday nights on the couch with a healthy dinner and NetFlix and my Saturday mornings on a long run instead of in being lazy in bed.
8. Me Time – I am important. – We are all so busy that often we put ourselves on the backburner. I had been doing this for years and when I started running I found that when I missed runs because of other commitments I felt sad, like I hadn’t completed my entire day. Sometimes it is inevitable that you can’t get to everything, but I make an effort to squeeze in a quick run between commitments if that is all I have time to do. I now book my run time in my planner just like I would any other appointment, my running is my me time and that is important!
7. Running Buddies – I have been blessed to meet so many amazing friends through running that I never would have met otherwise. The running community amazes and inspires me and I love it. Heck, I cannot imagine myself not being a runner and not getting to be a part of this amazing community. Running is just like life. Find quality people and keep them in the race with you. (Look at that cheesy run metaphor.)
6. Being Healthy Makes Me Happy – I found as I started to run I began to feel better and better about myself. I knew I was doing something good for my body and that in turn it was becoming capable of so much more. I continue running because I love being able to do something so healthy for my body, and I know my body is thanking me for it.
5. To Continue Improving – Basically just like in anything in life the more you work at something, the more you give, the more you put into it, the more you get out. I love setting new PRs, having great runs, running further than I ever have before. There are so many new milestones in running, so many ways to push yourself and continue to improve. Seeing that improvement is such an amazing feeling.
4. To Meet a Goal – Along the way we all start to set running goals whether they are ones we share out loud (I want a sub 2 half this fall!) or goals that we keep to ourselves they inspire is to keep pushing.
3. Redemption – In running, just like in the real world, things don’t always go your way. You do badly at a race, a training run didn’t go the way you planned, etc. I could go on forever. We have all made had those horrible runs, we have all done worse than we wanted, but you can choose to dwell on it or you can choose to learn from it and move on to the next thing. Running is about moving forward and showing yourself that you can do better. It is about not letting a bad run/race get you down, but instead getting back out there and redeeming yourself.
2. To Try Something Brave – My brother used to joke I only ran to ice cream and from bears. I was the slow, goofy, out of shape kid and I turned into that adult. So when I announced I was running a marathon people thought I was crazy, they thought I was stupid, and some of them thought there was no way I would do it. Even with 4 marathons and more halves than I can count under my belt there is still something brave about getting out there and doing it.
1. To Do What I Love – I now see myself as a runner. It is part of how I define myself and I couldn’t picture my life without running. Running is what I love and I feel blessed each and every time I am able to run. They aren’t all great runs, but how lucky am I to be able to run.
Abby is a formerly overweight couch potato who started running to get healthier and was shocked when she fell in love with the sport, the feeling, the people, all of it. She talks to strangers on race courses, runs to the side to high five cute kids, and is the person who sticks her entire hand into the community candy bowl at mile 20 of the marathon course. Abby blogs about her journey to live healthier, become a better runner, and lose the weight at BackatSquareZero. Also, find her on Twitter(and Instagram) as @BackatSquare0.