This is to write out what inspires me to run, inspiration for others, and to give stories about the life of running.I am currently training for the Seattle Rock N Roll Marathon with my sister (Katie) and a friend. When I don't have a race in the near future, I just imagine that a marathon or half marathon is coming up for me to train for, and I usually find one to sign up for. All of my family runs (both of my parents, my sister, and my two brothers).
Running is my passion, my joy, my life. I'm not fast, but that isn't what it's about. Running gives me a chance to relax, unwind, think, and just feel good. The runner's high is an amazing thing that everyone should experience. It's a great way to stay/get fit, but I also want to use this blog to keep me in check to not neglect my stretching and strength workouts. Running is a sport about self improvement. It is about inspiration.
Just Keep Running
During my run this afternoon, I began to think about how as a child running is natural. Why does this change? Adults say that it is too hard to fit it into their busy schedules, and yes, kids do have recess to run wild and enjoy chasing each other. Running to them is EASY. When does it get hard. For me, it was when I was in 5th grade. I had run before this as a sport because to run was yo be a part of the family. Then, in 5th grade I grew, both tall and wider. I now know that my body was getting ready to go through a major growth spurt. Still, I had decided that running wasn’t for me. Of course, now I have come back to the sport and found that I love it, but so many people don’t. Their childhood love for exercise just vanishes. We say we get to busy or we are too tired, but kids are the ones that have to go through the most “traumatic” experiences. They have to start from scratch and learn about the world around us. They learn how to read, write, add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Kids learn why and how we survive, how plants grow, and the history of our world. Kids have it hard and they NEED to run. They need to release that energy. As adults it is easier to make up excuses, but there are no excuses. People don’t run because they have forgotten the joy they once found in it. I stopped because it had become more difficult. At some point I found that it hurt a little to run, and who wants to hurt? I rediscovered the love of running by chance, for one day my sister simply told me that we were signed up for a half marathon. I had to train, but I resisted enjoying it. Yes, there were a few reasons to hurt, but I pushed through. One day, I found myself back in the third grade, running because I craved it. You don’t need to run fast or push too hard. My advice: run like a child. Rediscover the love for running. It is the best thing about childhood- the spirit to enjoy what is natural.
