lessons from running
“This sucks” was the very first thought that came into my mind when I first started to get into running. I was somewhere stuck in-between the monotonous lulls of Covid-19, online classes and general boredom.
In my unremarkable hometown, there wasn’t many things that one could do day to day. So, one eventful day (I don’t recall which), I laced my beatup sneakers and hit the road. If there was one thing I loved about my home, it was that there was no shortage of running trails you could go on. The fells is vast, and offered me an unlimited combination of paths that I could go on (of course, I really would just stick to one or two on most days).
But like many things in life, these were simply just spurs of motivation, or maybe boredom. I have tried many times in my life to be consistent at something, to build a useful habit. What was so different about running? It’s not like I had somebody nagging me every morning to go for a run. To be honest, even to this day, I am still not really sure how or why I built this habit of running, sometimes it feels like it just came out of nowhere.
Of course, I owe an immense amount of credit to my cross country and track and field coaches during the latter half of my time during high school, as well as my teammates that have supported me and pushed me forward every single day to work harder. This little habit of carried over during my years in college, and while I do not run on a team anymore, I did it for myself and my mind.
One thing that I really love about running is the mind. The mind is in a somewhat trance like state when I run, as if I’m a floating torso cruising down the streets and trails. It’s a somewhat uncanny feeling that I have gotten quite used to. However, in my opinion, the act of running is the ultimate form of freedom that one can achieve. What do I mean by this? Of course you can go faster and further in a car, a bicycle, or a plane if you choose to believe that freedom is merely the ability to go somewhere. But running does not involve those things. Running involves nothing really. You need a body, and you need a mind willing to use that body. Sometimes when the body and mind are in total alignment, that is what some people call the Runner’s High. Usually this is not the case, and I will go a step further in saying that most, if not all runs are pretty unglamourous. Your drenched in sweat, your panting, your knees are shaking, your face is red, you don’t really look all that presentable really. But what about your mind? Your body endures the pain of running physically, but your mind flourishes from the action of doing so. I find that every time I finish a run, my mood regulates, my temper is much milder, and I am able to think clearly (if only we could have a drug half as effective as the mere act of running!).
I want to preface this by saying that I do not want to liken running to a drug. It is not a drug, it is a life. You do not get to experience the benefits of running without running, you must deliberately practice it day in and day out. A life is a combination of many things, and many of which are multifauceted. Being a runner does not mean you go for a run. If that was the case, the vast majority of people who could run would call themselves runners. No, running is different. It requires consistent practice and disclipline. You are not a runner if you have run once or could run. You are a runner when you have built such a yearning in your body to know that running is apart of your life.