Running to and from one's problems
When I first started running "for real" just a couple of weeks ago I never would have guessed at the amount of improvement I would experience in just a short period of time. No, I didn't become faster, but I was able to tack on mile after mile, all the way to 16 inside of my first month.
How was that possible? Well, I just came off of a very stringent ketogenic diet and lost over 30 pounds in the process. My new found bodyweight of 160 pounds was quite refreshing and invigorating from the usual 190+ pounds. A ketogenic diet is a method of dieting that induces ketosis, or essentially utilizing fat for fuel instead of sugar. The first few days are a bit of an adjustment period followed by many days of "will I cave?". It was certainly quite an ordeal to go through, but a worthwhile one for sure. Even months after the fact I am still just 170 pounds, barely 10 over what I ended with in June. It's a new freedom that I will for sure not take for granted this time around.
This is why running came into my life. It has allowed me enjoy food in moderation and still maintain a healthy weight. I make it a priority to do at least one long run a week, usually as far as I can manage, which usually takes me the better part of several hours. I may not run fast, but I make it a point to never stop during a run. I enjoy and look forward in nervous anticipation of the mental barriers ahead, as well as the physical aches and pains that inevitably work their way to the surface the first 30 minutes of so. To help mitigate these factors, I supplement with the right music. I find that blasting my favorite music with a decent pair of headphones (that wont fall out or get in the way), goes a long way.
Running allows me to both confront and escape my problems in life. For some it's a therapy, for others it's just exercise. To each their own, but for me running has been the one of the best things to come to my life in recent years, and I have just started.