Running has always been hard for me. When I joined the running club in elementary school I thought it would make running easier. Instead I was demoralized that the same mile never seemed to get better. I would huff and puff as my breath made little clouds above the asphalt as I made my way around and around the school.
For each mile we successfully completed, we were rewarded a little plastic foot that would be attached to our shoelaces as a reminder of what we accomplished. I earned my feet, few as they may have been, but I tried.
In middle school I joined the track team in 8th grade. I was all of 95 pounds and barely five-foot-seven. I didn’t have any particularly obvious skill sets to bring to the team, but I joined because I wanted to get better at running, and nothing seemed better than having a coach and 20 other people holding you accountable for your actions on the track.
However, I still managed to struggle. I didn’t give up, and persisted through each day and practice. Shin splints became my own trial by fire that season. Even still, I went to each and every practice and meet. I did ok, sprinting the 200 meter and the 100 meter races. One time I volunteered for the 400 meter and was humiliated on the last 100. In the end it was worth doing for the experience and character building. It’s when your guard is down that you fall short. I certainly learned my lesson that day: give it your all.
Once I made it to High school I decided to join the football team my freshman year. I was ahead of the curve when it came to weight lifting, but I was seriously behind when it came to any kind of cardiovascular activity, and in football you will run everywhere, a lot. Despite all of the sprints and running we did, I never seemed to improve or have the slightest bit of accomplishment from it. My mindset was stuck in previous experiences that I had and it sabotaged me from the start.
I ended up quitting a week into the summer training two-a-days.
Fast forward a few years of lifting weights and gaining weight until I was 210+ pounds, and you have a decent picture of where I was (It was not ripped and muscular). Running was an ancient concept for me once I graduated High school. It never came back until just recently when I stuck to my guns and had no carbs for 4 weeks straight. I lost 30 pounds from being 190 and tried to run again. I started with one mile, and then got to 2, and then 3, and then 6. Very soon I was doing a half-marathon. I did 16 miles just the other week.
So what happened?
My mindset changed. I saw running as a way to improve oneself and find out who you are. It’s a way to push past mental barriers and find new limits. It became a therapy of sorts. My therapy. Running does not have to be miserable or hard. It can be something enlightening and rewarding, through the overcoming of pain and suffering.