What I talk about when I talk about running by Me
Running is never just a run, it’s a lesson. Running is hard. It is also very satisfactory. Running is hard in a way that five minutes ago your body was totally relaxed on your couch and now you are moving at 5,45" per kilometer and it did not get a heads-up. Your body does not understand what’s going on.
But running is so pleasant. It leaves you with such a post work out serotonin rush that is close to magic. But there are days when getting off the couch and into your running shoes is, the act itself, marathonical.
Even when you’ve started and you are already halfway through the run there is a little voice in your head that tells you “Its fine, you don’t have to run 8k today, these 5k are enough”. That’s usually when your focus is not right, your breath is hard to catch or your knee is hurting in a funny way.
But there is this other part that just keeps running. It “just does it”. How? You don’t know. Why? You don’t know that either. But, boy do you appreciate it later. When you’ve reached your goal, when you are slowing down, walking it out, stretching. There is this feeling of satisfaction that is very hard to explain.
Just see all the people that have had knee replacements and surgery. Their doctors keep telling them to stop running, that they have done enough damage. But they only wait long enough to heal and they are out hitting the pavement. The rush is addictive. The adrenaline and serotonin secreted from the previous run is alluring.
It is also such a beautiful form of meditation. Personally, I’m an Airpods runner. Even if all of my running heroes are not. They take it as a moment of introinspection, listening to their thoughts, their breath. And that’s all okay with me. But I like music. I like accelerating the pace if the music is faster. Or catching my breath whenever there is a “slower” beat on the playlist. My very own meditational form.
After a run, my thoughts are clearer, my body is lighter my soul is fresher.
I like to think that just by stepping into the pavement with the running shoes tightly strapped in and the AirPods in place, you have already won. Maybe your run wasn’t as smooth as you expected, maybe your pace was slower than you thought it would be. And maybe the music didn’t really hit an inspirational note. But just by starting, just by putting yourself out there, it already feels like a win. A victory.
The fast-pace runs and the longer-distance circuits are the ones that keep motivating us to get better, to do better. But it’s this runs in between that matter. It’s the ones that keep getting us back on the sidewalks, treadmills and parks.
We must never forget that the race isn’t against other runner but against our own selves. And that is the most competitive of all opponents.
