What Running Teaches (Start)

I have always run, or at least that is the way it seems. As with most people it started as fun, as play. What childhood game did not involve running (at least in my time before video games, cell phones and electronic devices). We played all the classics, tag, kickball, baseball, football (and when we did not have enough for a true game kill the guy with the ball filled the void). As I reached high school, play became sport. I turned to track, then to cross country. Running was one thing I could do.

In no way was I a superstar. I ran track for two years without earning a letter, I took up cross country only because of a an incident involving a three-wheeler that put me on crutches for the last portion of summer vacation and the first month or so of school. I struggled, I sweated, my feet, shins, knees and back ached, my lungs burned and my heart pounded – but through it all I still come back to it.

Now I run less for sport, and more for myself. I am not trying to run great distances; I am not trying to beat the man in the lane beside me. Today I run for other reasons – for what running can do for me beyond the physical. I run for what running teaches me. 

First and foremost is you must start. Newton’s law states that a body at rest remains at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. Simply, if you are comfortable on the couch, or in bed – it takes will to get up, get dressed and go run. It is so much easier to stay under the covers, to watch one more episode, each brings its own level of satisfaction – but if you want to get the specific benefits that come with running you must run. This holds true in every other aspect of your life as well, especially at work. The only way to get anything done is to start it. You must be willing to lower your head and actually start what ever the task is – no matter how tedious or taxing it maybe.