Lessons from Running
…By a New Runner
Oh no, not another braggy post by a runner nonchalantly boasting about how their life has been changed by fitness! Bear with me. I've earned the right to write this post because I'm not really a runner. Or at least I never used to be.
If you have known me for a while then you'll know that I'm not sporty. It's no secret of mine, nor is it even a claim. In fact, many times I've voluntarily embraced the label of not being athletic. In High School, my close friends were the sporty ones, joining school teams or skiing on breaks. I, on the other hand, found myself reluctant in PE class, embarrassed to compete for the ball or shuttlecock or finish line. One of the biggest jokes of my teenage years was that I was awarded a Sports Tie (a multicoloured tie indicating sporting excellence), earned simply because I was on the hockey team for years, and that was just for social reasons and absolutely not because of skill. Needless to say, I didn’t wear the Sports Tie.
It turns out though, saying something about yourself again and again over the years makes it stick. For me, rejecting any identity of being sporty gradually became a self-fulfilling prophesy. I began to believe that my body mysteriously hadn't been built to be active and that I would find it impossibly hard to change that.
Once, I was wearing trainers (sneakers) around the house and my sister saw my feet and said to me, "I didn't know you owned those!". All of this was confronted back in 2017 when I downloaded Couch To 5K, a running podcast offered for free by the UK’s National Health Service. This podcast aims to take someone from no running ability to being able to run for 5K (or for half an hour, whichever comes first). Over three months I ran three times a week, obediently listening to the podcast as it told me when to run and when to walk and when to rest. Now, years later, I still run a few times a week. It has been the most liberating habit. For me, running for me hasn't been about getting fit or keeping trim, it's been about challenging the limitations and low expectations I've nursed since being a teenager.
Here are some of my lessons from running...
Being naturally athletic isn't vital to being a runner. If you've got a good dose of determination and discipline, those can completely replace a sporty predisposition.
Do something you always thought you could never do. The mental liberation is priceless.
Introverts, running is a socially acceptable place to ignore people and a great arena to recharge.
You don't need fancy running gear to start running. I ran for years without proper technical clothing.
Run rain, snow or shine.
If you wear glasses like me, wear a baseball cap on rainy days.
If you run early enough in the morning, you can look like an absolute monster and barely anyone will see you.
A regular running routine gives room to regularly listen to audiobooks or lectures.