Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been sentimental about running. I guess Valentine’s Day is shedding even more light on my love affair with running. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what distance running has taught me. So here it goes, in no particular order.
- Patience. Everyone knows that I am not a very patient person. However, running has taught me that results do not happen immediately and that I need to be patient with myself (and sometimes everyone around me!).
- Hard work pays off. Deep down inside, I know I’ve always known this but sometimes you doubt the time and efforts you put in to things, whether it’s with work, a friendship, or marathon training. However, hard work really pays off, it just may take time (remember, patience, see #1).
- Variety is important. Just like cross training and a variety of non-running workouts is very important to any marathon training plan, variety in life is important. For a long time, I made work my focus 120% of time. I hate to admit that not only did my own fitness and health take a back seat but so did friendships. I am finally learning that I need to find the right balance, now I just need to remember to not let running take over.
- Me time. I love me time. I spend a lot of me time running and depending on the day, it does wonders for me. It clears my head, helps me sort through some decisions I am struggling with, and is just an all around good time to reflect. Most of my blog post ideas come to fruition while running.
- Slow and steady wins the race. I guess this goes back to patience but regardless the goal, a plan will always pay off. Trying to pull something off hastily doesn’t always work, maybe some of the time, not most of the time.
- Giving up control. Sometimes. There are off days, no matter how much planning I do, there are days that just do not turn out the way they’re supposed to. I get to work late, a project takes longer to finish than expected, my dinner takes longer to cook than expected (that’s me now, blogging while waiting for dinner to finish cooking), or I have an off day in training or a bad race. I am not always in control, and I need to learn to let go, only sometimes though, because otherwise, I wouldn’t be my type-A self.
- Don’t sweat the small things. So I have an off day, but I can’t let it get to me. I used to freak out, for lack of a better word, all the time, over very small things. I think I am doing better at not letting everything get to me. If you don’t believe me, ask Josh. Hopefully he agrees, or I’m still driving him crazy!
- Teamwork. Running is not an individual sport and neither is life. I wouldn’t be where I am today in my running and life, personal and professional without the support of my team – my amazing friends and family.
My teammate sent me this link to different Valentine’s Day cards for runners and in honor of my love for running and a belated Valentine’s Day, I am sharing my favorites in this post.
What has running taught you?