National Running Day

 

I would be quite remiss if I didn’t comment on today, National Running Day, as running has and always will have my heart.  The motto of National Running Day is I Run… and you are supposed to fill in the blank.  This year’s theme is to overcome!  Yes, I run to overcome but I run for so many other reasons.  I guess thus today becomes a good day to consider and really ponder the why do I run thought.  I run…

•          For my sanity
•          To live
•          For the places it takes me
•          For freedom
•          For the way it makes me feel about myself
•          To escape
•          To find myself
•          Because I love myself

I could go on and on really.  I run because there has never been a single thing in my life that has been so exhausting, exhilarating and life affirming all at once.  There has simply never been another thing that has made me feel so sure of myself. So proud of myself. So free. So lost in my own brain.  So okay with all of the things in life that are annoyances that otherwise would get the better of me.

I run to prove to myself that I am an athlete. I run because I have this one special thing that makes me feel on top of the world. In those moments this is mine, all mine, and no one can take it away from me.   I run to outrun my fears and self-doubt.  I run because I spent a lifetime believing I was not good enough or worthy enough and in running found my self-acceptance. 

I run because crossing the finish line, no matter the time or the position in all of the runners, I feel like I have won.  Crossing the finish line is the victory and the most unbelievable feeling in the world.  I run because I up until a couple years ago never really believed I was a runner or could ever be one.  I run because in high school I dreaded PE so much that I would stay home on days that we had to do long runs.  I run to make up for lost time, for the experiences I never had, the risks I never took, the self-doubt that held me back. 

I run because it is single handedly the best thing I have ever done for myself ever.  It has made me accepting of myself and my flaws and embrace the simple moments and the capabilities my body has.  I may not be perfect but I am a runner so it doesn’t matter.  My body continually is pushed to its limit and it takes it.  It keeps going and going because it has made me strong.  Running is the coolest thing I’ve ever done and the thing I am most proud about.  I gladly and happily will tell you I am a runner.  I wear that badge with honor.  There have been a lot of things that have come and gone in my life but my love of running has always remained.  For over ten years, thru all of my ups and downs (mentally and physically) I have always found my way back to running.  It completes me.   So happy national running day today, for whatever that is worth.  I guess mostly it’s just a way for the rest of the world to think about running.  But for me National Running day is a pretty often occurrence and that’s pretty cool with me.