As my friends have watched me over the last year some of the more astute have asked me if running is something that I still feel like I have to do...Like, "oh I need to get that work out in for the day but ugh! I don't really feel like it." Or, has running become something that I really WANT to do?
For me, there was a gradual transition from having to do it...to wanting to do it.
It didn't really hit home until I injured my calf late last summer / early fall and couldn't run. Thats when I felt that keen sting of NOT being able to run...THAT is when I realized that I had crossed some threshold from running being just a workout...to something altogether different. In reading blogs and articles by other people who have come to the sport of running later in life, (like me), I find that most mention some sort of evolution from work out to...dare I say it...lifestyle. Or maybe to put it in simpler terms...running evolves to become a habit. However you choose to look at it...as the creation of a habit...or as something more profound... there is a definite change in how you go about your running.
For me, running became easier. I didn't head out on a 5K run and wonder if I could run the whole thing or do it in under 30 minutes. I didn't have to wonder if I could head out the door and rip off a 10K if I was feeling good. I KNEW I could do that on regular basis. (like 6 times a week...most weeks) Running had become more that just the calories burned and the time to complete. It became FUN.
So now...running is fun. I look forward to it almost every day. Even in the rain. (my wife and kids think I'm nuts on the rain thing) Even in the snow. (like 2 days ago). But the point is, that no matter how the rest of my day may going, I can head out the door and have some fun for 30 minutes or an hour. And its good for me...on many different levels.
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