Whenever I meet someone new and they find out I’m a fitness event planner, they ask what my sport is. Well…I’m not a huge sports person, in that I played soccer for one season when I was 9 and that was the extent of my sports participation. I enjoy watching hockey and soccer and Id probably sit through a football game, but I’m about fitness. So when someone asked me a couple of weeks ago about my sport, I answered “running”.
Running is the one physical activity I consistently participate in and I’ve recently become more serious about. I read books and follow running social media accounts. I want to get faster and stronger and I’m making a conscious effort to achieve these. I regularly spend money on races and gear so I guess I’m a runner.
As a little kid I’m sure I ran around the neighbourhood and the playground at school. Somewhere around my tween years, the running slowed down and I started to believe I couldn’t run. I recall my high school self thinking that runners be crazy because who in their right mind would pay to run for fun? I didn’t think I’d be able to run to save my life if the need arose. My how times have changed!
I healed my broken heart after a miscarriage by pounding the pavement. I found the strength to start my own business by lacing up and heading out. Running has become one of my greatest sources of strength and my go-to treatment for recurring bouts of anxiety. I am a better person because I run.
I love this quote because running really does make me feel alive. After reading The Inner Runner by Jason Karp and The Cool Impossible by Eric Orton have helped me find more joy in my running. I used to run to move my body, push my limits, and clear my head, but now I run to live a better life. I enjoy the scenery around me, taking time to feel the trees as I tramp through the woods and I enjoy the squish of a muddy path and the smell of a wet forest. I’m able to not only clear my head, but come back with my mind full of new ideas and perspectives on things. The aches and pains remind me that I’m using my body and that I’m alive. I’m living a life that’s real and balanced and all because of running.
We all have something that we come back to when we’re in need of a physical outlet…what’s yours?
Mindset Events 