Dress to Impress (the Winter Run Edition)

  Running in the winter can be amazing, yet also brutal. The chilliness drives you to increase your stride, but it may also make your a$$ freeze off. So do you just opt for the treadmill (dreadmill) all winter long, …

Running is so More Than Exercise

RUNNING.

My number one stress reliever. My challenger. My loyal friend. My escape. My safety.

To many people running is just a form a exercise–a form of torture to some. But to me, it is everything but that (and by that I mean exercise, not torture lol). To much surprise, I haven’t always been a runner. Yea, nope. I wasn’t exactly the most athletic kid. I mean I played soccer for a couple years, rode my bike day in and day out, practically lived outdoors (making mudpies was my ish). I felt like just about everyone around me had their “sport” that they were just good at. And me? My hand-eye coordination was just shy of a tragedy. Softball? No. Basketball? Yea right. Soccer? Too competitive. Tennis? Nope. Lacrosse? Big no. Swimming? Maybe if I really tried. Golf? Nice try. I felt discouraged–longing to be a part of a team, something bigger than me, but I left the sport scene in the dark and turned my focus on things that I was good at.

I played the violin for 12 years. I love music. I love art. So I delved into the art scene, pouring my heart out onto the canvas, snapping pictures left and right, which I later went on to win several awards for my work. This sparked a desire in me to pursue art school, but when I began to battle an eating disorder this changing my perspective radically. My interest began to lie in the health world. So I started up running (what?!) and went on to join the track and XC team. It’s funny how things come full circle in life because it all started with me wanting to be a part of something bigger and then here I was on a team with teammates who challenged me, uplifted me, and pushed through the pain with me.

So the question I get asked a lot is how did you become such an amazing runner? Well first off, thank you, I’m so flattered you think that I am amazing, although I think I am a far cry from it haha. Well if you are wanting to kickstart your running career then here is my advice:

1. Know that your body is capable, it is just your mind that you have to convince. It’s a mind game really. You’ll be 10 miles in and your mind will say “stop you can’t do this. Think about how tired your legs are and how your hips are already sore. Just stop.” Well you know what I do, I tell that little voice to shut up because as a matter of fact I CAN do this and I WILL do this.
2. Set a big goal, then set smaller goals to get you there. Make big goals your big race–whether it may be a 5k, 10k, half or full marathon, set a BIG goal. Then set weekly goals: run 2 consecutive miles by Sunday or run 22 consecutive miles by Sunday. All these small goals will add up to help you achieve that big goal.
3. Run outdoors as much as possible. There is no place like the great outdoors–even as a kid I craved the earth’s environment. There is something so freeing about running away from the crazy and getting lost in the trees. So utilize the treadmill when absolutely needed, but run outdoors the most (I promise this is huge game changer).
4. Be patient with yourself and don’t push yourself too hard. The greatest marathoners weren’t made overnight, no no no. But rather over years and years of grueling workouts, many discouragement, but even more triumphs. So you may not hit your goal that week, you may have some set backs (like injuries or a life event) and THAT’S OKAY–that’s life. And when that does happen, because it will happen, don’t beat yourself up, don’t quit. But choose the next day to better than you were yesterday and that doesn’t always look like faster times or more miles, but rather listening intuitively to your body. The worst is pushing yourself too hard and then suffering an injury, so be gentle and patient, you will get there.
5. Lastly, don’t focus on the pain or difficulty, but keep your eyes on the joy that is ahead. I’ll leave you with this quote that left me more than inspired. Louis Zamperini is one of my biggest inspirations in life and if you don’t know who he is, I suggest you go look him up because he was a man full of incredible strength and dignity. Before he got on the train to go to the Olympics, his brother shared these words with him “a minute of pain is worth a lifetime of glory.”