I have been running for exercise on and off since roughly eighth grade. But recently my relationship with it has changed. I used to dread running. I hated it from my first step out of the door to my last one returning home. I would have to wear headphones and listen to music just to get through it.

I only ever ran to impress people and most of the time it was just one person that I had my heart set on that I just had to be in good shape for. I ran all throughout eighth grade year and summer to impress someone in particular. Then I came to high tech, stopped seeing that person, stopped running, started stress eating, and gained 25 pounds in a year. Granted I also probably grew taller, but still.

Then later on in my high tech career I discovered another person that I was interested in and I started running again. Still hated it. Hated every second of it. Eventually, I stopped when I had nobody to impress again.

As a result of my negative relationship with running, I was never good at it. The most I had ever run was 2 and a half miles and that was after quite a long time of training. I just didn’t want to run.

Fast forward to senior year. One day I felt like crap, mentally and physically. And I decided to go for a run to see if it would made me feel any better. I could barely run down the street without stopping. I ran a little over a mile and stopped to walk probably five times. But, it improved my mood.

I was running for me. I was running to feel good. I wasn’t running to impress anybody. And I enjoyed it. A few months later and now I love running. I don’t listen to music or anything because I don’t need to be distracted anymore, the run isn’t sheer agony. I started to look forward to running because I knew it would improve my mood.

Today, after not nearly as much training as I had in previous years, I ran more than a 3 and a half miles without stopping. This is an all time personal best for me and I actually enjoyed doing it! Just goes to show what a healthy relationship with an activity can do to improve your performance in it, instead of dreading it.

This blog had no purpose, it was just all that I could think about today.