If you had asked me three years ago if I would ever have considered running a half marathon, I would have laughed in your face. As a high school athlete, I ran when I had to, but the thought of running for fun was foreign to me. To further solidify my stance, after a very brief stint on the cross country team, I knew more than ever that the words running and fun were not meant to exist in the same sentence.
After my high school graduation, I took up running short distances every other day, just to keep up some semblance of exercise when I no longer had an organized sport to keep me active. Once college began, any idea of exercise was lost, and it was replaced with dining hall food (I use the term food loosely), late night pizza, and a lot of beer. Unsurprisingly, I started to feel like crap pretty much all the time. It's not like I was a workout fiend before, but eliminating exercise completely while also adding on the college freshman diet is not exactly conducive to a healthy lifestyle.
Skip ahead to the end of my first semester, and my decision to get it together and start exercising again. It started small with short runs every day, but even that made me feel so much better. By the time summer came around, I ran a 5K and I was sure that running three to four miles was the maximum distance I would ever run. But anyone who has ever started to run knows that it takes you by surprise. Not only do you start to crave it, you fall in love with it. Whether you're training hard or jogging for pleasure, fast or slow, running is something you become almost addicted to. It's a great feeling, and I didn't even realize that it was happening until I injured myself a few months later.
Long story short, in a completely unrelated to running incident, I essentially destroyed my ankle, leaving me unable to walk, much less run, for months. During this time, I was hit hard with the realization of how much running had started to mean to me. Without even realizing it, I had become addicted to running. To have it taken away from me so suddenly was not only difficult, it was borderline excruciating. I found myself constantly stressed, always tired but never able to sleep, and honestly, I was just a little depressed.
After a saga of PT and exercise-less misery, once my ankle was fully healed, I took on a whole new approach to running. I started pushing myself to run longer and farther. At first it was hard, but then I got to the point where I was looking forward to my long runs, which was an attitude I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would have.
A few months ago, in an an impulsive act that would have made high school me lose it, I signed up to run a half-marathon. It's something I had been thinking about for a long time, but never really thought I could do. The training was difficult at times, but so worth it when, a few weeks ago, I completed my first half-marathon much faster than I thought I would. The experience made me realize that our bodies are capable of so much more than we give them credit for, and running is so much more than just a form of exercise. It gave me a newfound sense of self-confidence and a desire to push myself that I have never experienced before, and never would have expected to find in an activity that I once despised.
As someone who used to view a mile as my idea of a long run, and now goes on leisurely six-mile runs for fun, I'm not exaggerating when I say that running is a drug. You love it, then you hate it, then you love it some more, until eventually you just need it. Even if, right now you read this thinking that running is the last thing you would ever do, just give it a try and see where it takes you. Running gives you confidence, relieves stress, makes your body stronger, and most of all it gives you time for you. Three years ago the idea of a 5L, much less a half-marathon, would have made me visibly cringe, but now I'm already thinking about signing up for my next one. Just give it a chance, and it could change your life too.
