Dear Running,
You are the reason Facebook has the "it's complicated" relationship option. I want to hate you, but I can't, because I love you. Running, you have changed me and taught me a little something or two, but allow me to take you back to our first days together.
I started running because I knew nothing else. Any sport I have ever played has involved some form of running. So why not stick to it? It started getting complicated for the first of many times because running for myself was a totally different beast than running for a sport. I underestimated you. You were harder than I could have ever imagined and I began to hate you. But, I wasn't going to give up on you.
You have been there when things got frustrating and stressful. You patiently waited as my shoes sat on the floor waiting to go out. I would step out of the door and down the hill and realize that you, in fact, are there for me. I began to love you. I began to love that feeling of the warm sun hitting my face and that feeling of success of running all the way up the hill but even better, that feeling of success at the end. You had me hooked!
With the love of the sport came some of the true tests of love and you hurt me, literally. You plagued me with every runner's injury in the book and it was safe to say, I was almost ready to give up. Giving up was not an option, it never was and never will be. I conquered and I learned a lot about myself from you, and now I'm going to thank you.
Thank you for being there when I needed the time to be alone and just unwind from the stress of school and drama. You gave me that "alone time"; that time to just let me be with my thoughts, or to even better yet, let them go. You let my woes go.
Thank you for reminding me that time doesn't matter. All that matters was just getting out there and doing it. The clock has been my enemy in previous athletic careers but this time, it is different. The clock shouldn't make or break my run, I should just finish. I shouldn't care about time because I'm out there, achieving. Time is nothing.
Thank you for allowing me to consume a lot of ice cream and not really feel bad about it!
And lastly, thank you for teaching me about myself, to just stop thinking and just run. You have taught me the importance of perseverance. When the hill seems to never end, just keep going because there is a downhill on the other side and there's probably no way around it either. You remind me, every run I get a little stronger than I was last time. Each run, each mile I'm bettering myself and the future me is thanking you in advance.
So running, you aren't so bad after all. Well, you still kind of suck, but it's the good kind. You are worth it. And I'm sorry for all the times I've said "I hate you." I mean it because you are not an easy relationship, but you're worth it.
P.S. I love you...sort of.
