Running comes with many highs and lows, but I have learned that what makes it hard, makes it worth while. Below I've compiled a list of things I hate about running that I have somehow come to love.

1. The discipline

I really don't want to run some days. Laying in bed, I think about getting up, lacing my shoes, and driving to the nearest trail and I just want to fall back asleep. Why would I make myself sweaty and tired when I could be comfortably lazing in my room? What could possibly make me give up a sacred, slow Saturday morning in exchange for a seven mile run? I will submit this answer to you: breakfast.

Discipline comes with its own rewards. What I have given up to be disciplined in my sport has been made up for in many ways. In general, I eat healthier, spend more time outside, and sleep better. But there is no prize that quite compares to a Saturday morning breakfast after the long run. No matter the pain or resistance I feel waking up and running, afterward is a breakfast experience like no other. The drudgery of discipline is compensated by the beauty of pancakes and sausage drowned in syrup next to a steaming cup of joe. This makes it all worth it.

2. The exhaustion

Usually, when people hear that I run distance, they say something like, “I’d be dead after one mile.” And I can relate to the feeling. Since I started my running career, I have experienced a new, unimaginable kind of exhaustion. During my first team workouts, I remember only feeling weak and tired. The more I have ran, however, the stronger I have become. I still wear myself out, but I have found that I can push myself harder than before. Workouts or distances that used to knock me out, aren't as intimidating anymore. Overcoming exhaustion has given me a new confidence in myself in facing new challenges.

3. The pressure

I can think of fewer times that I have been more anxious than before a race. I hate it. I mean, I really don't enjoy the deep butterflies before the gun goes off. Fears about failing, being a disappointment, or burning out, cause a heavy pit in my stomach that I think I will always feel and always hate. But it causes an adrenaline rush, a pressure, that brings focus. This competitive pressure reminds me how important the race is, how hard I've worked. It gives me determination to give my everything for those moments. At the end, regardless of the outcome, I feel that weight lift off of me, until the next race

4. The loneliness

Running is an individual sport. In other sports, there is much more of a team feel; and while there are team aspects, it is mostly driven by internal discipline. Self-motivation. I am my biggest competition. It’s hard to spur myself on, far out on an unknown gravel road, when I’m fighting a dull fatigue. But there’s something about that sound: muffled nature, hard breaths, shoes hitting the gravel. Mind. Body. Road. There’s just something about being out on a run alone, with a path ahead. The only person I have to beat is myself, and when I do, the feeling of accomplishment is unlike anything else.

I run because it’s so symbolic of life. You have to drive yourself to overcome the obstacles. You might feel that you can’t. But then you find your inner strength, and realize you’re capable of so much more than you thought. Arthur Blank