My love for running

I never thought I would be able to utter love and running in a form of sentence forget about writing a blog with the same title. I was never a running person. I was more of a walking person. I used to go for an evening walk daily for many years. Ever since I lost a dear friend to suicide around the beginning of the year, I was dragged back to a vicious cycle of anxiety and depression. The only means to calm my anxious mind, at that time, was to let my body go through a strenuous activity without having to step out of my house, thanks to frequent and sudden lockdowns. Thankfully, one of my wisest and best decisions of buying a treadmill during pre-covid days helped me to get it done. 


Every morning before my run, I go through a series of existential crises, and at times when I am in the mood for some extra drama, I experience a complete mental breakdown for at least an hour. After letting all those unpleasant emotions out of my system, I drink a cup of black coffee and read for an hour. Reading always pacifies me and in a way coax me to get out of a comfy nightdress and to get into a workout attire. As I stretch my body I weigh the pros and cons of not exercising. And damn! Pros always win. 


The warm-up session and pre-running walk leave me with a good 3-5 minutes to either change my mind to skip the run or pat myself for resisting the temptation to skip the run. As I run for the next 40-60 minutes I feel most alive and free. I leave all the troubles behind as I run. Running has helped me to accept my flaws and be grateful for everything in my life. It is a fact that I have come up with some of the best classroom teaching ideas while on run and at times, I was reminded of minor errors in my paper works. Personally, I am a much calmer person now. I feel good about myself. I can feel a significant difference in my body posture. Out of many benefits, my personal favorite is that I can sleep well without having to take long afternoon naps (old me would have hated me for this). 


One of the best feelings in the world that I have experience in my life is a runner's high. After an hour of a good run, a strong rush of indescribable feelings of satisfaction is unmatchable. Just as a piece of additional information, I run 7-9 k except on Sunday. 


My love for running has been misinterpreted as a means to reduce my weight. I would be honest and agree that initially, I ran with an intention to shed off those extra stubborn kilos. But as I ran I realized that the main purpose was wrong and was meant for a short-term goal. Now, I ran because I love running. Here, I say it again loud and clear, I LOVE RUNNING! 

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