What Running Has Taught Me About Life

It's Tuesday and I am linking up with host, Jessica Joy and Jill Conyers for their The Fit Dish Link-Up every Tuesday.

Today' s topic is "What has your past taught you about living today?". There are many things that my past has taught me about living today, however I will focus on how running has taught me about life.

Here is what running has taught me about life:

Your views can change - I remember when I hated long distance running. Back in high school 400 meters was long for me because I was a sprinter. I never imagined doing a half marathon. But when I knew I needed to get into shape, I turned to running to keep fit. I found a new love and went with it and 11 half marathons later I am still loving it.

You will have good days and bad days - When it comes to running, you can have awesome days where you feel fast and strong or you feel like you can run forever and it is so easy and amazing. Those are the days that you love, but then there are days where you feel horrible and wonder "why am I doing this?" or your legs feel like lead and you just can't seem to move one foot in front of the either. You just need to realize that with running, you just can't predict how your run will be. There can be lots of factors that can affect your running like tiredness, time of day, or what you eat. Whatever the factor, there will be not so great days and then there will be better days, and you should not let the bad days get to you because there are good days and they always usually make up for the not so great days.

You have more in you than you think - When it comes to training for races, I have found that you shouldn't really look at the times in your training runs because when it comes to race day, you will run faster than you normally do. Whether it be from the excitement and adrenaline, all the people, the crowds and cheering, whatever it is, you will run faster and it will feel good. I'm not saying this happens for everyone but for the most part, most of you will be amazed at what you have in you, especially on race day. 

You can still eat bad food and do well - I know there are some of you out there that follow a strict diet, but me, not really. I have always thought that in order to do well in running you have to only eat healthy foods. But that's not the case. The exercise helps so that you can eat some bad food. It's all about eating in moderation. I was never really a fan of veggies especially when I was younger. I had no trouble eating chicken, beef, noodles and rice as it was what I liked and grew up on. But now I do eat veggies mostly everyday and I do try to eat "healthy". However, what I am saying here is that you can still eat some unhealthy food in moderation (like ice cream, cookies, donuts, or chocolates - I'm really into Dark Chocolate Bark Thins and Brookside Dark Chocolate Clusters right now, so yummy!). Don't deprive yourself of something you love. I don't think I would enjoy life without eating yummy treats. So, I say enjoy treats, as long as you don't overdo it. Moderation is the key and you can still do well on your runs!

If you work hard you can achieve your goal - I have found that with running if you work hard you can achieve your goal. I remember back in 2005, I ran my first half marathon and my goal was to finish. I did and it was a memorable moment as I never thought I would ever do a half marathon and I did it. I finished in 2:20:03. A year later, my goal was to PR and get under two hours and I did, with 1:59:41. So with hard work and determination I reached my goal and was so happy. Even now, I am still working hard with each workout and training run. In my last two races I have PR'd. It's pretty amazing because I feel like I am in the best shape I've ever been. Hard work and determination definitely brings great results.

Last Sunday's Perfect 10 miler where I PR'd!! :)

What has your past taught you about living today?
What has running taught you?