Running is a very important part of my daily life for over a decade now. When I first started running, it was to become more active and do something healthy for myself that would increase my endurance. Now, so many years later it has become an essential part of my existence, and often provides me with a much needed outlet for anxiety and a way to deal with anything that might be on my mind. It might be cliché, but it’s become therapeutic for me.
At this point unless I go for even a short run every day, I feel a bit lost and off. I would struggle with feelings of anxiety but had no real understanding of what this was when I started and running would be the only thing that made me feel ok.
It is also more than that. In the last few years I’ve actually worked hard to improve my running. This includes increasing my pace (which I’m actually proud of how far I’ve come) as well as increasing the distance that I will push myself to go. I’ve always been a long distance runner, but now I’m actively working towards half marathon/marathon distances. I’ve managed to get the half marathon distance a few times and it always feels wonderful to do.
I had intended to start the full marathon training this past summer, but then the thing that we all fear and dread happened and it threw off my training: I got COVID. Even though I got it back at the beginning of this year, I affected my lungs, and even my exhaustion levels for so long after the fact that it just wasn’t feasible to start my training again.
It probably took me until about September to get back on my feet running-wise so now that I’m back up to running the distances I’m used to on the regular, I’m hoping that next spring I will finally be able to follow through on marathon training! If so, I’ll keep a journal of my progress here and anyone reading this who feels like joining in, please do, whether it’s for your own half marathon or full marathon, or even just getting started on running. I’d love to hear everyone else’s journeys!
