The top seven life lessons I’ve learned from running

Think about running and do you imagine slogging yourself until you’re beetroot red and fit to drop?  Or maybe you think it’s just for svelte Lycra clad bodies on after-office treadmills?  If you do, you would not be alone (and I’ll confess, I used to think like that).

“Are you sure you should?” and “That’s fantastic, good luck” were comments from both ends of the spectrum of disbelief when I introduced my family and friends to the idea that I was going to start running in January this year but I bought my shoes in the sales and from there on in, I was committed to pounding the dirt twice, three times, sometimes four times a week.

I haven’t lost a great deal of weight in the past four months but I have lost a good clothes size and gained a whole cartload of confidence.  What I hadn’t expected was to learn so much from the experience but this is how running has changed more than just my physiology:

1. Keeping going.  I have two moments I struggle with on a half hour run: about thirty seconds into it when, despite all the times I’ve done it before, the synapses impishly fire up ‘Can I do this?’ and about a third of the way through, my body groans ‘How much further?’.  It would be easy to give up and go home at either point but I’ve learned that these stages pass quickly, happen every time and yes, my body and mind can cope.  So now, when I’m propping myself up on the stove cooking dinner after a particularly long day I can say to myself ‘Yes, I can keep going’ when I’d rather collapse in a heap on the sofa and allow the kids to forage.
2. A bad run is still a run.  I read this on the NHS Couch to 5K site and I’ve found this is a concept which stretches far beyond the river path where I run.  There are days when tiredness, injury or just plain lack of motivation means I don’t run at my best but effort tends to be cumulative, so whatever I’ve managed to throw at something, however menial it might seem at the time, is still effort.  You never know where you’ll learn your lessons, who will find your failure inspiring or what strengths you’ll be building in the process.

   

3. Taking time out is good for everyone.  My run is an opportunity for a very special kind of selfishness: I cannot take my children with me; I cannot pop to the shop for bread and milk, they do not fit into my armband and I cannot cook dinner or fold the laundry either for that matter (I feel challenged enough as it is dragging my body over my 3.5k route without having a cooker or laundry basket in tow).  Nope, it’s just me, the air and the sound of my feet hitting the ground.  It’s good for my cardiovascular health (which means my kids will have me around for longer), my mental health (which means my husband should stay around for longer) and I get some headspace to think. What’s not to like?
4. Don’t be afraid to run at different paces.  I have a charity 5K run to do in September and I’ve just started interval training in order to up my distance and my speed.  Being new to running, I hadn’t come across the complexities of training schedules before and six months ago, I would have thought that putting your shoes on and cracking out at whatever pace you could was enough.  Now I know that varying pace is beneficial (especially for burning fat and increasing speed over time) but this carries over into everyday life too.  Going at something full pelt is not always the best strategy – sometimes slowing down for a while gives a burst of energy, time to think and gets you there quicker in the long run.

5. 

   The wrong equipment doesn’t have to be a disaster.  I’m not good at having other people around me when I’m going through my exit procedure because something always gets forgotten.  I have an armband for my phone, a pink water bottle with a handle through it and a little wrist strap for my door key.  The one time I left home without my phone I felt quite lost at first.  Using it as both a route tracker and music player I used to listen to the C25K podcasts on it.  Leaving it at behind, however, allowed me to enjoy the birds singing in the trees rather than a bird chattering in my ear and it just goes to show that some barriers are more mental than physical.  Having completed the plan a while ago, I just use it to keep track of time and speed now and run to the rhythm of my feet.  There are three things I’d never run without, however: my running shoes, my water bottle and the M&S sports bra which I suspect was made in a Glasgow shipyard.

6. My body is fit and strong.  To look at me, you wouldn’t think I was a runner.  I’m a plus size and although I’ve been a vegetarian for nearly twenty years, I’m sure the average Jo on the street would put me down as a poster child for the local pie shop.  Truth is, I live on hummus, bulgar wheat and vegetables and yes, the odd bit of homemade chocolate cake.  What I have gleaned from the experience is that my body isn’t in the bin just yet.  Changing shape is much more important than losing weight for me and that feeling well, building strength and achieving my goals does wonders for the self-esteem.  I want to lose weight in order to run and not the other way around.
7. Do what you can when you can.  People often look confused and sometimes uncomfortable when I say that I run because others can’t.  Every time I jog passed someone who clearly cannot run because of any number of reasons, I feel happy that I have the strength and ability to do so.  A good friend of mine used to run half marathons for charity and now that he cannot run, I run for him.  Check out the Silent Bleed link on this site and keep checking back here for more details of the event I’m taking part in later in the year.

You may not be a runner – you may cycle, swim or play badminton but what principles of your own discipline have you been able to carry through into your life?  Drop me a comment below, I’d love to know.

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