![\"\"](\"https:\/\/atbs.bk-ninja.com\/suga\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/viviana-rishe-5a5GnXfZSzE-unsplash.jpg\")
<\/p>\nI\u2019ve been running regularly for almost 18 years. Before today, believe it or not, I\u2019ve never actually reflected on this amount of time. It honestly took me by surprise. I began to think: what\u2019s kept me interested all this time? Through injury and setback, trial and tribulation, success and accomplishment, why have I continued to run? How do I even classify what running is to me?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not a hobby \u2014 I\u2019ve had many hobbies throughout my life, but most have been relatively short-lived. I play classical piano, but intermittently. I played video games for several years, but haven\u2019t been interested in quite some time. I even tried collecting quarters from all 50 states when I was younger to kick off a coin collection.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s a passion either \u2014 I\u2019m passionate about running, but I\u2019m also passionate about watching basketball. About playing golf. Movies. Mobile apps. Michael Jordan sneakers. Chipotle.<\/p>\n
Running goes deeper than any of that.<\/p>\n
Like many, I got my start during high school on the cross country team. I didn\u2019t make the freshman golf squad and my dad told me I needed an after school commitment. He didn\u2019t care what it was, but it had to be a school-sanctioned sport or activity. I figured well this girl I have a crush on is going out for cross country, so I\u2019ll do that. I was 15, and that\u2019s pretty much what governed my behavior back then. #TeenAngst<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t take to running right away. I was pretty decent at it right off the bat since I have the body type for distance running, but mentally my head wasn\u2019t in the game. Even though I progressed throughout high school and actually became pretty good, I never gave it 100%. But again, I was in high school, and let\u2019s just say I was \u201ceasily distracted\u201d when I was a kid. I didn\u2019t have the maturity to commit to anything.<\/p>\n
For the next several years, throughout college and my early 20s, I ran regularly but without purpose or intelligence. I had no real plan or training schedule and didn\u2019t take care of my body the way I should have. Stretching and recovery days? Yeah no. I would run half marathons on a whim and then go out to the bar. Every run would be balls to the wall.\u00a0Turn the music up.<\/strong><\/p>\n Everything changed when I was 24. I developed some particularly insidious anxiety which forced me to change basically everything about my life over the next several years. Where I lived, where I worked, what I did for fun, who I spent my time with. I stopped drinking to excess. I stopped staying up late. My social life was anemic for years.<\/p>\n But \u2013 I kept running. Although this time, I began to run more intelligently. Not every run had to be an all-out fight. Recovery runs and pre-race shake out runs had just as much of a purpose as a hard-fought tempo run or interval session.<\/p>\n I began to run with meaningful intent \u2014After a hard, frustrating day at work an easy 4-miler can be better than any beer or drug. Making big life decisions became easier after I would sort them out during a run.<\/p>\n I began to run with a specific goal in mind: pumping myself up, winding myself down, working through a problem and everything in-between.<\/p>\n I discovered the beauty and serenity that is trail running. The soft dirt under foot, the undulating terrain, the sounds of the forest, the sunlight through the trees. It\u2019s on the trails that I discovered how truly spiritual running can be. This is where I\u2019d like my running focus to be long-term. Not to mention the trail running community is one of the best communities of people I\u2019ve ever witnessed.<\/p>\n I started taking my headphones out more and more. Turns out that running without heavy metal or EDM music pounding in my ears can be an extremely cathartic experience. This would also lead me to discovering the awesomeness that is the podcast \u2013 I regularly listen to podcasts on long runs now.<\/p>\n Running is more than just a passion, a hobby, or something constructive to keep my physical mind and body healthy as I age.\u00a0It\u2019s one of my best friends and one of the most important relationships I have.<\/strong><\/p>\n Like most, I see friendship as a two-way street. I give a little, I take a little, they give a little, they take a little. The give and take distribution is not always equal, but there is a balance that is struck \u2014 a balance that makes the friendship worthwhile for both parties involved.<\/p>\n And like all friendships, sometimes devils like selfishness, jealousy and arrogance make an appearance. I\u2019m certainly guilty of entertaining these devils at one time or another, plus others. We don\u2019t intend to hurt our friends, but we do from time to time. We\u2019re only human.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve taken from running, there\u2019s no doubt about it. I\u2019ve taken shortcuts, taken the easy road, taken advantage of the god-given ability I was born with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve been running regularly for almost 18 years. Before today, believe it or not, I\u2019ve never actually reflected on this amount of time. It honestly took me by surprise. I began to think: what\u2019s kept me interested all this time? Through injury and setback, trial and tribulation, success and accomplishment, why have I continued to run? How do I even classify what running is to me? It\u2019s not a hobby \u2014 I\u2019ve had many hobbies throughout my life, but most have been relatively short-lived. I play classical piano, but intermittently. I played video games for several years, but haven\u2019t been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[22],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studioalbatross.in\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studioalbatross.in\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studioalbatross.in\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studioalbatross.in\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studioalbatross.in\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/studioalbatross.in\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studioalbatross.in\/insights\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studioalbatross.in\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studioalbatross.in\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studioalbatross.in\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}