Why Every Run is a Good Run!

Deception Pass 2014 

I have been thinking and stewing about my post "When Every Run is Sh*tty ..."and realized what a negative spin I put on something that is truly just about one's perspective. I would like to redeem myself with this post!

A close friend of mine has a saying that "Every run is a good run" ... and when I told her about my blog post  "When Every Run is Sh*tty..." she reminded me of her philosophy. This friend of mine is a running genius, and has taught me so much about the joy of running, that I am choosing to honour her with this more positive take on the subject of running.

There is always a lesson tucked away in every single day that we walk on this big, colourful planet of ours. A hidden gem in the muck and in the joys of the day. In each moment lies the choice of how you will respond, what you will say, how you will feel.

In running, these choices are much more prominent, and much more obvious. When you run, you can run away from things ... or you can run towards things ... The choice is yours. The approach is entirely up to you. Every run is a chance to challenge your beliefs about yourself, and perhaps that's how I have transformed myself completely since I started running.

Tenderfoot Boogie 2011
 

Every difficult run will make you stronger because you will have gotten through it. The trick is to give yourself the credit for making it through adversity and to celebrate the victory of giving something your best effort. It's the satisfaction of a job well done. We all deserve that feeling!

Every run is a good run because you are Out There, you run free and wild and it is Real. You are experiencing life on a different scale. It is a moving meditation, which makes it extremely challenging at times to find the silence inside. But when you do feel the vast nature of the mind ... you feel as if you are floating through the trail. You feel supported, you feel larger than your body, you feel absolutely connected.

But it is a choice.

I have slowly changed my attitude during my runs, but it has been difficult at times to shut down the self-defeating thoughts that have been popping up. Persistence & consistency are my friends. These two qualities are what have kept me running when times have been tough. It is not always the most gifted athlete who "wins" in the end - no, it is the athlete who kept showing up, for every practice, with the right fuel in her body, the right dialogue in her mind, and the stubborn resistance to quitting!

As for my actual runs, things are slowly improving ... I have run for two weeks consistently, and I'm slowly beginning to feel the power rising up again! I'm being more mindful about meals, focusing on eating lots of fruits & veggies, beans & grains ... and trying to "work in" at least one superfood each day (hemp seeds, coconut oil, Udo's oil, etc). My theory is to have a tablespoon of one superfood a day! (I can do that!) I have also started taking magnesium again, as it helped me greatly when I was taking it before. I woke up this morning before my alarm went off, refreshed and smiling! (yay!)

Why is Every Run a Good Run? Because it was my conscious choice to lace up and run across the dirt of this beautiful planet. It is my way of honouring myself, this body, these lungs. I do it for the love.