I have run over 400 days since the pandemic of 2020 changed lives. I ran to keep healthy, but running every day didn’t start until I started working from home. My only aspiration was to run every day until this pandemic ends. Like many, I had no idea how long it would last or won’t impact it would have. My body burned 226,000 calories, pounded 2,040 miles, burnt out four pairs of running shoes. I have an appointment to be vaccinated in April 2021, but it will months until the pandemic ends. This what I discovered with running every day.
1. There are good and bad days. One day your body feels fast and others as slow as molasses. The body does not want to run, wishes for another 90 minutes of sleep. The mind makes the argument there is no reason to swap rest for running, especially when no one holds you accountable. Other times, after a run, the body is high from the endorphins, drunk on adrenalin. Other days, the gut feels like it’s eaten gravel.
2. Running every day creates discipline. No one has to make their bed every morning. No one needs to shower and groom themselves every day, especially in a work-from-home situation. The body stinks and is sweaty, so showering, being clean is a requirement. With the shower comes shaving, brushing teeth, and putting on fresh clothes. Running becomes part of a daily routine that’s follow along with others.
3. Running provides a sense of accomplishment, no matter how chaotic life may be. If nothing good happens, nothing gets done, one thing has happened. If we think about doing something every day, we will not have the motivation to do it daily. We question its value and why we are even making an effort.
4. Running creates mental stamina. In some runs, the body will sense the lack of fuel to finish the run. The body wants to stop running. You will realize that this is a want, an emotion. No one is going to get you back home besides yourself. You can walk the rest of the way home or push on, drawing on inner strength and will. By only being in the moment, focusing on putting one foot ahead of another, and then repeating it, the process will get you home.
5. Running is an act. We wish for many things to happen. There is only one way to run, and that’s to run. It’s a simple act where no special tools or equipment will help to ease the effort of running. We are what we do. If I want to be a better husband or co-worker, then the only way to become that is to do it every day through my actions.
6. Running teaches humility. Running outside, especially in traffic, has dangers. A car can blow through an intersection, or a driver slams them brakes because they lost focus. A friend may call and say they loved one through Covid or to cancer. Lightning bolt may ignite close by, knocking you to the ground. Even on the best run, you realize that many can not run, will never be to run. You may learn how lucky we are to be alive because so many are not.
7. I am running to be the best of me. I will not win the Olympics, break world races, especially being older, and never having a body built for fast running. Running is competition, but it’s a competition to be the best of what God created us to me.
