Christmas dinner. Christmas candy. Christmas cookies….filled with cookie butter. Christmas houses stacked with celebrating loved ones. Christmas babies wailing. Christmas shopping. More Christmas shopping. OMGosh, I forgot to get the neighbors…more Christmas shopping.
Everyone survive?!
I don’t care how jam-packed the holidays are, I love every bit of the chaos. Especially when the weather holds and I can hit the streets for a run.
On Christmas Eve, as I was out running and thinking, I thought it would be fun to do a Top 10 List. I meant to get this posted that same day, but as you can see, I was delayed.
Top 10 Reasons I Run
#1: Running clears my mind
When you have a brain like mine that runs constantly and with abandon, you need a way to clear the clutter. Running is the perfect clean sweep. As I’m out on the road the stuff that’s not important falls away and the stuff that is, rises like cream to the top. Often, it is a time a prayer, supplication and contemplation. Once I’m done running, I feel renewed in mind and thought.
#2: Running keeps me healthy
I’ve been running since I was 10. I credit running with helping me be that person who rarely gets sick and as I’ve aged, I think it’s slowed my progression towards oldladyhood. While I can’t do the same things I used to do when I was 20 (oh, 20!), I think I’m on the high-end of healthy for my age-bracket.
#3: Running gets me out of my head
This one seems counter-intuitive to Reason #1, but while my life is spent mostly in my head and in front of a computer writing, running gets me out in the physical world. I get a chance to see my sweet (and not so sweet) neighbors and offer a morning’s HOLLA! The sun gets a chance to work its magic on my well-being. The cops have someone to talk about on their quiet patrols (how often does she run?!) as we exchange waves. And where else could I have the almost daily adrenalin-jacking experience of diving out of the way of crazy little old ladies and gents as they drive erratically while talking on their gigantic cell phones? WHERE?!
#4: Running frees me…
…to dress in tiny zippy shorts (without underpants, Jess!) that I could never ever EVER get away with anywhere else. Put me in some running shoes, strap on an iPod, and suddenly running shorts, even the teeny tiny kind, are de rigueur.
#5: Running gives me a sense of accomplishment
To point to something in your day and say, “I did that today” is important. Our days are filled with noise and nonsense and to feel that we have achieved, that we have overcome, can be the difference between a good or bad day. If my one something is a good run, then I consider it a win. When I have a good run or a bad run, at least I have had a run. The ripple effect to the rest of my day is not to be underestimated.
#6-10: Running lets me E.A.T.
You knew it was coming! (it cuts off at the end…sorry)
BOOM! List’d!
Anyone want to share your reasons for running?
Do it!
Happy New Year, y’all!
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Well, I currently have a very bad cold (it might actually be strept but I am allergic to doctors so I may never know) so I am unable to run the last couple of days. Which most people would be fine with, right? Well when I can’t do something the desire to do it seems to magnify (why is that??!!) But here are my reasons to run:
1. I am the least athletic person on the planet. So the fact that I have laced up and continued to do so on and off for over ten years proves that even though I lack the talent athletically, I have tons of determination. And that should count for something.
2. Now having completed two half marathons I have proven to myself how tough I am. Neither was particularly pretty (though the first wasn’t too bad the second I was ill prepared for and I suffered the last three miles). BUT I DID IT. And that should count for something as well.
3. Every Monday morning during calendar I ask each student to share what they did that past weekend. And then I always say “You know what I did?” They now almost always say “You ran a race!” And the first couple times I did that inevitably one of the kids would ask “Did you win?” and I always would say “It’s not about winning, it’s about running against myself and doing my best”. They have stopped asking if I won. Either they are tired of hearing me talk or they maybe get it?? (One can hope…)
3. I work in a petri dish of germs. Kids cough on me, wipe their noses on me, ralph on my shoes. So I am not sure running so much has helped my immune system as being exposed to the Pre-K Nile virus has. And since I am currently sick I probably cannot boast about a kick ass immune system but I will say learning endurance in running has helped me to apply it to all areas of life, including being sick. I have learned to keep pushing on even when my body feels like it cannot. Either this makes me stupid or awesome. Not sure which.
Poor sickie. I love that you have two #3s.
All experience counts for something, and the kiddos you are passing that knowledge along to will remember the lessons when it applies to them.
Thanks for sharing with us. You go, Shelli.