Running Helps Me Believe in Myself.

It’s been over two years since I last ran this far. I tarried getting out the door, in part because I just wasn’t sure of myself. I’d been low on sleep. I’d had health issues. I’d come back from breakthrough COVID. I’d been stressed. I’ve been scared running will lower my immunity and I’d get sick again. With things the way they were, I wasn't (and still aren't) even sure the 10K I’d been training for would happen. But I decided to try to get in my long run. I got up. I drank some water. I ate (a new skill I’m trying—fueling before and after running). And I started. My goal was to get to the canal path, a place I’ve wanted to go since we moved a few years ago, but it’s far, like over two miles away far. The stoplights and crosswalks didn’t exactly agree with me. I’m bad with directions. I had to wander a bit to get there, but I made it! And then I started that run. I even got to run to one end (and through a parking lot to get to halfway miles). But then I had to run home, a long way home.

I felt a bit tired on the way home. (I should’ve run with water and food.) My legs felt heavy. I told myself to get to the next stoplight, and the next stoplight, and the next one, and the next one, and then home. And I made it! I actually made it. The simultaneous relief and exhilaration I felt was palpable.

Running is not the be all, end all. I will never say that it is. For me, though, it has been so powerful. This day reminded me of that. Among other things, running shows me that I can do hard things. It shows me that sometimes "mind over matter" really works. When I accomplish the hard things, it increases my confidence in myself. I am willing to try (and perhaps fail) at other things. Running helps me believe, in myself, in my body, and in the wonderful Creator who made such a body to even be able to run. To Him be the glory!