Okay. So if you follow my social media pages - Facebook (Run Naturally), Instagram (@run_naturally) or Twitter (@runnaturally242) then you definitely should know that I have been gearing up for my 40th birthday which happens to be tomorrow. Who knows? If the mood strikes, I may write a follow up blog post in the morning after hosting my #virtualbirthdayrun. But as it stands today, I thought that this would be a great moment to pen the forty things I love about running.
This list is in no particular order, but you will see that some of the more lighthearted things are near the top (or bottom depending on how you view the list) and as the list progresses, there will be more of the important factors that have kept me running for almost nine years.
So without further ado......Forty Things I love About Running:
40. Running is low maintenance.
39. Running is a great platform to clear my mind and gather my thoughts.
38. I love the feeling for freedom that comes with running.
37. Running challenges me.
36. New running shoes #NikeSnob
35. Running is inclusive.
34. Running is a good mood booster.
33. (Consistent) Running builds confidence #seewhatIdidthere
32. Running is a topic that I can talk about for hours and not become tired.
#31 I adore the camaraderie that stems from running.
30. (Consistent) Running helps you to maintain such a lean and healthy body #TheCWord.
29. Running is addictive.
28. Races and everything that comes with it - expos, start lines, finish lines, after parties (I miss these things desperately).
27. Carb loading #noexplanationsneeded
26. That feeling you get when you PR.
25. The feelings you get before and after your first race or new race distance. Yes. Feelings. #plural
24. Finishers medals. (You know that was making the list)
23. GPS watches. I never knew I needed these in my life until I invested in one.
22. Runners nutrition. I could rule the world with an endless supply of GU, Clif Bars and Nuun Hydration.
#21 Running allows you to have a short memory. You have a bad run today. You go out and have a kick ass run tomorrow.
20. Running is a hobby that my son is crazy about - one that does not include Roblox, Minecraft or Nintendo.
19. Running is a sport where total strangers just pass and give you encouragement. Makes you think that maybe the world isn't so messed up all of the time.
18. Running is the only sport that motivates me to set an alarm for 3 a.m. to see one of the greatest break history in under two hours. Or to see our nation's best bring home Olympic Gold.
17. Running alters my perception of things. If I'm out running errands and it starts raining, I get annoyed. If I am out running and it starts raining, I roll through it and accept it as cooling down my core body temperature.
16. Running is one of the few things that I have the passion to blog about once a week. #runinspired
15. Runners high. It is a thing.
14. Running is a platform for you to motivate and inspire people you have never met.
13. There are no qualifications. If you run, you are a runner.
12. Your only competition is your last fastest time. #letthatsinkin
#11 I love the different paces, techniques and skills. Every run is different.
10. Running has allowed me to merge my passion with the opportunity to build alternate streams of income for my family.
9. I have met some of the most amazing people in running.
8. I take chances in running. I pick up and travel and do things because of the passion I have for this sport. And it has taken me to some incredible places.
7. Running has given me such an appreciation for my body. Or #bawdy as I have now coined it. Second only to giving birth to my son, it's become such a measure of the things my body can accomplish.
6. Running has give me an appreciation for my mental fortitude. Because everything in running that I have ever accomplished it is because my mind conceived it and it has never let me believe that I could not do it.
5. Run Naturally. Without question, in my top five.
4. Running has helped carried me through stages of serious depression that I have experienced particularly over the last two years of my life. It is a constant.
3. Running allows me to be a leader, a mentor, an example and support for those who I have been blessed to come in contact with.
2. Running is my safe place.
#1 Running never stops.
#newblogpost #thelist #fortythingsIloveaboutrunning #fortyisthenumber #prebirthdayblog #reflections #runblog #running #races
