The Simple Start to a Healthy Life.
Running is a dedication to yourself.
I believe that running is the purest of exercises, involving just you and the path you choose.
And as a runner you are already an anomaly in a country of poor health.
Every time you run outside, you're making known to everyone that you care about your health and wellbeing.
You serve as a reminder to everyone who passes you in their cars that the human body is capable of more.
The human body yearns to move.
For those of you who are starting running for the first time, you're taking the first step in a commitment to your wellbeing.
And for those who are continuing to run, you are likely experiencing the many positive effects on all aspects of your life.
The dangers of a sedentary lifestyle.
We live in a culture that favors comfort and ease.
Our work life has taken over our capability to adapt from stress when we're physically inactive.
The effects are subtle but can accumulate to bigger issues later in life.
Here are few ticking time bombs that can become a serious hindrance to living:
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Type II diabetes
- Osteoarthritis
- Sacropenia (involuntary muscle loss)
Modern medicine has made living with these issues possible, but you're far from truly thriving.
You're alive, but wasting your true potential.
The sedentary lifestyle cycle pictured above can be broken at any point.
Breaking the cycle with running needs just one step forward. Because unlike other sports, running's beauty is in it's simplicity of movement.
This is a movement that's is already programmed in our anatomy too.
No other sport can offer the same easy-to-access learning curve.
Running is the gateway drug to better living.
Building a sustainable and healthy lifestyle isn't built overnight. Thankfully, running can be easy to start.
As I've mentioned before in another post, commit yourself to a 5k race at least 3 months away. This race will serve as your north star for the rest of your actions.
When I started running in high school, I realized that I enjoyed how I felt after running. The workouts were tough, but I experienced the commonly known "runner's high" through training.
From high school then through college and grad school, my main focus was running itself.
Get the miles in. Build my ability to run farther, faster. Training wasn't sophisticated though.
I just set a time to run then ran it.
Many mistakes were made, but also many breakthroughs happened.
Through the pandemic, I evolved my approach to running.
I incorporated more specific and structured running workouts into my training.
Workouts like tempo runs, hill repeats, and threshold runs helped fine tune my running abilities.
My actions leaned into even better health habits like improving sleep and nutrition.
And now here I am, feeling the best I have ever felt in my life. And I'm hopeful for even better years as I age.
In the simplest form, I look at the progression to a healthier life like this:
- Get moving.
- Recover and fuel better.
- Prioritize life choices.
I believe that running can be the ignition to this all.
I hope that you can get started running too. We all can do this.
Happy running out there, and thanks for reading!
