{"id":91621,"date":"2013-09-23T09:53:30","date_gmt":"2013-09-23T14:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/?p=91621"},"modified":"2013-09-23T10:02:58","modified_gmt":"2013-09-23T15:02:58","slug":"how-i-changed-my-outlook-on-running-and-actually-grew-to-like-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/09\/how-i-changed-my-outlook-on-running-and-actually-grew-to-like-it\/","title":{"rendered":"How I Changed My Outlook on Running and Actually Grew to Like it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Growing up, the word running<\/em> was synonymous with a few different words. Among them were torture, punishment, pain, and dread. I remember trying to fake being sick on those dreaded few days each school year when we had to run the mile in gym class. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want<\/em> to run – it just seemed so awful to me.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the year 2003 and I’ve decided to get in shape and join a gym. After a year or two of solely sticking to the elliptical trainer and the occasional group exercise class, I decided to take up running. For some reason, I always had it in my head that you weren\u2019t a\u00a0real<\/em> athlete unless you were a runner. I wasn’t even really sure how one becomes a runner<\/a><\/strong>, but gave it my best shot. I can still clearly remember going for those first few outdoor runs.<\/p>\n

\"runner\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I started off by walking for a minute, running the next, and so on. Then my runs got longer, I could run for one mile without stopping, then two, three and so on. In 2005, a friend and I decided to sign up for a 5k race. It was my first race ever and I was nervous! I set a goal for myself to finish in 30 minutes or less. I finished in 28:30 and felt great! I registered for a number of 5k, 8k and 10k races over the next few years.<\/p>\n

I started increasing my mileage and started thinking about running a half marathon<\/a><\/strong>; it seemed like a really great challenge and realistic goal considering where I was at, so I took the plunge and registered for the Baltimore Half Marathon. I trained for it by running 8-10 mile runs 2-3 times a week (and shorter runs one other day). I felt good and strong and prepared for race day. On race day, my goal was to finish in two hours. The course was pretty tough with a lot of big hills. It was also great because there were spectators along the entire 13.1 miles cheering us on. I got a sharp pain in my I.T. band around mile 7, but just kept running, and my finish time was 1 hour and 58 minutes.<\/p>\n

After that, I took a break from running. Because of my injured I.T. band, I physically couldn’t run for a few months, and I really didn’t miss it (and started to resent it). I had this “all or nothing” mentality when it came to running and didn’t think a run was even “worth it” if it was less than six miles. Since I couldn’t run more than a mile without shooting pain in my I.T. band I decided to give up on running all together.<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago I decided to give running another shot. I went into it with a different attitude this time: to run for fun<\/em> and when I feel like it<\/em> (and never because I think I have to<\/em>). I started out with a 15-minute run around my neighborhood. The runs that have followed have ranged from 20-25 minutes, which has just depended on how I was feeling. When I run now I don’t pay much attention to time, mileage, calories burned or how fast I’m going. Instead, I focus on enjoying a little “me” time before the work day starts. If I feel like stopping to walk for a bit, I will. If I feel like I’m “done” after just 10 minutes, then so be it.<\/p>\n

Now that I’ve accepted the fact that I am not<\/em> a marathoner (and that’s\u00a0<\/strong>OK<\/span>!). I have a totally different outlook on running and (dare I say?) I think I’m starting to like it again. I now believe that it’s okay to just run<\/em>– not for any other reason than because I want to<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Also Read:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Dirty Side of Distance Running<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

5 Moves to Build Stronger Cores for Runners<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sprint to Orangetheory Fitness for a Seriously Sweaty Workout<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Growing up, the word running was synonymous with a few different words. Among them were torture, punishment, pain, and dread. I remember trying to fake being sick on those dreaded few days each school year when we had to run … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[2080,394,8440,211],"class_list":["post-91621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fitness","tag-5k","tag-cardio","tag-homepage","tag-running"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91621"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91627,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91621\/revisions\/91627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}