5 Simple Life Lessons From Running

Here’s some motivation to ring in the new year.

You can learn a lot from running or any exercise you set out to do for that fact. I know I have. I never realized the things I have endured co-founding and leading a business since 2002 until I looked at it from the way I achieved my daily running routine.

Pedometer Fast
I have been running almost 6 days out of the week for the last 2 months and each time I run about 3 miles in 22 minutes or so (I am a little trusting of my cheapy pedometer so I may not be running that fast, which is why I really want got [since I wrote this article, I ordered it] the Garmin GPS watch that will be way more accurate! Ok, back to my story). But I didn’t get here on day one. And here are some simple life lessons which you may find useful seen from my running point of view.

Lesson #1: Begin!

Everythings begins with the first step.

I went biking and went to the gym about 3-4 times a week before ever trying to run for exercise. I was in my comfort zone and didn’t really want to try something new since I was already ok with my fitness. It’s almost like when you sit down on your couch to watch TV and you don’t want to get up to pick up the phone because you’re so darned comfy. But I wanted to be leaner, more toned, stronger, faster. Reading health magazines and talking to friends I found that I needed to work on my cardio. As I kept saying to myself, “I’ll run. I’ll run”, I just put it off because I felt I was healthy.

But that was the problem. I was too much in my comfort zone and never started. So I just made up my mind and went running one day and it all began. So the first lesson is when you set out to do something, just do it. You have to just start. As one of my friends once said to me “You should just do it, you’re not getting any younger as each day passes.”

[[Question for you: Have you ever felt stagnant about getting yourself to just start?]]

No Pain, No Gain (what a cliche)

Lesson #2: Keep at it.
So the day after the first run I felt it. I wake up and my body felt sore all over. I’m thinking to myself shouldn’t it be only my legs that should be sore? My abs and back were aching and I just felt tired. But I made up my mind and I went running again because to get better at something you need to keep at it no matter how daunting it feels. Too bad I didn’t know the Seinfeld Productivity Secret back then or else it would just have been the Red X’s I was up against. So day after day I just went running and at most took a day break. After a while I was less sore and less tired and it got easier to wake up and run in the morning because I just kept at it. The more I just kept at it and ignored the initial pain, my body gained in strength and stamina. Running got easier each day. But keeping the daily routine despite the initial pains was very important.

[[Question for you: Have you just gotten to times where you just felt the same thing day after day just weighed you down and you couldn't get yourself to keep going it?]]

Lesson #3: Pace Yourself.
On the third run I started feeling a little stronger and thought I was getting faster. So I push myself. As I thought to myself “Let’s see how fast I can run because I want to run fast.” I took off running faster than I should have. It ends up that a third of the way I ran out of breath and had to stop to walk off my heaving breath. I just wasn’t able to go as fast as I thought I could. I got ahead of myself. So after that I tried to run at a more consistent pace and even slower sometimes just to make sure I could complete my run without stopping. Pacing myself was important. I didn’t want to burn myself out in the short term and risk hurting myself in the long run.

[[Question for you: Have you burned yourself out pushing yourself past your limits?]]

Rewards are beyond the hill.

Lesson #4: Endure the Hard Ups for Easy Downs.
When I see a hill I feel tired already. But I keep on going and find out that I can endure the up hills. Because once you can endure the hard part the easy part is running back down hill. Enduring the hard parts in running makes enjoying the easy parts so much more rewarding. The challenge was worth it as the rewards were satisfying.

[[Have you ever given up when the challenge looked to hard to beat?]]

Lesson #5: A Life of Rewards.
So as I made up my mind to start running and realized that I needed to keep at it daily to improve, I paced myself to avoid burning out and endured the tough parts of the run. What I’ve achieved was a lifetime of rewards. When I thought and I tried and I triumphed in making my goal, the experience has given me physical and mental rewards.

[[Question for you: So what have you gone through lately? Share your comments or shoot me an email.]]