Going on a run can be one of the most meditative and relaxing things you can ever do for yourself. I am sure for non-runners or people that think running is a particularly cruel form of punishment, the statement that I just made should immediately elect me as the Dumbest Person in the World. I get that. Exercise can be such an insane challenge physically and mentally, and to call it relaxing means that I’m probably doing things wrong.

But I defy you, staunch naysayer. I am sticking with my story, and I will explain to you exactly why. What other activity do we do that the sole focus is putting one foot in front of the other? You can turn your brain off from all the noise you deal with all day every day and truly focus on simply putting one foot down while picking the other one up. Of course, it can take some time to turn off your brain’s incessant cries of injustices - ow, my legs are sore, oh no my heart, this is not natural, why am i breathing so heavily, oh god no - but that is why it is great to have music or a friend joining you to distract from that negative noise.

When I was growing up I ran competitively at school, so instead of taking music with me on runs, I had my friends to talk with through the miles covered. This is an excellent way to run, by the way, you get to workout and gossip all at the same time, a true win-win feel-good moment for us all. Now that I am older and no longer have mandated cross country practice to attend (a blessing and a curse? conflictingly missing it), it is a lot harder for me to find people to run with. I am the kind of person that CAN run by herself, unsupervised and unscripted, but that does not mean I am the kind of person that SHOULD be doing this. Like I said, I grew up running with people! That partnership led to accountability. Slacking off with a friend is way harder than doing it by yourself. I tried to stay focused, I tried to run longer and walk less, I tried to create playlists that would keep me focused or listening to audiobooks to distract me from the long miles. It worked semi-regularly, but really not enough that I felt good about it without any frustration. This was not great, as I remained a person that truly refuses to pay for a gym membership.

I did some research on what I could do to keep myself on track and stumbled upon an app that touted all audio workout classes, called Aaptiv. Curious about it, I downloaded it and gave it a shot. You see, this app had classes for running. That means it had timed out runs that came ready with a playlist and trainer guiding you on exactly what to do. This! This is what I had been searching for. I missed the encouragement of a coach and I liked that I gained some of my life back when I was not trying to come up with a new running playlist that motivated me. Listening to a coach tell me what to do also helps me turn the rest of my brain off. It helps me focus in on one singular task, letting me live in the present of just completing the class. Today, I took a class that was under 30 minutes that was focused on remaining at a tempo pace and letting go of anxiety. I ran faster than I have in weeks and let myself be a little uncomfortable. The coach bared her soul about dealing with anxiety and her story resonated with me. All in all, it was a very pleasant experience and I got in a 3-mile run. I will also admit that I am now addicted to impressing my Aaptiv app and crave the validation I feel by completing workouts and keeping my streak up. They know what they are doing.

This is what they call “sweaty confetti” —> you get it right? This happens after every workout is completed. It really does not get old. Also, this is not an ad, I truly am just enamored with the feeling that the app acknowledges my efforts. We a… — This is what they call “sweaty confetti” —> you get it right? This happens after every workout is completed. It really does not get old. Also, this is not an ad, I truly am just enamored with the feeling that the app acknowledges my efforts. We are living in strange times!

Of course, aside from that wonderful feeling you get when you are done with a run, there is the feeling you get during the run itself. I like that I can turn my brain off and focus on my breathing or my footsteps or both, but I also like a run when my brain is fully alive and firing off ideas. I was thinking about this blog on my run today, what I wanted to say, checking in where my feelings are. Obviously, the distance between A to B was not so far in this instance, as I decided on my run that I would write about running, but it is a time where I can reflect on things I don’t typically think about. Going on a run helps me work out my feelings, how I will handle a certain situation, it helps me let go of my feelings or get more in tune with my emotions. What other activity is such a catchall of all needs and feelings?

Running is an activity that virtually any able-bodied person can participate in - it does not discriminate against any race, gender, age, religion, region - it is an activity for anyone. It gets you out of your house and into your community, it gets you out in the world. I went on a run this afternoon around the park in my neighborhood and saw so many different kinds of people doing the exact same thing as me. We all had different paces, different routes, different lives, but at that present moment, we were all on the same journey. Putting one foot in front of the other.

Just some cuties I happened to peep while out on my run today. I am such a sucker for googly eyes - to think I could have missed out on such a beautiful sight had I decided to stay home!