National Running Day – Why I Run…

Happy National Running Day!

Since I’m new to this whole blogging world, I figured I would give a “link up” a shot. If you’re like me, you might be asking what a “link up” is. Well take a look at this article on “link up“ for all the information you need to know. I think this has given me the rules of link ups, and a little more information about the wonders of blogging. I’m not sure how many of these you will actually see on my blog, but here goes the first one.

First off, once you’re done with my post, make sure you head on over to see Olive to Run’s post on National Running Day and the host of the Link Up. And check out everyone else’s blog posts on why they run.

Why Do I Run?

While I don’t really think about this question often, there’s no time like the present to reflect back on this question for me and what it means to me. Throughout my younger years, I was always forced to run at practices, from soccer to basketball to softball, it was just a part of those. I never really thought about running then and never really complained about it, it was just something I did. I had also seen my fair share of races growing up – my dad had run a few and we always went out for Thanksgiving Day Race, and I even participated in a couple of different ones. I kept with these sports through middle school and finally joined a running team – the track team, spring of my 8th grade year (circa 2003, eek!). I wish I could find a picture of this, but I’ll have to do some digging the next time I visit my parents house.

I got to high school in 2003, joined the soccer team, and realized during our first 2 weeks of training – the running weeks – that this was what I really liked to do, it wasn’t actually the soccer aspect. A friend of mine from soccer was on the cross country team, so she encouraged me to join the team, which at that time was very small and rather low key (think long walking breaks and hang out sessions, all highlighted by the pasta dinners on Friday night, not the actual races on Saturday). Nevertheless, I joined and loved it, plus I got to hang out with the older high school-ers and meet new people, so I was thrilled.

And let’s just say, the rest was history. I realized through my running, that I was pretty quick. If I’m good at something, which sometimes is rare in the sporting world, I take advantage of it and don’t look back. While I wasn’t always thrilled with the running in high school, and often did the run/walk method (which works for some), I did love the sense of camaraderie with my team and really got to know a good group of people. My cross country team had 4 coaches in 4 years, which made for another interesting experience, but it’s the last coach, Coach Smith, who really made the mark on my running career and still keep in touch with, as often as I can.

I guess this leads to the next question and better question for me,

Why Do I Still Run? 

I RUN….with my friends! 

Ever since high school, I have found some of my greatest / best friends through running. These are the friends who stick by me through it all. Don’t get me wrong, these are definitely not my only friends and I have plenty of friends who don’t run, but it’s nice to have those who also do.

Through running….I found the #NovemberProject, which has been another great source of friends for me.

Through running….I found Nacho AC, a great group of people who come together for fun races and beer – two things that I absolutely love.

(I’m a newbie who can’t figure out how to create more of these badges)

I RUN…. to eat!  

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I LOVE to eat and sometimes think about myself as a foodie (I’ll be sure to get some food / restaurant reviews / recipes up eventually). If I didn’t run, and it’s come to show over the years, I wouldn’t be able to eat how I do. So moral of the story, unless I keep running, I can’t keep eating what I love, so I’ll keep running for a long long time, hopefully until the end of the time (hey – a 91 year old just ran a marathon).

I RUN….to stay in shape! 

See the prior entry, but basically, I enjoy being a generally fit person and can’t do this without having some running in my life.

I RUN….to travel!

I love to travel, it’s one of the other passions in my life besides running. What better thing to do, than just traveling, is to incorporate runs into my weekends away. I’ve done this on multiple occasions (time for another post?), and have a few plans to do this in the coming months (Chicago Marathon, Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in Philly, another TBD marathon weekend), just to name a few. Running is the perfect excuse for me to find a weekend away. Through all of this, I’m going to keep knocking away at the 50 states and hopefully take it internationally. For now this isn’t completely at the marathon distance, but hopefully it will be at some point.

I RUN… because I LOVE it!  

I’ll be sure to dive a little bit deeper into everything you’ve learned about me in the next couple of posts. I would love to hear from all of you about what you want to see in this blog, so feel free to share. And thank you to Olive to Run for this linkup!

Why do you Run? How are you celebrating National Running Day? What have you found that you love through running?  

XOXO

Kyndal