Running Every Day for a Year: What I Learned
Did your know your environment can shape your life significantly? I got to appreciate this after reflecting on my running experience, which became consistent in 2019, thanks to an environmental shift. This was after I took my first medical licensing exam. I was both exhausted and extremely relieved.
Studying for exams can be demanding. I would walk every day to school as early as 5 am. On my way, I always met a friend on her running escapades. I was intrigued and thought it would be a good sport after the exam. So after my exam, I joined her on the trail. I would leave my house by 4:45 am to meet her at 5 am, and we would run. We never calculate how many miles or anything, but it was always a good run.
Nature is rejuvenating, especially here on the islands where it hasn't been touched too aggressively. Every morning I came out of my apartment, feeling the fresh breeze from the trees hit my skin; I felt alive in a way I couldn't indoors. Mind you; we were slowly crouching into the covid era. I cherished those 15 minutes before getting to her house. Most times, if I was early, I walked and thought and said some silent prayers about worries and anxieties that flooded my heart.
On the first day we started together, she blatantly said, 'I don't stop.' I was frightened a little because I wasn't yet an intense runner; this was my first time even considering running without stopping! Even while feeling tired, I kept running because heavens forbid if I stop while this goddess keeps on going without me.
When I got home, I knew that I would have to go the next day despite my knees complaining because someone else was in the picture.
She had become my accountability partner without any direct conversation of it.
You need someone to hold you accountable, even if they don't know they do!
That's how we kept on, and every single day, my legs got more potent, and my body started to take a runner's form.
I started aspiring towards running a 1k marathon in my daydreams as we extended our territory and covered more miles.
From being an amateur, I started getting interested in my running form, how my legs flexed and opened, and how my shoes' heels hit the ground. I wanted to run better, to increase efficiency. Running became a lifestyle. And I loved running for how it made me feel, how it mirrored life in the world and helped me cope.
At the beginning of a run, you would meet resistance. Your legs start to wake up; it seems cruel, unfair, and unfamiliar. Still, if you can pass this phase, which you usually would because you have already made an effort to leave your house, you get into a committed run. Gradually you will begin to flow, and the flow feels like when the running has just started. You run without any care in the world; it's the climax, your endorphins are just spiking to burst. After the run, they burst through your pores. You feel alive and refreshed, like you could conquer any obstacles that come your way. It's a dopamine rush that takes me through the long day.
Seeing my friend running every morning (the environment) influenced my decision to start running and it also served as motivation and a form of accountability
Motivation and accountability are wrapped up in your environment, probably why you can listen to motivational speakers for a month and not implement any changes in your life.
Hey! If you enjoy reading this type of stuff, subscribe to our newsletter, so you don't miss a beat of rich content like this, and check out our previous blog post.
Have a fantastic week ahead!