Run Out Your Problems, Run Out Of Problems

So I saw some 30 day blogging challenge where you were supposed to answer some personal question every day for a month on your blog. Not usually a fan, since the internet will be just fine without all of our 2 cents about everything, but there was one question that I thought was strangely relevant to sports training, the topic of this blog.

Bear with me, you'll see what I mean. It has something to do with controlling the things you can control. Something I've long loved about running is that it gives you the feeling (however much of an illusion it may be!) of being in charge. You are the master of your fate when you set off with your Garmin (or stopwatch or no watch at all), right?

Even if you are waiting on a job application, in limbo about finding an apartment, looking for a relationship or trying to plan countless other projects that are beyond your sole control and depend on others not just you, you can decide to run 12K and go do it. Focusing on what you can do rather than what you can't is conforting and empowering.

The blog question was kind of pretentious and self-important (as things like 30-day blog challenges tend to be): if you could give a newborn baby one piece of advice, what would it be? Not that newborn babies are going to follow advice, they are going to sleep and cry, but suspend your disbelief to embrace the noble cause of sharing nuggets of wisdom on the internet for the greater good of all mankind (ha!) :)

So, what I think is important to know and will serve you well is this: you will encounter many situations in life that are beyond your control. You cannot change a system, a job, another person's mind, etc.  What you can do is change your attitude towards that situation. Even if it sounds like a weak consolation prize, this is very powerful. You can change your attitude so that something terrible no longer bothers you as much and it helps you accept difficult realities and make your life better, rather than worse.

Running is like alchemy-- it is fueled by negative energy you want to release in a productive way, it's a chance to take all your frustrations, anxieties and stressors and use them to power your body and accomplish something you decided to accomplish, meet a goal you set. You run out your problems and eventually, you'll run out of problems. Everything will end up seeming cool and zen, no matter who much it upset you 8 miles ago.



Our lives are the choices we make. Some help you feel better, move on and live your life happily and gracefully, and some prevent you from doing so. Running, like alchemy, is a transformative process, taking base elements like anger and frustration and turning them into something better, like an endorphin rush beneficial to your health and well-being and the satisfaction of meeting a goal that you set. As someone once said about committing to marathon training: ask yourself honestly, who do you want to be and what are you willing to do to become that person?