The Running Thread - 2019

[Guidman]

ATTQOTD: It's great for clearing my head and at times can be practically cathartic. I've got to meet a ton of people thru my running club and given me an excuse to travel to a few places.

 

[jmasgat]

ATTQOTD: Running lets me eat chocolate with only a modest amount of guilt.

 

[IamTrike]

ATTQOTD: Running gives me time to go off and think about things without getting distracted by work or other things, during weekend long runs it gives me time to catchup with friends and it's helped me almost maintain a healthy weight... I still need to loose about 25 pounds.

 

[Jules76126]

ATTQOTD: It is definitely a mood booster. I also enjoy the seeing my hard work pay off.

 

[Smilelea]

ATTQOTD: Running is my "ME" time. It's a stress reliever and my escape from the craziness at the time. I also finally realized why I prefer running over other "exercise" - my husband and children can't follow me! Seriously, on days that I don't run and I do strength training or yoga, they are all up in my space. ALL of them. My husband wants to talk about his day (or just aggravate me) and my children become extra needy. When I'm out running, it is just me - and I can mute my husbands texts

 

[canglim52]

ATTQOTD: I think I’m with the majority in that it helps me deal with life better, reduces my anxiety, and improves my mood. I also feel like it helps me see how insignificant everything really is... no matter how significant it is lol. I love all the parallels to life, and I feel like I’m my best me when I’m running!

 

[Princess KP]

ATTQOTD: Like others have mentioned, running puts me in a better mood. Yes, @jennamfeo , this is what my face looks like when I am happy.

 

[cavepig]

Like many have said running lifts my mood. Running makes me happy even if it's a bad run.

 

[Kazrak]

QOTD: What has running done for you other than the physical effects?

Training with my daughter was great for helping build a relationship with her; training with my younger son does the same with him.

And, now that my daughter started it, we're up to 4 of the 5 family members running.

The half-marathon this weekend got me 30km for Pokemon Go's Adventure Sync. 10 Bronzor candy and every egg I had in an incubator hatched, plus getting me over the 50km line for the week (and thus more weekly bonuses).

 

[FFigawi]

QOTD: What has running done for you other than the physical effects?

Running has allowed me to make some of the best friends I'll ever have. It's also allowed me to travel with them to some highly interesting places to run some scenic and challenging races. And thanks some of those same wonderful friends mentioned above, I ended up becoming a triathlete (I swore for years I'd never own a real bike) and then an Ironman.

 

[TheHamm]

QOTD: What has running done for you other than the physical effects?

Running reminds me I like taking on new challenges, and that I am afraid of new things but do them anyhow. It gives me an excuse to go outside, which is a mood booster running or not. This week it was a good excuse skip out of a meeting I did not want to go to anyhow (we will have 1 day without ice this week, I'm not skipping my run because you all cannot stick to a schedule or agenda!). Running has given me something new I should not obsess over but do. It also gives me a bit of peace that I am doing something that is good for me, despite all the things I do that are not great.

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

We’re getting clobbered by another snowstorm in Wisconsin, the 4th in about 3 and a half weeks, and I just can’t wait to run outside again. I usually like winter but these past few weeks may be my undoing. I can’t wait to be in Florida for Princess next week (as long as another storm doesn’t move in then and mess that up).

 

[Neon Cactus]

ATTQOTD: Running gives me a sense of accomplishment because it's never been something that I'm good at, yet I've still run marathons. It's opened up a lot of new experiences for me, in traveling to do races in other areas and meet great people.

 

[JulieODC]

Running gives me a break from kids, work, and life - it’s really the only time I get by myself most days, especially over the last 4 years of DH traveling every week.

It’s also helped me connect with our town - we’ve only lived here for 4 years, and it’s helped me get the lay of the land and know the backroads, and has connected me to people in the community as well.

 

[Disney at Heart]

When you take a spur of the moment trip to WDW, you never know who you will run into. @DopeyBadger

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Officially jealous!

ATTQOTD: Running is keeping the arthritis and osteoporosis at bay, but also has given me a chance to participate in all the races with DH, who has been running for many years. I was always envious of all the fun he had. I can't say I've solved any world problems while running, but I do enjoy all the trips/ vacations, swag and bling, satisfaction of accomplishment, and memories of races and people I have met because of them.

 

[DIS-OH]

ATTQOTD: Running has made me spend more time with DH. We started running after the DDs went off to college and we were “at loose ends” since we didn’t have their activities and sports taking up our evenings and weekends.

We really enjoy training and racing together. We’ve shared a lot of laughs, enjoyed traveling to new places for races and collected way too many shirts in the past ten years!

 

[gjramsey]

ATTQOTD: New friends, piece of mind, the solitude on an early morning run

 

[PkbaughAR]

ATTQOTD: Running gives me a chance to set goals and accomplish them! I’m continually amazed at what my body is capable of and my @DopeyBadger plan pushes me to try runs I would never attempt on my own. I sometimes have to force myself to start the runs I’m legit afraid of and just talk myself through - that I’m just gonna do the best I can do. Amazingly, I finish them, pretty close to the paces and come away with a feeling of accomplishment that rivals a new PR!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

QOTD: What has running done for you other than the physical effects?

Interesting question. First of all, running has allowed me to sort of fulfill childhood dreams. Like many young boys, I dreamed of playing major league baseball. Well that dream ended somewhere in high school, if not earlier. But races have allowed me to actually run in two different major league baseball stadiums. The rush of the crowd cheering as I was on a major league field was incredible.

More important is the perspective running has given me on enduring difficult trials in life. There's certainly the element of running teaching me that I'm capable of doing more than I think I am, but there's also an aspect of helping me cope with difficulties in life.

As I've shared a few times, the start to my first half marathon was brutal. I made just about every mistake in the book and felt like I had shin splints less than half a mile into the race. But I refused to quit. I slowed down to a pain free pace. While I knew that I might not finish that race, I would fail on my terms. They would have to take me off the course. One foot in front of the other and about 3 hours later I crossed that finish line. That race taught me a lot about endurance in life.

Yet even after that first race, I still believed I could not run two races on two consecutive days for fear that the first race would take too much out of me for the second race. I often laughed when anyone asked "are you ever going to run a marathon?" So ultimately running has helped teach me that preparation and diligence in any area usually results in success when those principles are consistently applied. It has certainly helped me learn that the impossible may not be so impossible after all.

 

[CDKG]

QOTD: What has running done for you other than the physical effects?