just keep running

that's what i tell myself.

no matter how i'm feeling. good days, bad days, blah days... doesn't matter. just keep running. no amount of celebration or sadness should derail me from keeping up with my running habit.

running is good for all days. what i get out of running is priceless. it's healthy, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. running is my time, it's time alone, time to reflect. it's a time to challenge myself and overcome that challenge. every running session ends in victory.

i'm sure everyone's got their own thing to cope. everyone needs that time alone to clear their heads and think shit out. for me, that's running. when i'm running i'm totally alone... never more alone and with myself than in those moments, one foot after another as a fury of thoughts spin in my brain.

sometimes when i run, it's like my body's moving faster but my brain is moving slower. it's finally slowing down. and now my brain is far from overdrive. now my brain is able to process whatever it is that's going on in my life... if things were feeling hectic and i was beginning to feel like i couldn't handle everything i got going on... somewhere during that run the unmanageable becomes manageable.

when i'm running, i feel great. i know it's a great habit for me. if i was feeling down and out in any sorta way, running helps get rid of all of that nonsense. a constant thing i like to say to myself is that depressed people don't run. now i got absolutely no science to back this up and it could very well be bullshit. but it seems to work for me. any feelings of slight sadness or depression are conquered when i run.

the hardest part for me when i'm feeling down is starting. but i tell myself, over and over and over and over, "just keep running."

cuz once that first foot hits the ground, it all comes back. the music's blaring in the ipod. all may not be right with the world, but this run will probably get me closer to it than not running at all.

if i'm ever feeling old or beat up or weak... that shit all disappears during a run. when i'm running, my definition of 'old' changes. old is when i'm too old to run. when my body ages to a point where i can no longer run, then, and only then will i begin to consider myself old.

and sometimes i feel beat up. running all the time does that to me. and there are some days when i run a little slower or a shorter distance. but even on those days, i'll visualize me when i first started, me unable to complete a mile... coughing, out of breath, miserable and in pain... i'll visualize that version of me and think about how far along i've come. so what if for just one day i run a little slower? i've come so far... it's so much to be proud of.

i take days off. everyone needs rest. but those days help me to miss running. and days when i run usually feel more complete than the days that i don't. but those days off are good.... cuz sometimes when i'm telling myself, "just keep running," it gets low like a whisper... not a lot of strength behind the statement. but on those days off, it gets louder. by the next day the volume increases and i'm yelling it out loud to myself, "JUST KEEP RUNNING."