The Gift of Running: A Reflection on National Running Day

For years, this blog (The Anti-Running Runner) has been a place for me to document my love/hate relationship with running.

As a new mom, I've struggled to keep up with posting regular blogs, but I'm still running. After going through back and heel injuries for almost two years, plus new baby, running now looks a little different for me. I'm no longer training for half marathons. Not yet. I hope to get back there eventually, but my focus has been running between 3-5 miles about 3 times a week (sometimes walking/jogging intervals).

If you've pushed a jogging stroller, you might relate to the sensation that while pushing that stroller for 3 miles, it feels like I've gone farther. It's also hot hot hot right now. I also don't have as much time for running as I used to now that I have a baby.

When hubby and I run together, he pushes the jogging stroller. That's also a gift for me to have stroller-free running moments. Here we are near downtown St. Pete enjoying a 5-mile run on one of the last semi-cool days before full-on Florida HOT took over.

So it's different, but it's still awesome. Because I'm still running.

Dealing with injury has made me even more grateful for the gift running is to me. When I first started distance running, it was because someone I love (my cousin, Alyssa) talked me into it. And for years I had to be talked into doing it.

Today I'm feeling so grateful that I GET to run.

I'm thankful to God that I have the privilege, even if it's shorter distances for now. Yes, I do miss half marathons. (No...I don't actually miss full marathons at the moment. Maybe someday I will). I know not everyone has the privilege of running, and that, too, makes me focus on my gratitude.

Because let's be real. Even running 3 miles is hard. Adding the jogging stroller makes it harder. The summer heat is here, and that's another layer of difficulty. I'm going to steal a line from the movie A League of Their Own where Tom Hanks says, "It's supposed to be hard...the hard is what makes it great."

So even though it's hard, and it's always been hard for me, the struggle is worth it. I'll continue to run because I can, and that's a gift I never want to squander.

What About You?

What does running look like for you right now? Have you gone through difficult seasons? Is running generally easy or hard for you?