I had the most incredible experience this weekend. Saturday afternoon, I walked to a friend’s house. It’s about 2 miles away and I walk there in about 30 minutes. It’s a fun afternoon activity for me, especially on beautiful days like we had here over the weekend. I usually stay at the friend’s house for about an hour and then head back at a fast walking pace. This weekend though, I tried something different. I’m not sure why I did this but as I left my friend’s house I started running.
It was an easy jog at first but I kept increasing the pace until, about half way home, I was running at my usual jogging speed. I ended up covering the 2 miles in about 18 minutes, which is a good time. When I got home I felt elated. It wasn’t because of the speed or even the fact that I ran although that was some of it. I felt happy because, well, because I felt good.
The Long Road Here
6 years ago I was 70lbs heavier and completely out of shape. I couldn’t jog for more than 5 minutes and I felt out of breath climbing a single flight of stairs. On Saturday, I ran for 18 minutes and felt incredible. But it wasn’t the physical progress that made me feel happy, it was the fact that I enjoyed the run. It was the fact that I WANTED to run. I didn’t have to run, I had already worked out that day, I ran because it felt good to run. It felt good to use my muscles, to challenge my body. It felt good to feel that first drop of sweat. It felt good to finish that jog off with a sprint home and that’s why I felt happy.
I wasn’t just out of shape 6 years ago, I was also out of touch. I didn’t remember what it was like to be physically active. I didn’t remember how much I had enjoyed running around as a child. Now I do and it feels incredible. It feels good to want to be physically active. It feels good to voluntarily run. It feels like my body and I are finally friends instead of enemies.
That’s all changed in the intervening few years. I like being active now, I enjoy working out. I like walking, I like running. All of these things which used to be activities to avoid, are now things I seek out, and that feels great. That run last less than 20 minutes, but it made a huge impression on me. It made me realize how much I had changed and how far I had come.
Just Do It
I’m not going to preach to you about how you should get out there and start jogging. I’m not going to tell you that you need to change your life. All I’m going to tell you is that the feeling I had as I sprinted home was incredible. It was worth every workout, every jog, every change in my eating habits. It was all worth it just for that amazing sensation. That feeling of my body rising to the challenge and welcoming it. My heart beating faster, my lungs working harder, my muscles contracting to move me along and all of it working in perfect harmony. That’s something you need to experience for yourself and it’s not something I can completely put into words. Once you feel it though, you’ll never want to go back to that person you used to be.
###
And yes, this is not the usual 60 in 3 eating or exercise tip. Sometimes health and fitness aren’t just about tips and tricks, sometimes they’re just about feeling good about yourself.
Great post Gal, and congrats on attaining that wonderful feeling one gets from success in a physical transformation. Being able to push, to conquer, is great. But taking time to consider it — to stop and appreciate the transformation that they have applied to themselves is wonderous.
I don’t believe one can be completely whole until they know this feeling — just one element in assembling the puzzle of being a complete person.
That’s true. The moment you realise that your body can easily take on challenges that seemed impossible before is the best moment ever. At that point you know that all that hard work was completely worth it.