Why the hell do I even run?
I hated running. Now I hate it slightly less.
Why did I even start going for runs?
At the beginning of the year I started a fun challenge with a few of my friends. Every month we track (and share) how many times we do sport. The winner gets a free dinner the following month. It's a fun way of staying healthy and motivated. I now have an excuse to meet up with friends I'd otherwise rarely get to see as well. Some of us play tennis, one of us swims, one of us goes to the gym. Most of us are currently doing multiple different sports. All of us go for a run at least 1 or 2 times per week.
But why is that?
Running is social
Last year tennis "exploded" in my circle. Everyone was talking about Jannik Sinner winning the Australian Open (one of the most important tennis tournaments). I had been playing a little bit of padel (a racket sport played in doubles) for a while back then and the comparison with tennis was always in the back of my mind. Organizing padel matches eventually became difficult, most people didn't really want to play it anymore, for a variety of reasons. Fast-forward a few months later and I was able to convince three of my closest friends to start a 6 months tennis course with me.
I quickly realized that going to the tennis course each week wasn't stressful at all. It wasn't a burden and it certainly never felt like I had to push myself to go.
There are probably many reasons for that but I strongly believe that the main one is that it feels like going to a social event. In my head I know I'm improving myself, my body, my health but the main reason I show up each week is because I want to see my friends. Talk to my friends. Joke around with my friends. Tennis allows me to do just that.
Running is kind of the same, just without the ball and the net.
Recovery runs are a new concept to me so correct me if I'm wrong. As far as I understand, they're shorter running sessions athletes (usually) do the day after a high intensity run to help the body recover by increasing blood flow and flush out waste. This means that I can run with my much quicker friend. Yes, he'll feel much better than myself afterwards but I still get to bond with him and push myself in the meantime. Don't get me wrong, I still think that sports that are "games" as well (everything you can "play": tennis, volleyball, etc...) are better at this than running but it gets me out of the house, which is the only thing that matters, really.
I see (and feel) improvements quickly
I used to go to the gym. I went consistently 2-3x per week for more than a year and I could barely see any changes in my body. The reality of going to the gym is that I was seeing very slow improvements on a sheet, usually weight or reps but it didn't really feel different. Looking back at it, I think dieting would have had much more of an impact on my body compared to lifting weights.
Running is incredibly different.
I noticed a difference within a couple of weeks, at most. I followed the popular C25k plan and you go from jogging 60s to 3m in a week. Sure, I know that 3 minutes is pretty insignificant but that's a 3x increase in the span of a single week. And the best part? I can actually feel it. You can perceive that you're able to resist the urge to stop much better. I still end up almost all of my runs feeling terrible but they are much longer now. I can plan longer routes. It's incredible.
It's accessible
This one is pretty obvious but still rather important. You don't need to commit almost anything to be able to run. One evening a week for the next six months? Nope. Huge amount of money for instructors / coaches? Nope. Expensive equipment? Nope.
The real barrier of entry is starting, it's safe to say that the sensations immediately after having completed a run aren't great. I personally feel much better 10-15 minutes after finishing though. Drinking cold water and showering soon after feel amazing as well.
At the end of the day, you can run pretty much everywhere and you don't need to commit time or money to it. You can just go, as long as it's safe to do so.
It's pretty quick
I love the tennis course I'm taking but it takes me 30m to get to the place (it's the nearest one) with the lesson itself being 1h. Including a little bit of chatting with my friends and showering it can easily reach 2.5/3h total, which means the entire night is gone.
It's not the same for running. As a beginner I can be done with 1/1.5h all things considered and that means being able to do it more times per week because I can do it pretty much at any time during the day: before or after work, but even during lunch break if I push it a little bit!
It doesn't depend on the weather (that much)
I wouldn't run in the snow or if it's pouring down but immediately after or during light rain? Absolutely. This is a game changer for me. I had to cancel so many scheduled matches of padel due to bad weather. A friend of mine has skipped her beach volley lessons 3 out of 4 times so far this year due to the rain. It's annoying especially after you spent time and energy scheduling with friends (in my case) or money for the course (in her case). This happens much less with running.
It's meditative
I've been going through a rough patch. These few months have been emotionally charged and in a weird way I think going for runs is helping me. Whenever I start running, especially if I'm alone with my noise-cancelling headphones and music, I can't really think. I'm an overthinker by nature and it feels kind of like meditating but in a much "stronger" way. I'm "forced" not to think. At any point during a run I can process just the next step, the next meter. I'm in a bubble where pretty much nothing exists if not me and the surface I'm on.
This is helpful. I've struggled to build a habit of meditating but somehow, I've (kind of) built one through running. All of a sudden going for a run feels easier than sitting down and meditating.
So yeah... I think I may like running now.