Run

“You can slow down, just don’t ever stop.”

I grew up watching my dad transform himself from being overweight to being a runner who would go on to run multiple marathons.

I was accustomed to hearing my dad leave early in the morning and come back an hour later, dripping in sweat from his morning run. While most people would question, “why would you put yourself through that?” I thought, “I wanna be like that.”

When I was in 6th grade, I started running alongside my dad on his morning runs. I obviously did not have the endurance that he had worked hard to build up right away, but he did not slow down for me. We did his workout. I just had to keep up.

Although the pace was fast, it taught me to never give up. I was never going to tell my dad I was tired or that I wanted to stop because I didn’t want to embarrass myself. Besides, he never told himself he was tired. He never showed any weakness in front of me when we’d run. He just appreciated the moment for what it was.

When my endurance finally started to build, I no longer saw runs as painful, but rather as an escape. I noticed how when we’d run my dad was not just focused on his pace, his distance, or his heart rate, but he was focused on looking around our city. He was focused on bettering himself with me. He was focused on teaching me to take care of myself and fight through the hard things.

I adopted this mindset for myself. Whenever I was scared, or stressed, or worried, I would put on my shoes and just run. I’d run til the pain was gone. I’d run til the fear was gone. I’d run til I didn’t worry anymore.

I liked seeing how far I could push myself before I was ready to fall over. When I was 13, I jumped on the treadmill one Saturday and ran 10 miles straight in under an hour and a half. It was the first time I had ever run double digit miles at one time. I taught myself that I could do it. It was a mental battle the entire time but I did it.

Whenever I wanted to stop, I just reminded myself of what my dad would tell me on our runs when I was younger:

“YOU CAN SLOW DOWN, JUST DON’T EVER STOP.”

The reason he’d say this is because it’s way easier to start again once you lose your momentum.

As I get older, I have lost my running habit. I have adopted walking. It’s freeing but it’s not as freeing.

So yesterday, although I planned on walking, I decided to run.

The puddles of water, the muddy sidewalks, the cold breeze hitting me in the face reminded me exactly of those early morning runs with my dad. And for that reason, I didn’t stop. I kept going.

I’m not fast anymore. I don’t have the same endurance. But there is one thing I do have:

THE DRIVE TO KEEP GOING.

I will never lose that.

In the face of pain, fear, worry, anxiety, keep going. Never stop.

Go head to head with all of those bad things and you will feel free.

I run because it allows me to escape. I run because it proves to me that I can fight through the pain. I run to show myself that I can do it.

I run to overcome my limitations, because I watch my dad do the same.

Thank you, Dad.

I run because of you.

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Thank you for reading!

My goal is to inspire self-improvement in others through my personal stories and experiences.

This is The Exploration.