I’ve been pretty active most of my life. Over the years I’ve enjoyed getting out and trying new sports, from organized high school stuff like baseball and football to just fun activities like downhill skiing and golf. After high school I played a lot of volleyball. One day while playing a hard court game in 2014 I landed wrong and did some major damage to the left knee, requiring ACL surgery and about a year of rehab. Coming off of that injury, I had some unwanted weight gain, so I figured the easiest way to lose it and start getting into cardiovascular shape again would be to start running. Up until this point, I never ran for fun, (it didn’t start out fun either). Coming from burst sports, I thought of the continued sustained effort of running as exceedingly boring and pointless.

Something strange happened though. As I slowly started to lengthen out the runs, they seemed to become easier in a way. My body stopped fighting me after about a mile or so, and I first discovered that ‘runners high’ feeling. I then signed up for my first 5k, then 5 mile, 1/2 marathon, marathon etc. It became an addiction, trying to find out where the limits of my body lie.

Just how far could I stretch this out? There were many times where I thought I hit the breaking point. I remember having to call my wife Kelly on a long run training for the first marathon to come and pick me up, I was walking at that point, so slowly, I thought the last mile would take 30 minutes. Another time, while sitting on the floor drinking water after my first 20+ mile run, in excruciating pain, I asked Kelly to remind me of that moment the next time I wanted to sign up for a marathon.

Somehow though, the memory of that pain fades and all you’re left with is the much more powerful sense of accomplishment. You’re left knowing that you can push yourself to the limits of what you previously had thought was possible, and continue to push much further past that point. While this can certainly become addicting, at least it’s a mostly healthy addiction to have.

Running, in addition to the biking and swimming I now do as well, has a couple other major things going for it. These endurance sports are some of the few places in life where your results are completely under your own control.

1. The harder you work, the better you do. It really is that simple. This philosophy then has a way of bleeding over into other parts of your life, such as work and relationships. Once you’ve made the realization that working hard towards something generates positive results, it becomes easier to work hard then at everything you do.
2. You are your competition. There are very few runners out there competing to win races. For the vast majority of us, that isn’t the point. Your competition becomes yourself and the course itself. Improving your person best effort is the point. This again translates well to everyday life. There’s no reason to worry about what others are doing, how successful they may appear to be, whatever, doesn’t matter. The only thing to concern yourself with is being a better you.