Just How Far We’ve Come
This essay originally appeared in the Monday morning newsletter on 1/24/22.
Last weekend, I went on my first run since being back in Chicago. It was chilly, but I was appropriately bundled, and once I hit the lakefront trail and joined in with the other Saturday morning runners, I was plenty warm enough.
It still surprises me how much I love running and how much I love thinking of myself as ‘a runner.’
Four years ago, I don’t think I could’ve run a mile, nor do I think I would’ve wanted to.
I started running after making it through my first Chicago winter. I had moved closer to the lake and as the weather warmed up and got nicer and nicer, I craved being able to do some kind of activity outside.
So, I picked running and haven’t looked back. It’s my me-time, my processing time, and time I can spend just listening to music or a podcast. I love it.
I started running by using an interval app that, per my customizations, tells me when to run and when to walk to recover. Over time, I’ve increased the lengths of my running intervals and subbed in jogging as a recovery in addition to walking. I like how intervals break a run down into a smattering of smaller, more quickly achievable goals. And, it always makes the time fly by faster.
The beginning of a run is harder for me than the end. I usually find my flow around the second or third mile, so I have a specific pattern of intervals I do for the first three miles to keep me entertained and engaged, and then if I’m tacking on more miles after that, I’ll do a more simple mix of running for 5 minutes, followed by a 30-second recovery walk.
But on Saturday, I decided to change it up. I wanted to see if I could jog for 5 minutes and then do a 30-second sprint instead of a recovery walk.
Maybe I was more motivated to keep running because it was cold or maybe it was the collective energy of so many runners being out on a sunny Saturday, but I surprised myself by being able to maintain the pattern for my whole run!
And about halfway through, I had a revelation. I was working through one of 30-second sprints when I realized I was looking forward to hearing my app tell me to jog for 5 minutes.
What used to be the hardest part of my run (running straight for 5 minutes) was now my recovery. When did that happen?
Isn’t it easy to forget how far we’ve come? There’s always the next to-do, the next achievement, a new improvement, what we want to accomplish in the next year, etc.
But when was the last time you spent a few minutes thinking about where you were at a year or two or more ago?
If you take the time to do so, I bet you’ll surprise yourself when you call to mind the change you’ve weathered, things you’ve endured, and how little steps you’ve taken over time have added up to be something bigger.
Maybe what we all need this Monday before jumping into forward-looking tasks and thoughts is to take a moment and remind ourselves of how far we’ve come, reassuring and settling ourselves for the week ahead.
As always, cheering you on this Monday for a great week – you’ve got this!
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