I’ve never been a very team sport orientated guy. The one sport I did do in high school was wrestling. Wrestling had team sport aspects, but during game time it was just you versus your opponent. Running is very similar.
When you run it’s you versus you. Even if you are in a race, there are no external variables, like other players who are trying to prevent you from scoring, or players that are trying to score on you. Yes, you might all be competing for first place, but in the end its still you versus you.
Everyone knows how hard running is. When you are on a long run, that little voice in your head is always telling you to slow down or stop. It’s up to you to not give in and keep pushing past that voice.
At a certain point running turns into a mental game. Your body almost goes numb (depending on the distance), all you feel is pain. Its not a sharp pain in any one area, but it’s an overall pain throughout your body. This pain is a dull pain that just slowly wears on you. Your feet, your legs, your shoulders, and sometimes your back, will all start to ache a little bit.
Your body feels like giving up, but you know that you can keep going as long as you don’t give in to that little voice in your head. This is where mental fortitude is built, and the mind games start.
Can you keep pushing?
Are you going to give up?
I hope the answers are no. When you choose not to give up, you are strengthening your mind the best way possible. This is your chance to see how positive or negative your self-talk is, and then magnify and turn up the positive self-talk.
Running will make you feel alive. When you run you feel every part of your body. You feel all of your muscles from the arches of your feet all the way up to your neck muscles. They will feel worked, they will burn, and they will be sore. You will feel them! When you feel them, you feel how extraordinary your body is and you will feel extremely blessed to be able to run.
Your lungs will burn. There is nothing that makes you feel as high as when your lungs are working as hard as they can to supply oxygen to every part of your body. When your lungs are working, your heart will be pumping even harder. There is no feeling that will make you feel closer to death while simultaneously making you feel so alive
You will feel weak and tired, but strong. You will feel out of breath, but feel your lungs becoming stronger.
Running will make you feel alive because it will make you feel every part of your body as it works to make you run.
Running will also keep you in great shape. Running works so many muscles at once; meaning, you are getting an awesome full body workout. When you run you will develop beautiful and strong legs that only running can build. You will melt your body fat right off.
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