Anyone Can Run

It seems like almost every day I get into a conversation with someone about extracurricular activities, whether they are a peer of mine at my school or an adult whom I have managed to get myself stuck in one of those semi-awkward conversations with, such as parents or teachers at the grocery store. My peers will usually say that they do volleyball, show choir, or play the clarinet, but when I tell them that I run, half of the people whom I am talking to respond something along the lines of, "Wow, that's cool! I could never run!" or "Man, I can't even run to the end of the block!" Well I am here today to assure you that anyone can run (that is of course aside from people with health issues that prevent them from participating in such rigorous physical activity). But people always make it seem as if they could never in their lives run a mile without a break, and I am not saying this to demean the intensity, strength and physicality that it takes to be a competitive runner, I am simply stating that anyone who wishes could train to become a runner for fun. And the first step in becoming a beginning runner is… (Drum roll please) to run! Now I am not saying that it would be beneficial to go out on your first try and attempt to run 10 miles, nor would it be beneficial to just fast walk down your street every day for a month and hope to magically become a runner someday without putting in the work, but I am saying that in order to be a runner, you’ve got to run. While this seems like an overly simple and obvious statement, there are a lot of people who hope to become a better runner by only doing cross fit or eating heather. Those are important aspects in living the runner’s lifestyle, but they are not all it takes to achieving your goals. So whether you decide that you are interested in pursuing running as a healthy hobby, or you hope to run competitively someday, everyone has to start at the same place. But trust me, the more you run, the easier it gets.  In my next blog I will talk about more specifics involved with actually starting the process of becoming a beginning runner, because ANYONE can do it if they set their mind to it!