This Is Where You Get Better

Emily. College sophomore. Saved by grace through faith. Habakkuk 3:17-19. Previously running-as-high-schooler.

[runningismyboyfriend]

The happiest lil runner on the happiest lil island! Turns out walking up to run at 6:30 isn’t too bad when you’re in Aruba 🏃🏼‍♀️🇦🇼

[camewiththeframe]

“My message to young girls is that you can do much more than you ever can imagine” -Katherine Switzer

[musingsoflulu]

There is gratitude in every stride in every labored breath in every tangle in my hair from the wind in sore hamstrings in every single morning I can wake up and say let’s go for a run

[xplicitvisuals]

[musingsoflulu]

Dreamiest snow run

[running-as-a-person]

we ran, we sniffed, we attempted pictures, we ate. puppy and I having the best of times today.

[fruit-power]

[pettypetal]

parent: eat yo greens, veggies are healthy for you child: okay child: *becomes vegan* parent: yo not that much, that’s unhealthy

[finding-stillness]

Oddly missing the nervous excitement on the starting line 😁 Track is back and I’ve got one last go around as a wildcat 😼 Now to get back into shape…☠️

[peanutbutterandbunhuggers]

things i wish i knew when i started running

1. this sport breaks your heart. over and over and over again. 

2. your worth is not in how many miles you run, how fast you race, what place you finish. 

3. when a dream starts to feel like a prison sentence, it is okay if you leave it.

4. step back. breathe. LITERALLY stop to smell flowers, stare at the sunrise, or talk to the squirrel gathering nuts. look around you. take the moment in. you are alive. remember that. thirty seconds of appreciation will never be a mistake. 

5. you can’t weigh 100 pounds and be a size 00 forever. muscle mass is bad ass.

6. but you will still never have boobs. genetics really did a number on you. 

7. you will save all of your race bibs and all of your “good luck, run fast” notes. these will be stored in a box shoved under your bed. you will come home from college, find it, and cry. do not let the bitterness overwhelm the good memories. there are so many good memories. remember those instead.

8. you will outrun your love for running. it will take you two years to admit this aloud.

9. always stop if you see a dog during your run. always.

10. you may never become the runner you thought you would. but you will become an incredible woman who knows of sacrifice and strength, commitment and perseverance. you will become a woman so many people are proud of, even when you can’t be. you will stand on the same legs that met the finish line muddy, sweaty, or bloody hundreds of times before. you will breathe with the same lungs you swore were collapsing during your conference meet of your sophomore year. when reunited on winter break, you will hug your teammates with the same arms that held them during pre-race huddles and post-race breakdowns. you will be different, but beautiful. my god, you will be beautiful. you will be who you always needed to become. 

[life-on-the-run]

EVERYONE READ THIS AND INTERNALIZE IT AND LIVE IT AND BREATHE IT OKAY

[running-as-a-person]

every. word. is true. every. word. I have lived.

[healinglara-deactivated20161219]

note to self

you can run without a garmin. you can run without fancy shoes, or even any shoes at all. you can run without nike workout gear. you can run without a clear path or mileage goal or ideal pace. it doesn’t take much to run, but running does require one key thing: food. it’s impossible to run, and run well, without it.

[trailrunningmountainbiker-blog]

[runningonsmoothies]

There’s no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.“ -Bill Bowerman

[runningonsmoothies]

this was such a fun run

[fitandhealthyhero]

[andrewtkearns]

[soupsandsandwiches]

[championsaremade]

As a runner, and I feel as though I am most likely speaking for many other runners, there is nothing more rewarding that starting to see results over a consistent period of time in subtle ways.

Your average “easy run” pace suddenly becomes 30 seconds faster than 3 weeks ago. You look down at your watch and are pleasantly surprised.

The same amount of intervals in a workout suddenly start to feel effortless and smooth and your once labored breathing becomes a rhythm in tune with your feet hitting the ground.

The paces that once seemed grueling and impossible now become attainable and not only that, but manageable, doable, not for one interval but for all of them.

Your average weekly mileage doubles from a few months back, a few months back when you sat there wondering at the time how on earth you were going to get up to a certain amount of miles per week?

But it’s a process, a slow, steady, consistent, and patient process; and nothing beats the subtle signs that slowly, but surely, remind us it is all coming together.