The Most Important Part of the Run

... has nothing to do with the actual run.

I’ve been doing a fair share of reflecting lately. Not about any one specific event or memory, but about a string of similar moments that I’ve experiences for years now. The moments that occur right before a run.

If you ask me, they’re actually the most important part.

They’re slightly anxious, a little excited, and often hesitant. Repeated over, and over, and over again, time after time. During those give-or-take 30 seconds where you’re debating initiating the actual effort, oftentimes you encounter some sort of minuscule annoyance, like the fact that your watch isn’t picking up a GPS signal or perhaps a wonky, unsettled feeling in your right knee combined with an unforgiving bug bite on your left shin that makes you want to remove your left leg in its entirety.

You’ve already done a fair share of work to get to these special moments, of course. You’ve made the conscious effort to change into some sort of activity-specific outfit, which may or may not have involved a shimmy into snug compression shorts or a too-old tank top that you’ve made the mental note of replacing the last three times you’ve put it on. You’ve deliberately laced your sneakers with a double knot, in hopes to prevent the inevitable uttering of “are you KIDDING me?” accompanied by an overdramatic frustrated exhale the moment they come untied on every single run. And let’s not forget the big, big fact that you’ve askowneldged that you want to go for this run in the first place. 

!!!!

That’s a big deal, too. Making the decision to go for a run can be really intimidating. For a lot of reasons. Perhaps you have unfortunate history with running. Maybe the weather conditions are rough. Emotional baggage, an achy back, too much on your plate — you name it. Excuses, those are easy.

For me, after years of being “bad” at running, there was a long time I didn’t do it at all. A long time I didn’t grab hold of the opportunity to experience these very important pre-moments. After not making the junior varsity volleyball team back in high school because I couldn’t muster out a sub-10:00 mile at the time, I completely gave up on the activity. I was good at making excuses. About five years later, I decided to do something about it. Mileage totals the summer that running finally stuck again — back in 2008 — were a drop in the bucket compared to what I’m hammering through these days. But the moments before the run? They felt the same. 

The moments before the run were the most important part of it all then.
They are now, too. 

Here’s why:

During that pre-run half-minute, you still have the opportunity to bail. You still have an out. While I recognize that this “out” is available to any runner of any level at any given moment, once the run starts, I’d argue you’re more likely to stick with it than if you never started it at all. 

In these moments, you make the valuable, conscious decision to do something for you. To believe in your own potential. You accept whatever comes with the miles and minutes that follow. It’s a bold act, to open yourself up to the beauty that can come hand-in-hand with wanting to take this time for yourself. You may very well be a different person when the run is done, due in part potentially to whatever you might physically encounter during that time, but perhaps more importantly because of what you could gain emotionally and mentally.

The run is brave. The run, it opens you up to a new version of yourself. A version that may be:

More calm. 
More grateful. 
More resilient.
More ready to handle the day as it comes. 

Like Coach Bennett said in episode 120 of Hurdle, running is about what you gain. And if you pay close attention, the gains can start before the run does, albeit technically. In these moments before the run, you confront the desire for your own cup to be filled. You accept the chance to gain some control, believe in yourself, and embrace a fresh perspective.

So, do me this favor: The next time you’re in them — the moments before the run — I want you to be proud that you made it there. Even if it’s hot and humid and you’re standing reluctantly questioning the next step — the first step — I want you to take a second to appreciate the opportunity to make that decision at all. To say to yourself, “today, I’m just going to go for it.” 

The moments before the run, they’re pretty important. 
Mostly because the moments before the run are about a whole lot more than the run.
Period.

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PROMPT: What was the last time you had to psych yourself up to do something? How did it feel once that big to-do was done?