Friday Five Link-up with

Eat, Pray, Run DC,   Mar on the Run, and You Signed Up for What?

For today’s theme, I have decided to go rogue….

5 Ways Running Has changed me

I was talking with Dawn the other day on a therapy session run day.   Come on you know you have them sometimes too.   Anyway, I was saying how running has changed me.    I can no longer deny it.   I am not the same person that I was when I first laced up my running shoes.   It has changed me in ways that I never imagined that it would.   It is more than just physical changes too which have been major.

Lowered Stress Level

No, running has not made my life easier, but what it has done is given me an outlet to relieve stress in a healthy way.   Time to think things through if needed or time to get away from it all if needed.  Sometimes both of these at the same time!

Confidence

  Running has shown me that I am capable of so much more than I ever thought.   I have gone from someone who couldn’t run around the block to someone literally running marathons!   That changes your mindset.    I have more than once said to myself that if I could run 26.2 miles, that I could do XYZ.    That confidence changes you or at least it changed me.   I became more assertive (in a good way).   I learned to stand a little taller.    I learned that I can stand on my own because ultimately in a race, you are the only one that can get you where you need to go just like in life.

Acceptance 

I will say that I have always been a healthy person.   It’s really in my DNA.   I’ve been blessed with good blood pressure, cholesterol, and overall good health.  I have though had a weight “problem” although I hesitate to call it a problem as it didn’t bother me much except in pictures.    That being said, I have learned to accept the fact that the scale does lie.  I am the same weight as I was before I started on this running journey.   Maybe 5 pounds lighter, but things have shifted.   I stopped obsessing about the scale and realized it is just a number.   I may be the same weight, but I am not the same person.  My 3 sizes smaller jeans prove that.   I have realized that those who judge me by my size are wrong including myself.   The size of my jeans do not have bearing on who I am as a person.

Friendship

   Running has given me friends that I never would have had.    It has brought people into my life that I am blessed to call friends.   When running the miles, you get to know a person.   You get to know them a lot because although we do talk about running a lot, when your out there for a long time other things do tend to come up:)   It has also brought people into my life that I haven’t even met yet, but hope to meet one day.   It has shown who my true friends are as they support me in my journey  even if they don’t truly understand it.

Role Model for my kids

As a mother of three boys, I like the fact that I am teaching them by actions that women are more than just being a Stay at Home Mom.   I am teaching them that a woman can and should be proud of their accomplishments.   That a woman can be strong and accomplished and that she can do anything she sets her mind too.  This is important to me, because when they go out into the world I want them to look at women as their equal.

I am also showing them that the things they want in life they need to work for and that setting goals is important part of that work.

How has running changed you?