For myself, and probably for anyone who has run consistently for more than six months, running has transformed with time. I began running as a sport in middle school. I continued competing throughout high school because I enjoyed it, and, frankly, I had some success with it.
Once I entered college, running evolved from being a competitive sport to becoming a familiar escape from the collegiate world I was wrapped up in. Throughout graduate school, I relied on running to help manage stress, and it gave me an outlet to become more in touch with myself. It was so central to who I was that I even signed up for my first marathon during my final year of grad school.
I continued running once I entered the 鈥渞eal world鈥� and got my first job as a physical therapist in Boston. This was an exciting time, and I loved getting lost while running around the city. I met my future husband on one of these running exploits when I was lost two weeks after moving there, and this kind stranger offered to run with me back to my apartment. While not advised to let a complete stranger run you home, I鈥檓 grateful that it brought us together!
The two of us eventually moved to California and running helped me explore our new home and find stability in a big move. Plus, I found it easy to attain the runner鈥檚 high. Little can compete with running along the ocean (except perhaps high country running).
When we wanted to start a family and struggled with the complexities and uncertainties of infertility, I was advised by some (not my doctors) to stop running. I found it very hard to halt what had been a constant through so many highs and lows in my life. Eventually we were able to have our son, and I gratefully returned to my next evolution of running: running postpartum. It was a completely new world of re-learning how to start from scratch. I kept with it, and it helped give me the mental break I needed while navigating motherhood and working full time.
After being in California for nearly a decade, we decided to move to Flagstaff in the fall of 2020. We wanted to be closer to family, and we knew the running trails were epic. Since being here, my running has continued to evolve. Even if I haven鈥檛 always been as consistent with it as I鈥檇 like, it has remained my constant between having our second child, navigating childcare, working and prioritizing raising two young children. While I鈥檓 less speedy than I鈥檇 like to be, I feel grateful on every run I set out on.
I was once told by a friend that running is 鈥渕editation in motion.鈥� It's a phrase that resonates deeply with me. I think about it frequently while I'm out for a jog. I know my running will continue to evolve throughout all the inevitable transitions of my life, but I am so appreciative that it had given me stability. Being able to joyfully move through whatever life changes brings is a gift I never want to take for granted.