Running Proves the Power of Patience
No one can expect to become extremely fast after only a week of training. Running requires perseverance (see post #4) through obstacles, but perseverance also requires a runner to “trust the process.” To be a successful runner, you must continue to work hard even if you don’t always see the results right away. That leads us to my final point of Why I Run:
- Running teaches patience and goal-setting
Freshman year, I was the eighth runner, just off the seven man varsity team. As an extremely competitive person almost to a fault, it was hard for me to not be the best. But, instead of writing myself off and telling myself it wasn’t my kind of sport, I decided that I wanted to be as good as those varsity guys someday. I set season goals for myself, offseason goals, and put in the work to get those goals. Improvement doesn’t come overnight, and running has taught me to enjoy the moment and to enjoy the blessing to be able to go outside and workout.
Over time, though, I began to see the gains slowly but surely – over the course of months, not days or weeks. After doing summer training for the first time sophomore year, I beat my old freshman times by two minutes. A year later, I cut that time down another twenty seconds. This year, I knocked off a few more seconds. I “trusted the process” and I reaped the rewards of my hard work even though it didn’t necessarily translate right away. Just as I embraced the everyday grind, with proper patience and goal setting, anyone can become a good runner. Just find your starting point, and be prepared to have patience with your progress.
As with running, most things, whether learning a language, playing an instrument, or working at a future job, require patience to get better and achieve your goals. Most good things in life do not come quickly, and the people that are not only willing to work hard and be patient, but also find joy in that daily grind, are the ones that are the most successful. Setting goals are a necessary aspect of becoming the type of runner you want to be, but the ability to stay dedicated to the sport even when your goals seem far away is the key to improving.
The benefits and life lessons of running cannot be understated and I hope this provides insight to why I run, and why you should also!