Inspiration & Motivation, Running & Fitness

Rediscover Running: Find Your Way Back to Your Passion

by Matt Orlando
Matt Orlando
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Each day you lace up your shoes, throw your headphones on, check your watch, and head out the door. You do the awkward shuffle as you prepare your music and wait for the satellites to be found. Your watch locks in. Your music starts. One foot in front of the other, slow at first, groggy even, and then your blood starts flowing and you find your groove. Miles upon miles, days upon days, years upon years…running is your lifeblood, your zen, your home.

Then one day…poof! It’s all gone. Injury…disease…life…something gets in the way and you haven’t run in years. You see others running down the road and feel a pang of longing and sorrow within you. You know the joy they feel and the zone they are in. You remember what it was like to have that part of you, that was only you, so long ago. You miss it, you long for it, you need it.

You decide that whatever has been blocking you, whatever stopped you in the past, will no longer hold you back. You plot, you plan, you research. You get excited. You go shopping…for new men’s running shoes…new running clothes…new everything. Now you are ready. Now you are committed. Now you can overcome the impossible and take back what was taken from you.

The morning comes. You lace up your shoes, throw your headphones on, check your watch, and head out the door. You do the awkward shuffle as you prepare your music and wait for the satellites to be found. Your watch locks in. Your music starts. One foot in front of the other…slow…so slow. Wow, this is tough. Did I ever really enjoy this? Why does this hurt? Why am I so awkward? Did I make the wrong choice? I should just quit. Go home. Back to bed.

But no…you persevere. You tell yourself that today is the day and you will not let yourself out of it. You push forward, your body loosens, if only a bit. You feel the sun, the breeze, the rhythm. It’s all coming back to you. This…this is what you missed. This is what you craved. This is what you love. And in this moment, even if for just a moment, you’re alive.