Trust me, there is something special about those endorphins…more powerful than even speed goggles. EVERYTHING just looks and feels better with a brain full of post-run endorphins. Those problems feel just a smidgen less monstrously terrible, food tastes better, even that neighbor you hate is slightly more tolerable. The world is just a better place after you’ve got your run on.
Now, certainly endorphins have a shelf-life…gosh, dang it! The answer though is simple…get up, run, get your endorphin shot, go to bed, repeat.
Living the life of a runner is like being in one of those revolving doors. It’s not a stagnate state, it’s ALWAYS moving. Tomorrow wipes the slate clean, and you have to start that run all over again. Some people could see that as a negative, “Dangit, I worked by butt off yesterday but when I go to bed I’ve gotta get up and do it all over again.”
Wiped clean, but not erased. Let’s look at the many positives of living in the running revolving door:
* Injures pass: Stuck in the middle of an injury it kinda feels like that door is stalling out…maybe it’s broken and you’re trapped in injury purgatory FOREVER. But time passes, injuries heal, and eventually you get back to your runs. Then savor them.
* Training accumulates: When tomorrow wipes the slate clean, it HARDLY erases all that hard work put in. This is the beauty of training cycles, the runs and hard workouts build upon the next, so that revolving door is more like an escalator. Riiiiide it, baby. BUT…it only goes up if you stay consistent in moving through those doors, you have to be consistent with your running and putting in the work.
* Bad races are wiped away: There will always be days that bring you bad races and horrible workouts. Can’t avoid them, the good news is you can LEARN from every off performance and after that, shake off the crappy run and get moving towards the next AWESOME run.
* ALWAYS another opportunity: Perhaps the most wonderful and motivating part of the revolving door is that there is ALWAYS another run, race, day, workout, waiting. So even in the most down times of your running, take a shower and set your sights on tomorrow. And the tomorrow after that…and just keep running.
So if you’re reading this in brilliant HI-DEF, magni-color vision…you must have gotten back from your run. If the world is looking a little grey, though, you know what you need to do…
1) List another benefit of tomorrow always ‘wiping’ away yesterday.
2) Name another major perk of endorphins?
3) Last lesson you learned from a bad day?
Those endorphins are a powerful thing. I always thought I was crazy when I would say that food tastes that much better after a long run or a half marathon – I guess I am not the only one. I always look forward to my runs, especially the long runs, for this reason lol. And, sometimes when I start to get tired during a run, I remind myself how good my post run breakfast is going to taste when I am finished (maybe this is the driving force behind why I never cut a run short!)
you’re NOT crazy….pretty sure ANYTHING tastes like chocolate after a PR 😉
Running makes everything better! When I am having a bad day at work just thinking about how good it felt to get my run in that morning makes me feel better. Or just running to clear my head, when I come back all my problems feel so much smaller.
sooo true!! last sentence = perfect summation 🙂
I’m just a better person after a run. It makes me happier, even if the run itself wasn’t the best. I feel like I make better choices, am more rational about working out problems, and tolerate stress better. What on earth would I be without running!?
so true!! and that last line, pretty sure i’d be the abominable snow beast!