What running did for me

When I was a kid I remember that some Sundays I would go “running” with my neighbors. I was a child back then and the mother of my neighbor and best friend, Ivette, was an enthusiastic runner that would drag her whole family (and me) for a run at a park called Viveros in Coyoacan, the neighborhood where I grew up. I hated it. I never understood why and activity that would leave me gasping for air could provide any joy to anyone.

Then when I was in high school my most hated class became Physical Education (PE), our coach was the funniest guy in the world but he was almost a sadist too. He would seat in his beach chair sipping a cold Coca-Cola while we run leaps around the soccer field, and if anyone would dare to walk or stop that unfortunate person would have to do 250 squats as a result. During that time I hated running even more.

Then later when I was in college I started going with some friends to Viveros (that park of my childhood.) This time I was there on my own free will, I wanted to loose weight and show beautiful strong legs under my miniskirts (it was the end of the 80s.) I started enjoying it some, but not much, I still did it more because I “had to” and not because I “wanted to.”

Who was going to say back then that now I cannot imagine my life without running?

Arriving at the finish line at my first and (so far)
 only whole marathon.

The change started when I got married. I was 27 years old and moved to the U.S. with my husband. I found myself in a new country, with no job, no friends, no family (other than my husband) and no car. I was a little bit bored, missing my nest and sometimes desperate for regular activity. So one morning I put on my running shoes and went out for a run. I do not exaggerate if I say that first run changed my life.

I loved it from day one, I was so proud of my one mile run (yes, one mile), feeling with a lot of energy and ready to run the following day, and the day after that.

It quickly became an addiction. Suddenly not a single day would go by without my run. I would put my running shoes and run around my beautiful neighborhood or the gorgeous parks nearby even under sizzling sun of the Houston summer.

I learned to breath in a comfortable rhythm, and I began to enjoy the feeling of my heart beating and my cheekbones burning, I loved to sweat, and I love how relaxed and happy I felt after my run.

In the following years I increased the mileage I ran, I kept running, I introduced successfully some of my friends into running (most memorably my friend Sandra who totally disliked the sport and now loves it), I ran a marathon and several half marathons.

At the end of one of the half marathons I've ran.

Lately I stopped running because of several reasons that include two sinus infections, one injured toe (now healed), several more pounds in my body and the general out of shapness that comes from no running. Is a vicious cycle, not running has made me a worst runner and makes me want to run less.

Havana doesn’t help either, I live in a city where there are no good places to run. My favorite is the esplanade of 5^th Avenue (5ta Avenida), but there is no shade, lots of smoke coming from old cars, traffic noise and very hard ground.

Still I miss what running gave me: that daily energy, the regular doses of endorphins, a slimmer and stronger body, a clearer mind, and an overall sense of wellbeing. That is why I am running again. Even if I feel lazy, heavy, not in shape or tired… I getting off my butt and going every day for a run.