5 Ways Running Has Completely Changed My Life
I’ve been running for over twenty years now there’s a lot that has changed in my life and I believe running has been the main contributing factor for this. Besides the usual body composition and improved ability to handle a flight of stairs, their have been a number of other, more unexpected ways that running has completely changed my life.
The top five for me are listed below:
1. I Eat Better
Even when I first started running, I honestly believed I could eat anything I wanted, as long as I kept running. I constantly ate fast food, processed food with high carbohydrates and high amounts of sugar. It did the job in fueling my body to get through my training. As I got older, it seemed eating this way was not doing my body any long term favours. I was completely reliant on carbohydrates, was always bloated, hungry and struggled to get enough food. A drastic change to a low carb, healthy fat diet was a revelation and has almost changed my life as much as running. I needed to clear out all the crap in my diet, I also had to basically re learn how to cook again as well. My bloating has disappeared, I am a fat burning matching and have been able to take my endurance training to the next level as a result.
2. I Am An Environmentalist
Maybe not a complete environmentalist but more than what I was beforehand. But it’s been a long time since I’ve owned a car. Running or walking is a viable form of transport for me know. This also means I am packing lighter and only keeping the things that I absolutely need, I am living a more minimalist lifestyle as well.
3. I See More Of The World
Running or walking is a beautiful way to simply slow down and see more of the world. This is especially true of new location. It’s pretty rare that one of the first things I will do when I go on vacation or away for work is take 30 minutes out and go for a run to see the local area around. I’ve found some amazing places that I would have never found without going for a run.
4. I’ve Met Some Amazing People
I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that I do a lot of travelling to running events and races that also attract like minded people. That being said, I would have never met these like minded people with wanting to go to these events. I will always trade meeting a new friend at a race at eight in the morning, compared to meeting a friend at a bar at eight at night.
5. I Am More Confident
I have always been quiet and reserved and rarely had confidence in my own ability. Running has definitely led me to have more belief in my own ability and back myself. Running has provided me with the knowledge that with a little bit of persistence and some hard work, I can achieve what I want to achieve.
The past 20 years have been a wild ride and I am grateful for every moment. I can’t wait to see what the next 20 years has install for me.
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Vince Sesto is a DevOps Engineer, Endurance Athlete, Coach and Author. One of his passion’s in life is endurance sports as both an athlete, coach and author. He is a certified running and triathlon coach with a goal to inspire people through his coaching and competition and to encourage people to live active and healthy lives.
His motto in life is, “I am trying to change the world, one run at a time”.
