What Happened When I Stopped Trying to Run Fast
After years of pushing myself to improve, I’m taking it easy in 2021.
Running Fast
I started running regularly four years ago when I was in the worst shape of my life. I had recently gotten sober, after a decade of heavy drinking. All of those years of alcoholism had left me overweight and lethargic.
To make matters even worse, I was still a pack-a-day smoker (a habit that I’ve thankfully given up since). I’d sometimes get back from a run and suck down a cigarette before I’d even caught my breath.
Needless to say, I was not very fast in those days. In fact, initially, I couldn’t run for more than a minute at a time.
I stuck with it, though, and gradually improved. My first big milestone was running 5 kilometers without stopping. The next one was to run the same distance in under half an hour.
Beating the thirty-minute mark in the 5k was one of the best feelings I’d experienced in years. I still remember getting home that day and being filled with sheer joy. Although a thirty-minute 5k is what many people would consider a “beginner” time, it represented a real turning point in my life.
