90 Days of Running Changed My Life
And it had nothing to do with losing weight.
I’ve been running consistently for the past 90 days and it changed my life.
Prior to getting into running I was in a bit of a rut.
I was procrastinating, having trouble focusing and my social anxiety was at an all time high.
It was weird because it came out of nowhere.
I was still waking up early, lifting weights, and eating healthy.
It felt like I was doing all the right things but I still felt stuck.
It was time to start shaking things up.
I somehow stumbled upon a book called win the inside game.
The book wasn’t about the benefits of running.
Yet something about that book compelled me to start running.
And so I did.
At first it felt like hell.
My knees were sore and I was constantly out of breath. It felt like pure pain.
I thought I would be able to handle it after years of lifting, but running is completely different than lifting.
Running is more of a mental sport than it is a physical sport.
When you lift you go hard for a minute or two and then take a break. With running you just keep going. There is no break until you cross the finish line.
I loved the mental challenge. It was exactly what I needed.
It felt like moving forward in space through running made it easier to move forward in life.
Prior to running I tried so many different habits to calm my mind. From lifting, reading, meditation, journaling etc.
It helped but only slightly.
But with running it was different.
I started to feel more confident and my social anxiety is nearly gone. Conversations just flow naturally and I don’t have to think about what to say next.
Since I started running, I’ve been able to climb out of that rut. I feel more focused and productive. My mind feels more sharp.
Most importantly, my stress has significantly diminished.
After running is when I feel the most relaxed. Especially during days when I get to run outside.
The mental toughness that you build from running expands into other areas too.
What was once stressful, is now something I know I can learn and figure out.
I was curious about the changes that were happening to my brain so I started to dive into the science behind it.
I came across this ted talk from Wendy Suzuki that made it all make sense.
The talk is about the benefits that exercise has on your brain. Specifically aerobic exercise (aka cardio).
What Wendy found was that a single workout can spike neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and noradrenaline. This leads to improved mood and attention for up to two hours.
Over the long term, the anatomy of your brain changes over time through regular exercise.
Specifically in areas associated with memory, focus, long term planning and goal setting.
On top of all this, exercise protects your brain for neurogenerative diseases like Alzheimers.
Reaping all these benefits involves doing 30 minutes of aerobic exercise 3-4 times per week.
It doesn’t have to be running. It can be:
Cycling
Swimming
Dancing
Hiking
Stair climbing
Sports
Anything that gets your heart rate up.
I still lift. I love to. But running/aerobic exercise is my new non negotiable for me.
I hope whoever reads this finds this inspiring to take that first step. All it takes is 30 minutes 3-4 times per week.
Single habit can truly change your life which is what I experienced with running. I hope you experience that too.
That’s it for this week.
I’ll see you all next Saturday.
Cheers,
Ashvin