I have not always been a runner. I started running in 2010, and only seriously started running and racing after I did my first 5K in Sept. 2010.
I didn’t start running to specifically lose weight, but I have lost the extra 15 or so pounds I carried around through college – that was due to my total lack of exercise and the fact that I considered Cheetos and Keystone Light to be primary food groups. My college roommate still likes to mention the fact that my favorite rainy-day activity was to skip class and eat frosting from a can while watching Oprah’s 20th Anniversary DVD. 100% true.
But the main reason I started running was because I was bored, exhausted and unhappy with my life after graduating college and starting my first full-time desk job. This post explains in great detail that period of unhappiness and how I got out of it. This kind of sums it up:
I started running. I made calculated efforts to become more adventurous, and started saying “yes” to a lot more invitations and activities. I started initiating activities myself. I went skydiving. I registered for my first 5K (very scary). I made an effort to eat healthier and get more sleep.
I feel like most of it has happened since the beginning of September. That’s when I stopped looking for approval from someone else, and instead started becoming a person that I approve of.
I realized that I couldn’t just sit around and wait for something or someone to come along and make me happy; I had to think about the things in life that would bring me joy, then pursue them.
Running brings me joy. I’m very goal-oriented, and I find it exciting to challenge myself (hence all the races and new distances I have lined up). Being fit also makes me happier because I don’t struggle to simply make it through each day anymore; I’m now full of energy.
I’m proud to call myself a runner now. I’m very flattered if it seems like I’ve always been one. Thanks for the question!
Dev on Running 