I hear the excuses anytime cardio becomes the topic of conversation: “I am not a runner”, “cardio is not my thing”, “I prefer lifting weights.” I have been on both the pros and cons of this conversation since my teens. While I was in high school playing sports, I only worked out to improve how I looked with my shirt off and never towards a better performance in practices or games. Throughout the football season, the players would get tested in bench press, hang clean and back squats. All three of these lifts are key components to being successful on the gridiron.

With myself favoring an upper body workout, my performance in the bench press was respectable but my performance in the other two lifts left so much to be desired. As I progressed through college and took a weightlifting class at Lane Community College, that mindset was still with me. I would focus on the arms and chest twice a week throughout the term and when it came to tests, my results from high school would make a repeat performance. It wasn’t until I graduated from college and had my first job at Nike Portland where that mindset started to melt.

The employees would hold weekly run clubs, open to the community, using the store as home base. It would include preset routes going around the waterfront ranging in various lengths, snacks, foam rollers, yoga mats, music, and even a photographer that would jump from group to group. It had everything needed to make running fun. While the bells and whistles were nice, what really drew me in was the idea of being in a group. During my early attempts at solo running, it would be short distances and at a slow speed. Being a former high school athlete, I knew if I wanted to be better that I had to compete with someone or find a strong motivation.

A couple months later, the store decided to cancel the run clubs due to low community participation and the cost to keep the store open past business hours. This put me in a slump because I was really enjoying running. The girlfriend I was living with at the time looked me straight in the eyes and said something that gave me a spark of motivation, “go do it.” It was so simple.

I don’t know how much I weighed at the very start of my running journey but I knew I wasn’t in shape. Along with football, I did wrestling in high school and I knew what my athletic peak looked like. It was an unhealthy and unrealistic expectation to set for myself but I knew I wanted to get close to that. There are numerous categories attached to running that people keep track of but I only kept track of the distance (miles), pace (how long it takes to cover a mile) and time. From my very first run on this journey to today, my mindset has stayed the same. The pace never matters as long as you keep running and you finish.

Growing up playing football, I always associated running as a punishment. In May 2018, that mindset would start molding to something positive. I had been on sporadic runs ranging from less than a mile to 6 and at a pace between 10 – 11:20 minutes. Around that time, Nike came out with the Nike React running shoes. They are designed to make it feel like you’re running on springy clouds. I had been invited to a training experience entailing running in the shoes at the waterfront. That experience only gave me a taste of them but I wasn’t completely a believer in the React Revolution. That changed after I purchased my first pair.

During my first month of running with this newfound motivation, I also had a newfound confidence in my physical appearance. The coworkers that followed me on social media started asking about all these posts they’ve been seeing and it gave me a feeling of validation. I never ran for their attention but it was sure nice getting it. After the glow from the congratulatory I wanted to push my physical limitations. Before each run, I have a routine. Drink a full 40oz of water, use my deep tissue leg roller, lightly stretch, pick a route and go.

A few runs went by with this method and it rewarded me with a variety of five, six or seven mile runs. It wasn’t until June 27th 2018 where this methodology would forever change my perspective on running. In one hour and 32 minutes, I had run 9.45 miles at a pace of 9’49” per mile. My mind was absolutely blown. I was adapting to running the five to seven mile range and with that random route I almost hit 10 miles. When talking to people now about running, I tell them that it can make me a little crazy because I wonder how many miles I would get if I extend it out to street X.

Six days later, the psycho in me came out and a route sprouted. It was crazy but I was up for a challenge. Fast forward 1:51:16 later and I had just ran 12.56 miles at a 8’52” pace. I would run over 12 miles again on July 25th but at a slower pace and slower time. My new mindset when it came to setting mileage goals was “anything under 10 miles is easy.” As someone that used to say that they aren’t a runner, I became one that month.

After a series of running outdoors and running on treadmills, the opportunity to participate in my first organized running event appeared. As part of a fitness movement at my previous employer, the higher ups offered to pay a percentage of the sign up fees for the 2019 Portland Shamrock run. With the ambition to see how I can stack up against other runners, I signed up for the 8k (4.97 miles).

My mindset when it comes to new activities is that I want to take it slow out of the gate and finish strong. I finished the run in 50 minutes at a pace of 8’57” per mile. When looking back at it, I wish I didn’t have that mindset. The competitor in me says I should have started at a ballistic rate and sustained it throughout, completely disregarding fatigue or the extent of my training. I felt good following completion but knew I could have given more.

There isn’t a time where I am not thinking about exercising. If it is not outdoor cardio, I would be seen on a treadmill at a local 24 hour fitness warming up before lifting weights. Imagining myself as that kid that lifted weights in high school to only attract women to where I am now, as someone who gets excited to run over 10 miles, it’s just preposterous.

Running gave me challenges to overcome. It gave me an outlet for my frustrations. My asthma is under a stronger control and I am relying on medication less and less thanks to running. For those people that say that running is not their thing, I would say that I was in your shoes. I would not argue against any point they would make because I have made the same. I became a runner when I started viewing the exercise as a tool. It was a tool for me to use when I needed to get out of my own head. It was a tool for me to use when I needed to deal with any of life’s frustrations and disappointments. It was a tool to help me sharpen other tools with to make myself the best me.

For those that say that running is not your thing due to medical or personal reasons, I ask you “what is your thing and why is it your thing?”