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Choose to Embrace Discomfort
Because Doing Hard Things Will Change Your Life
When I first begin a run, it hurts. Every joint, every muscle, every impact of my foot on the ground hurts. I know, I know, I should stretch properly before I begin. But I love running so much, I can’t wait to start doing it. Why waste 10–15 minutes doing stretches when I could be running? Pretty sure our hunter-gatherer forefathers didn’t do stretches before they took off in pursuit of prey, or in pursuit of safety from a predator, whatever was called for at the time.
But this story isn’t about whether or not you should stretch before you run.
It’s about why I run, and you don’t.
It’s about why I wake up early, so I can run before the heat of the day really sets in, and why you instead hit snooze on your alarm clock until you’re nearly late for work. It’s about discomfort, and why you should learn to live with it.
So as I was saying, when I first start running, it hurts a bit. But I read in Sarah Lavender Smith’s excellent book, The Trail Runner’s Companion, “Never judge a run by the first mile”. I practically chant that to myself during the first mile.
I accept that it feels weird, and that if my body were a car, it would be misfiring. But the pain from stiffness and sore muscles is…
