Running: more than just a workout, by Hallie Christopher

This post was written by sophomore Hallie Christopher



"Your body will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. Your only recourse is to call on your spirit, which fortunately functions independent of logic." ~ Tim Noakes, Lore of Running

Our volleyball team is required to run a mile in 7:25 during preseason. The women's soccer team needs to run it in 7:00. The men's soccer team has to get two miles in 12 minutes. You'd think college athletes would get used to running, but a wave of anxiety still hits during tests of endurance.

There's nothing fun about pushing your body outside its comfort zone, but as sophomore Hallie Christopher describes below, there's a yearning inside each of us to do something we thought impossible, especially when others told us we couldn't. In her case, it's running:

A steady beat is made as your feet pound against the firm pavement. Left foot, breathe. Right foot, breathe. You feel a small bead of sweat form at the bottom of your ear, slowly making its way down your heated neck and into the cotton of your shirt. It tickles, but that seems to be the least of your worries.


Pain is everywhere. From your waist down it almost feels numb, like your limbs are moving without your instructing. A small knife is being inserted below your rib cage, and now that you think about it, your left shoulder hurts pretty badly too. But the worst is that even the music blasting in your eardrums isn’t enough to stop the burning flames in which your lungs seem to be consumed in. You try to take deep breaths, but can’t inhale enough to even begin to slow your breathing down.

The chorus of your favorite song hits and you tell your Jell-O-feeling legs to move faster, even though you believe they couldn’t possibly move at any higher a speed. The finish line is just around the corner, but after glancing at the time on your fit bit, you realize you have about 15 seconds if you want to finish a mile in under 7:25.

Pumping your arms back and forth, while pushing off the ground harder than ever before, you give it all you've got. Your eyes start to water slightly but it’s probably just the wind, as you are moving so fast (at least that’s what you tell yourself). In a few seconds it will all be over, so you ignore the agony and just run.

If someone were to ask me how to describe running, that would be my answer. It sucks. Why would anyone in their right mind want to put themselves through the discomfort and misery of what was just described?

It sounds like death, or probably something a little worse. But behind all the temporary feelings, are hidden results that aren’t shown on the surface. As soon as you stop running, and your breathing begins to slow down, a type of ‘high’ seems to be released from all muscles. This feeling is so euphoric that just walking it off isn’t enough. The pain of running seems to disappear and it is like I almost forgot how hard to was to breathe or that stabbing in my abdomen. The line between pleasure and pain is very fine, and can be crossed in many things including running.

When I finish my run, and I know I pushed myself to the limit, emotions of pride are also felt. Running always leaves me feeling ten times better than I did before I began my workout. If I am in a particularly bad mood, or just very stressed, running always seems to fix it no matter what.

Running is such a difficult task, especially for me. I have struggled with asthma for the majority of my life, keeping me from pursuing certain sports because I just couldn’t keep up with the rest of the team. I have had to deal with coaches yelling at me to run faster, when I physically couldn’t without having an asthma attack. This has inspired me to work even harder to get better at this task. There is a want inside of me that just wants to prove all of the people that said I would never be a good runner. Though I wouldn’t consider myself a good runner by any means, I still work to be better at it every day.

To me, running gives me an extremely different result than any other workout. Yeah, lifting heavy weights will make you physically stronger, biking will increase leg muscle, and playing any sport burns calories while letting you have a good time. Exercise, no matter the form it is in, will probably give you more confidence, better health and tons of other benefits. Running seems to do all of these things plus more.

For me, when I run, I seem to be leaving my problems behind and just focusing on myself. Accomplishing something that seems so impossible is one of the greatest moments in life. Sometimes, when I finally reach my goal, a part of me knows I probably could have gone further. Or maybe faster. Or maybe both. This just makes me even more motivated to do better the next time and keep improving.