I recently stood at the starting line for my third half-marathon, immersed in the vibrant race day atmosphere. The laughter, clever signs, and contagious energy were a vivid reminder of why race days are so special. Taylor Swift’s “22” provided the soundtrack as runners danced in their corrals. It was a full-circle moment, recalling my first half marathon at 21, and now, at 25, the excitement remained unchanged. This time, my approach to the race was markedly different, leading me to uncover five lessons about myself and running:

1. Chanel Your Efforts with Finesse not Force: For my first two races, I took the distance approach. My training included weekly runs that increased in length until I hit the longest distance: the race. In other words, I hit the distance by brute force of running longer and longer until 21.1km was a bearable distance. This time, I decided to follow a guided plan on Nike Run Club (NRC) that included a variety of training: Fartleks, Hills, Tempo, Speed and long runs. Each run played a different role – driving endurance, mental grit, or speed. 

I’ll let the results of this approach speak for themselves:

First Run of Training	Last Run of Training

But these numbers don’t capture the most important outcome of the change in training style: the way I felt. In the old method, I wasn’t enjoying the exercise, I was enjoying the outcome – the feeling of accomplishment. In this method, I enjoyed the entire run -I felt upbeat and energized throughout, not just at the thought of accomplishing something hard. 

2. Being slow is not a weakness.  This feels like the classic Tortoise & Hare adage, but it’s especially important to note in the context of running: a field full of comparing Strava times, where, a sub two-hour half marathon is the accepted goal, and while there are tons of running clubs and communities, they’re often only accessible if you’re able to run at a certain speed.  I used to shy away from talking about running for fear that slow running is illegitimate compared to the running most people associate with running races. This year, I reframed this, because for me, running is my hobby and hobbies are meant to be enjoyed. For me, running at a pace where I can smile and take in the world that’s unravelling around me, is what I choose to prioritize.

3. Using running for mental health and physical health. I was recently introduced to the idea of Shoshin. This is a Buddhist concept of having a beginner’s mind, to encourage openness and learning. Someone in my life encouraged me to take this principle and apply it to life, to experience it with a child-like sense of wonder and to see beauty. I use my runs as time to focus on applying this and absorbing my surroundings as if I haven’t been conditioned yet. I watch a group of friends play volleyball on the shore and soak in the beauty of it. I appreciate all the things that had to be true to bring a group of adults together at that hour: the relationships that had to be formed, how each person there is connected, how each person there had to learn volleyball in one way or another. I take it all in and think about how wondrous that truly is, and how cool it is that we’re put on earth to build communities with one another and do things, like play volleyball on a Tuesday. In another year, I might’ve run by them without even noticing, but using my runs as a way to practice gratitude and wonder has made running more than a physical exercise, but a way to better my mental health. 

4. The journey to the race is more important than the race. I clocked 267 km and 32 hours of running in preparation for the race. Except, I don’t see it as being in preparation for the race. The race is no more important than each of the runs that came before it.  I see the race as a celebration of the abilities I accumulated over those hours and kilometres. With cheer stations aplenty and the opportunity to run on roads that are typically key arteries for the city like the Gardener and alongside the shores of Lake Ontario, the actual 21.1 km always feels like a reward, and a recognition of all the little “races” that came before. 

5. Fuel Your Body. As I got deeper into the training, running longer and longer, I learned the importance of fueling your body. Runs, where I hadn’t, drank enough water or eaten enough before felt hard and sometimes impossible, while on the contrary, my best run was on a day I ate a vegetable foot-long a few hours prior. The same went for sleep – the better the sleep, the better the run. I noticed the dividends in not only my runs but my life. Perhaps it’s embarrassing that it took running a race to force myself to prioritize hydration and proper sleep – but it reminded me of the larger lesson – that we run (both in the physical and metaphorical sense) best when we’re fuelling our bodies to work their best.