Run! It’ll do you good…

I have been running, slowly, for the past 12 years, and I struggled during these years to balance this passion with the 2 main occupations of modern times: family and work.

Out of the 3, running was actually the first one I engaged with. However, over time, it became the one I had to sacrifice in order to support the other 2 that came along. A relatively large family (the 3 kids alone would actually be enough!) and a 10-years risk management career are not that easy to manage simultaneously; adding on top of it all a time consuming activity such as running made everything harder. So as the kids were coming along and work was getting more and more demanding, I got slower and slower…

I can’t help thinking that running helped me through the years in achieving what I have achieved so far. I believe that I am the husband, father, employee and manager that I am today largely thanks to running.

Running essentially does 3 good things for you:

It clears your mind and gives you plenty of time to think (I don’t listen to music while running), allowing you to release stress and focus on important matters
It keeps you fit (at a very low cost) making you feel better overall, both physically and mentally
It teaches you to plan and work hard in order to reach a self-set objective, rewarding you in multiple ways

I was saying that I got slower and slower… A couple of years ago I finally came to terms with myself and realised I was using my family and my job as excuses to justify my lack of running. So I stopped pretending I had no time for it and started going running any time I had a chance (including at 6.00 am before work or whilst on business trips). Making this another valuable lesson that running taught me: where there is a will there is a way!

I am not a fast runner and my target for tomorrow is to break (at last) the 4 hours barrier that for so long has been eluding me. So if you are in Amsterdam tomorrow, come to cheer me up along the way. If you are not in Amsterdam, go out for a run and enjoy the fresh air. It’ll do you good…

Update
So today I ran my 19th full marathon!
Under a grey and slightly rainy sky in Amsterdam, I managed to finish in 04:09:15, setting my 4th best result ever, just 04:41 behind my personal best. Considering that this year I never run more than 13km in one session, I am pleased with the result.
Running a marathon it’s always a rewarding adventure and today was no different. Already looking forward to the next one.
Now I’ll open a bottle of prosecco to celebrate!