What I love about running

The other night I had indoor co-ed volleyball, and we were playing the team that had beat the #1 team in all 3 games, so naturally everyone on my team wanted to do well and beat this team. Unfortunately the games did not go as well as planned.  We were close in the first game, but then fell apart when the other team had a great server.  Going into game 2 was not very pleasant then, and we choked ourselves.  Then game 3 came along, and we pulled our game together "had fun" and won.  I was happy that we won one, but at the same time I was SO frustrated that I considered going home at 8:30 pm for a run to blow off steam, so this got me thinking about what I love about running.  Everyone has their own reasons for loving (or not) running, here are mine:

• There is ultimately 1 person who controls how far you go and how fast, that person is me!
• The competitive side of me wanting to catch up to whomever is ahead of me
• You can run alone
• You can run with friends
• Improvement is measurable through heart rate, pace, distance, etc.
• Tons of other people also run, you automatically have something in common
• Stress-relief!
• Sometimes you just want to get away from everyone
• The adrenaline rush after a good sweaty run
• Carb loading
• Sharing runs on daily mile
• Meeting new people
• Staying fit
• The sense of accomplishment
• I have a reason to buy new shoes!
• You're a mini-celebrity when you are in the local paper ;) !

These are just some of the reasons I now love to run, what are yours?

ASR winter group run.