Member-only story
I don’t love running, but this is why I do it.
It’s a reminder that we are limitless.
I don’t remember exactly what caused me to take up running in college, but I do remember how I felt after.
It’s a beautiful spring day in Boston, one of my favorites — sunny with a slight chill. The entire city is abloom because there is much to celebrate after one of the snowiest winters yet.
My legs have a will of their own, and before I know it, I had traversed from my Northeastern dorm, down the Charles River, and back. Four miles, the longest I had ever run…and I wanted more.
From then on, running felt like freedom. I’d wait anxiously in class, literally counting down the minutes until I could drop my stuff off. I’d explode from my dorm like a tidal wave, in pursuit of a clear mind and spring air in my lungs.
I’d always liked running, even if there was the joke that swimmers are not “land animals.”
It’s the same reason I loved swimming — your body has the magical ability to traverse through space and time. You feel every single breath so acutely that you wonder at your ability to feel alive. To be alive.
