Like most runners, I have struggled with injury from time to time, and that injury often comes with a huge perspective shift. I can quickly go from being a little burned out to the crazy lady who  drives by runners on the road and wants to roll down my window to shout at them just how lucky they are to be running. What if there was a way to hold onto this longing even while uninjured? 

Let me suggest that a simple viewpoint change can be one of the keys to keeping the running journey alive- and this change truly is simple. We view all the steps we take in pursuing our goals as choices, not sacrifices. It may seem like an inconsequential change of phrasing, but the way our brains perceive the difference can be significant.  When we claim the decisions we make as choices rather than sacrifices we see them as a privilege. This mental shift can make it easier to stick to our choices. It can be as simple as telling ourselves that we get to do a long run rather than we have to do a long run. Eating healthy, fresh foods to fuel your body is a choice not a sacrifice.  Prioritizing sleep and recovery between workouts is another choice that we get to make. 

Deena Kastor, American record holder in the marathon says it well, “We make choices. I hate to say ‘sacrifices.’ When I speak, I say ‘we don’t make sacrifices. If we truly love this sport and we have these goals and dreams in the sport, the classroom, or in life, they’re not sacrifices. They’re choices that we make to fulfill these goals and dreams.’ Sacrifices makes it sound like ‘oh, poor me, I have to do this in order to get to this,’ and I don’t really like that word. It was just really the choice to take care of myself and live a proper lifestyle. In doing that, I feel like a healthier person, I feel focused in everything, not just in my running. In following this one dream, I feel like I became an even more well-rounded person.” 

For most of us running doesn’t pay the bills- it is a choice. We can keep the joy in it by remembering that as we chase our goals.