To be a runner.
What is a runner? Who is a runner? A runner is a person that goes out and runs any number of miles or minutes. Being a runner doesn’t mean you spend countless hours every day running. It means you went for a run.
What does running do for the body?
Improve Your Health
Believe it or not, running is actually a great way to increase your overall level of health. Research shows that running can raise your levels of good cholesterol while also helping you increase lung function and use. In addition, running can also boost your immune system and lower your risk of developing blood clots.
For women, running can actually help to lower your risk of breast cancer. It can also help reduce the risk of having a stroke. Many doctors today recommend running for people who are in the early stages of diabetes, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis, and it is proven to help reduce the risk of having a heart attack. By helping the arteries retain their elasticity and strengthening the heart, your chances of suffering a heart attack can be significantly reduced.
Running for just an hour a week can reduce the risk of heart disease by almost half compared to non-runners . And for those already hitting the recommended physical activity guidelines, an extra spurt of exercise can lower the risks of heart disease even more.
Lose Weight
Running is one of the best forms of exercise for losing or maintaining a consistent weight. You will find that it is a leading way to burn off extra calories and that it is the second most effective exercise in terms of calories burned per minute, following only after cross country skiing.
Core Stability
A strong core improves posture, strengthens limbs, and helps make everyday activities a breeze. And whether we feel it or not, running engages that midsection, strengthening those all-important muscles. Bonus: A solid core in runners can improve performance, too.
Boost Your Confidence
Not all of the benefits of running are physical. Running can provide an noticeable boost to your confidence and self-esteem. By setting and achieving goals, you can help give yourself a greater sense of empowerment that will leave you feeling much happier.
Achieve goals
Studies suggest that people who set and meet (or exceed) long-term fitness goals (like signing up for a half-marathon!) are more committed and satisfied with their exercise routines than those who trudge along aimlessly. And who doesn’t feel good about crossing items off their bucket list?
Relieve Stress
Stress can actually cause a number of health and mood problems. It can also diminish appetite and sleep quality. When you run, you force your body to exert excess energy and hormones. Running also helps to reduce your chances of developing tension headaches.
Eliminate Depression
When you are depressed, the last thing you likely want to do is to get up and go for a run. Yet you will find that after only a few minutes of running, your brain will start to secrete hormones that naturally improve your mood. In fact, there are few things in the world that can better or more rapidly treat depression than exercise such as running.
It may seem surprising to learn all of the different ways that running can improve your health, but the truth of the matter is that these are only a few of the many benefits that it can offer to your body. Running really is incredibly beneficial to the body, mind, and spirit, and you will find that even short runs can leave you feeling more energized, more focused, and better able to enjoy all that life has to offer.
Why I run…
Running is a peace of mind for me, my time to connect and just be. During a run, no one can bother me; the stress of life cannot take over. Just moving and breathing is all it takes. There are weeks I run 20 to 30 plus miles, and then there are weeks, like the past two, where I have ran a total of 11 miles. You don’t have to be training for a marathon to run, do it for yourself. 20 minutes a day may just be that change you need.
http://www.runnersworld.com/ask-coach-jenny/3-little-tips-for-better-running-form
