For most of my life, I have detested running. However, I cannot deny the obvious pleasure and satisfaction that so many of my friends experience from running, so I have decided to become a runner. It hasn\u2019t been an easy start. Running burns, and I pant and wheeze in my first few laps as if I\u2019ve been on the track for hours. I struggle to complete a mile, something that true runners use as just a portion of their warm up. But when I cross the marker that ends my laps around the track, I celebrate. I walk with purpose and inhale deeply. I search for my runner friends to tell them of my small feat, and they genuinely rejoice with me because they know everyone must start somewhere. Since I have picked up running, I have experienced just one \u201crunner\u2019s high.\u201d For me, it was only enough to keep me going to two miles, but that surely was a triumph in my book. I felt strong and healthy, ready to get back on the track and strive for that sensation yet again. Most importantly, I felt grateful. I wasn\u2019t mad at my body for the stubborn \u201cproblem areas\u201d that don\u2019t seem to tone. I wasn\u2019t feeling guilty for the savory, cheese pizza eaten earlier that week. Instead, I was proud and appreciative of what my body had just done. I am blessed to have a body that is capable of exercise and training. So even though I may never run a marathon or enter a race of any kind, I am a runner, striving for one more lap every time I hit the track.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elaine Bailey is a full-time student majoring in Writing, Rhetoric and Communication. She also works as a tour guide for her cherished university. She\u2019s in love with every corner of this world, and I end each adventure wondering when the next will begin<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For most of my life, I have detested running. However, I cannot deny the obvious pleasure and satisfaction that so many of my friends…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3048,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[405,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.cakenwhiskey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Running.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cakenwhiskey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3046"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cakenwhiskey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cakenwhiskey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cakenwhiskey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cakenwhiskey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3046"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.cakenwhiskey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3049,"href":"http:\/\/www.cakenwhiskey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3046\/revisions\/3049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cakenwhiskey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cakenwhiskey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cakenwhiskey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cakenwhiskey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}