Guest Post: Brittany from DulceVie

It's nearing the end of the semester which means it's time to start studying for all of my finals that are coming up. While I am away studying like a mad man I have two great guest posts in store for you this week! Both bloggers are students like myself. I know how hard it can be to manage a blog and go to school full time so I love when I meet other bloggers out there like myself!

Today I would like to welcome Brittany to the blog! Brittany is going to share her story about how she fell in love with running. Enjoy!

Hey guys! My name is Brittany over from DulceVie . For those of you who do not know me, I am a rower planning to row D1 this fall (I'm super excited). I currently live in Chicago, but I will moving out to California this fall for college!

How I fell in love with running

Running was never something that I did willingly. In fact, I hated running. So how did I fall in love with it?

Well, last year my family and I went on a trip to London and France. I was going to be missing practice and I knew that I would probably fall behind if I didn’t do something while on vacation. I also knew that there would be no rowing machines in the hotels, so I made the decision to run everyday while on vacation. 

As I walked into our hotel’s gym a thought entered my head. Rather than trying to run a certain distance or pace, why not just focus on running for about 30 minutes. I stepped onto the treadmill thinking that I would probably get tired and end up walking. I turned on the machine and began increasing the speed to a slow jog. The treadmill was set in km so I had no clue how far I was actually running. After 40 minutes of watching tv while jogging, I noticed that I had been running for 40 minutes. It was then that I realized that running was not so bad.

After running everyday, I came back to practice and was able to keep up all of my teammates. When my season ended, I decided to keep running. After running everyday, I actually began looking forward to my runs. I liked being able to run and have a little “me” time.  I also began feeling more confident about myself. I felt like a better athlete and clothes were beginning to fit me nicer (score!).

While discussing my running journey with my best friend, who is also beginning her own running journey, I realized that there are ways to enjoy running. Here is my advice to those of you who are trying to enjoy running:

•  Don’t stress about how fast or how far you can go. Just get out there and do something. Anything is better than nothing

•  Lie to yourself. Yes, you heard me! If you aren’t feeling motivated to go for a run, tell yourself that you are going for a walk. When you get yourself walking, tell yourself that you will just jog for a few minutes. After a few times of lying to yourself, you will find that it is easier to run.

•  Treat yourself to some awesome running shoes or a cute outfit. Getting new workout gear can make working out more exciting. So treat yourself to some new stuff!

•  Look at running as “me” time. Use it to take a break from those around you and enjoy the great outdoors, or hop on a treadmill and listen to some music.

Running began as a chore and has become a new passion for me. Running is great for your health, so go for a run!

Thank you so much Danielle for letting me guest post!