Friday Five: Five Things I Love About Being a Runner

I’m linking-up with DC area bloggers Courtney at Eat Pray Run DC, Cynthia at You Signed Up for What?!, and Mar at Mar on the Run again today! In fact, today is their 2 year anniversary of cohosting the link-up! This week’s theme is Five Things I Love.

For today’s Friday Five, I’m sharing five things that I love about being a runner. From materialistic reasons to silly ones, they’re all true.

1. The gear. I am easily persuaded to workout with a new outfit, but running also opened the flood for reflective or compression gear, Yaktrax, Garmins, wireless headphones, hand held water bottles – the works. The list goes on. Honestly, I could get excited for the shoes and running clothes alone.
2. The excuse to get outside. It’s amazing how much more I’ve learned to appreciate a beautiful, leafy trail or a sunrise when it’s keeping me company on a run. I get to enjoy parts of my day outdoors in a way I don’t when I’m simply walking from point A to point B.
3. The excuse to explore. Realizing I loved running inspired me to find and rediscover other things that got me outdoors too. I’ve also been able to use running to explore new cities. This spring, Alex and I ran in Rome, London, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Munich. It was one of my favorite parts of our trip.
4. Setting and meeting new goals. They’ve change from finishing one mile to running for over two hours, but each has involved working toward something day-in and day-out and soaking it in when it’s been met.
5. The community. Mainly because who else are you going to talk to about running all the time?! They also understand all of these Ryan Gosling runner memes like no one else.

Alternatively, five things I don’t love? Waking up early (still), convincing myself to do the extras when I really don’t want to, getting injured, the occasional blisters and starting from square one after a running break.

What do you love about being a runner?