What is the secret to running every day? Stop while you still can run farther

At roughly the 35-kilometre mark of his first full marathon, the writer wanted to stop with every footfall. The only thought in his mind was, “Just watch me never do this again.” The final seven kilometres disappeared from his memory. His body moved toward the finish like a mindless zombie.

When he finally crossed the line, the cheers and faces around him blurred. The only thing he could see clearly was a pile of bottled water. His legs no longer felt like his own, and his throat burned. After he emptied a bottle, he realized that something was hanging around his neck: the finisher’s medal. “I did it,” he thought. Compared with the anxiety that had tormented him before the race, the achievement felt almost anticlimactic. Soon, he felt the relief Haruki Murakami described, the relief of no longer having to run. Yet a few days later, he tied his running shoes again.

For a while, he believed running was entirely about numbers: distance, finishing time and weight loss. A good performance made the day feel successful, while a poor one made it seem half-hearted. But eventually he noticed that the biggest changes were happening during the other 23 hours of the day. If he planned to run the next morning, he naturally stopped drinking earlier. Late-night television and phone use declined, mornings began sooner, and late-night snacks disappeared.

“

Just watch me never do this again.

Others called him disciplined, but he says he is not naturally strong-willed. He had repeatedly tried to learn guitar and several languages, only to abandon them. Running became different because it stopped being a daily decision and turned into an ordinary morning activity. The answer became clearer when his times stopped improving. At the riverside, nobody was grading him. There was only yesterday’s self and today’s self. Setting comparison aside made work and relationships feel less rushed.

He also learned not to exhaust himself on his best days. He now stops when he feels he could run for about ten more minutes. Leaving some strength for tomorrow makes it easier to get out of bed. He no longer runs for medals or times. At the finish, he says, what remains is relief, and that feeling disappears within a few hours.

“

I did it.