Running, Be My Valentine

I've been meaning to write a list of ten things I love about running for the #runchat contest, and it seems I've waited until the last day - Valentine's Day. What a perfect day to express my love of running.

Many of my ten loves fall into a post I wrote to beginner runner friends too. Cheers to running!

1. Running is a great stress reliever. I enjoy getting outside, feeling the breeze, and listening to my feet tap along the way.

2. I love having a goal, and running gives me great goal-setting opportunities. I tend to sign up for quite a few races for this reason.

3. The runner's high. I love feeling both exhausted and energized at the same time after a good run!

4. Running a race is a good reason to visit new places. And I love travel.

5. Crossing a finish line. The actual act of crossing a finish line makes me super happy.

6. Being able to eat (a little) more. I'm a pretty healthy person overall, but I like not feeling guilty if I want to have bad food too.

7. I enjoy buying running and workout clothes. It's fun!

8. It can be time alone or time with friends. I love running with my husband and having time to chat, and I equally like getting out the door alone on days when I feel stressed at work and need a break.

9. You can run anywhere! Running shoes are easy to take on vacation, work trips, etc. There is never an excuse not to run.

10.  A community of people. It's fun to read blogs, tweets, and to talk about running with running friends. I love it when new friends start running and become part of it.

I can't wait to read everyone else's running top ten. Happy Valentine's Day!