Day 14 – Don’t stress

“I began running through cross country, and, being a naturally very competitive person, every run became a competition between me and my teammates. Once I finished cross-country and started training for races on my own, every run was a competition with myself. I would do terribly in races I trained so hard for because I would get so stressed out about my performance. So my advice is: no matter what race you’re running, no matter what sport you’re playing, keep it fun. Unless you’re an Olympic athlete and running or sports is actually your profession, movement should bring you joy above all else. There are way too many other things in life that bring stress, fitness should not be one of them! Now that I choose to remind myself that running my best isn’t the most important thing in the world, I’ve enjoyed running so much more and my times have never been better!” – Autumn, Gazelle Sports HQ