9 Reasons I Love My 30’s thanks to Running

In honor of my birthday, I thought a little round of my favorite running lessons learned over the many years of sharing information on RunToTheFinish was in order…really how else do you celebrate than by having a day filled with thinking about yourself?

I kid {mostly}.

Ok, not really at all. I’m an only child and I shall wear a tiara for my run today if I want to.

Each of you has brought me so much over the last 12 years of creating this little corner of the Internet that I wanted to reflect on the entire spectrum of healthy living that has helped me to continue growing. These are some of the lessons that I’ve learned through running, which are helping me to live a better life all together.

Getting older shouldn’t be terrifying.

We finally have more knowledge.
We finally have more control over our lives.
We finally have more financial freedom to take the trips, buy the Garmin, give back. (at least hopefully)

9 of My Favorite Running Lessons from My 30’s

From enjoying each run no matter how hard, to conquering sugar and everything in between, here are the posts that have provide me with the most value in changing my health or the one’s you’ve told me were the best!

Not Trying to Quit Sugar Cold Turkey
After numerous 30 day challenges, where I failed, and attempts to shun sugar, I had finally decided I was just going to embrace it as my one vice. Until, I realized that I could actually reduce my sugar without needing to quit overnight!

Grit: Who Wouldn’t Want that Word to Describe Them
How I get going when I’m not motivated…hint I stopped relying on motivation. Just saying the word makes me feel like I can dig in a bit more to a workout and hit my goals.

Electrolytes 101
Turns out that sometimes fatigue isn’t anything major and doesn’t require any major shifts to training, we just need to embrace electrolytes along with our water!! It finally kicked my calf cramps to the curb and helped me survive so many heat tortured runs in Miami.

7 Carbo-Loading Mistakes
Who among us hasn’t heard that we need to enjoy a massive plate of pasta the night before a big race? And how many of us have woken up lethargic and bombed our race?! I was tired of this situation, so I did the research to figure out exactly what we runners really need to know about carbs.

Come celebrate @runtothefinish birthday be checking out one of her top 9 running articles (lessons learned from 18 years of running!) #runchat #running Share on X

Running is Hilarious!!!
We get so caught up in PR’s and big goals, that we often miss out on the fact that we’ve picked a hilarious past time in a lot of ways… I mean the porta-potty jokes and early morning jokes alone could keep us going. But I’m particularly fond of the pee pants in that post.

Strength Training is Genuinely Necessary
Turns out if I made the focus on of my strength training how it could make me a better runner then I was far more likely to stick with it!! During my knee accident I had no choice, but the core engagement that came from those workouts helped me to get back to running quicker and maintain my previous injury free streak!

Letting Go of Pace Envy
Are you spending too much time worrying about everyone else’s pace or what they might think of yours?? Man I’ve been there, especially when I thought without a Boston Qualifying time maybe I wasn’t enough to be a running coach, bullocks! Now I’m just freaking happy to be able to run and that changes the game.

Finally Understanding Metabolic Efficiency!
Because I spent years allowing the scale to dictate my fitness, I misunderstood how lifting weights could help me reach my body goals while actually increasing my weight. But I also didn’t understand when people talked about Macros, how what I really needed to do was balance my insulin levels and in doing so I got back down to my peak racing weight with ease and dropped sugar!

Enjoying Every Single Mile
It’s so easy to take our runs for granted as we get caught up in goals, here I share why 1 mile is still something to be celebrated. And I don’t me, that sarcastically. I mean legitimately being proud of yourself for choosing to lace up and show up.

How Do You Celebrate Your Birthday?

I wish I could go run my age in miles, but I have not yet made the Ultramarathon leap and I do have that whole (not just a) Seawheeze Half marathon next weekend.

So instead, I shall just go RUN for me however far I feel like running and when I’m done maybe I’ll call an Uber if I find myself too far from home…I can splurge like that not being a broke college kid, ha!

I’ll also be celebrating with all of my favorite things which help me to lead a healthy life…a call from my parents {mom always sings me happy birthday}, the aforementioned run, a tasty meal full of veggies, cuddling with David…and then yes packing too far in advance for my trip. Because preparation gives me joy.

I will not actually be eating pizza though it’s my favorite food. Pizza is for Friday’s and that’s just a law of the Universe which cannot be broken because it’s my birthday.

Thanks to everyone who has already sent me so many great birthday wishes.

Other ways to connect with Amanda
Instagram Daily Fun: RunToTheFinish

Facebook Community Chatter: RunToTheFinish

Sign Up to Receive a Weekly Newsletter with Top Running Tips