How Running Helped Me Turn My Life Around
I’ve never been an athlete. Aside from excelling at all academic disciplines at school, my main goal was to ____1____ PE at all costs. In my twenties, I went for an occasional yoga or Zumba class, but that was really the summary of all my athletic accomplishments.
That was until the end of 2016, when I was unexpectedly laid off. The ____2____ of getting a new job soon were not in my favor and ____3____ thoughts of not being good enough started to kick in. I was feeling quite depressed but pushed myself to go and ____4____ for the TCS NYC Marathon runners as the course was going through our neighborhood.
However, while being there, I got phenomenal ____5____ from all the runners, smiling, applauding and high-fiving constantly. Not a runner myself, I thought maybe I could give running a ____6____, just to try, to use my neglected gym membership and see where it ____7____ me. And so I tried. I went to my local gym the next morning and got on a treadmill(跑步机）. I was out of breath by minute five, but I ____8____ down, walked for a bit and then restarted. I came back the next day, hoping to ____9____ a few minutes longer. By the end of two weeks, I could run for 30 minutes, which was a huge ____10____.
While I saw my body starting to look more toned, I also noticed my negative thoughts didn’t occur that ____11____. And it sparked a thought-what if I could set a running ____12____ and sign up for my first-ever race? I did and races sort of became a new hobby.
In the meantime, I was able to ____13____ a few freelance(自由职业的)projects. They offered me a good ____14____，and, most importantly, the time to work out for the big race. Also, when I was going for interviews, I started to feel very ____15____ in my abilities, experience and skills.
I got my full-time job ____16____ at my dream company just a couple of weeks before the half-marathon. Although I got an ____17____ from overtraining right before the race, I still went for it and still finished within my ____18____ time.
I still have a long running ____19____ ahead of me-I’d love to work on my speed, my technique and I dream of running a marathon outside of the US. Running gives me ____20____ that I can do anything I set my mind to.