TORONTO February 17th 2015. Digital Champion Matt Small started running in 2006 when he was challenged by a supervisor at work to participate in a charity run. From there he was hooked on the excitement of the crowds, both participants and volunteers! Matt’s most memorable running accomplishment was running his first sub-2 half-marathon. When he’s not running, Matt is a police officer. His hobbies include running, reading, social media and travelling. Connect with Matt on Twitter and Instagram.
Respect The Run. By Matt Small.
I started running in the Spring of 2006. Challenged by a supervisor at work to participate in a 5k race after I mentioned to her that I was interested, but couldn’t get motivated to start. That challenge is what got the ball rolling for me!
I registered for a 5km run and from there I was hooked! I had no idea how big these events were! The atmosphere at the race kit pick-up was pretty incredible! Complete strangers were talking to me about running and races and from that day on, I decided that running was something I wanted to be a part of. I immediately started reading running magazines and getting all the cool clothes to wear. My running improved slightly and I decided that I wanted to start running longer distances.
I began running half-marathons. These were challenging for me. That’s putting it nicely. After speaking to some ‘real running’ friends, I realized that I was going about things incorrectly. I followed training plans, but in distance only. I didn’t quite understand the idea of having to run at different intensities in order to improve my overall running. When I went for a run, I went out and ran. That was it. Some days were faster than others, but that was only because I let my ego get the better of me and push on. I was making mistakes and NOT respecting the run.
Alas, four years passed from the time I ran my first 5K race and I decided I really needed to understand running. I had to concentrate on hitting my pace for tempo runs, long slow runs (this was hardest for me and admittedly sometimes still is) and interval runs. Once this made sense to me, I also came to realize that as important as the actual running was what I did before (nutrition) and after (stretching) my runs. I truly began to RESPECT the run. When I gave the run the RESPECT it deserved, my race times improved considerably and I truly began to #LoveTheRun.
Henry Rollins wrote a piece about working out called “The Iron”. As I am prone to do from time to time, I took some creative liberties and altered it some so that it could be applied to running.
The Run
The run never lies to you.
You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told you are a God or a total b*stard.
The run will always kick you the real deal.
The run is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver always there like a beacon in the pitch black.
I have found the run to be my greatest friend, it never freaks out on me, never leaves.
Friends may come and go but 26.2 miles is always 26.2 miles and this is why I #LoveTheRun
I look forward to running with you and all the #TYS10K Digital Champions as we run down Yonge Street on Sunday April 19th!
