Running

Why I run

I started running when I joined cross country and track in high school. I stopped running once COVID-19 hit in 2020. When I moved to Isla Vista (IV) in the summer of 2021 I wanted to begin running again to spend more time outside. I was a very inconsistent runner during my second year, but after having a tough time dealing with stress during this first year living away from my family, I set a target goal to run at least twice a week starting the summer of 2022. I kept this target most weeks of my third year, but in an effort to keep running as a fun break from school and not a chore, I allowed myself leniency on meeting this goal if trying to fit a run into my day added to my stress.

These past two years, running has helped me manage stress and anxiety. It has become my way to take a breather from school. During my last year at UCSB, I wanted to add a third run to my week and train for races. While running three times a week does not seem like a daunting task, it was often difficult to decide what days and times I could go running depending on my workload for the day, the weather, and the daylight available. I especially wanted to add more runs to my week in order to take advantage of being able to run at Coal Oil Point while I still lived in IV. Running to Coal Oil Point from my apartment is my favorite running route and I will miss running there to catch the sunset at Sands Beach when I leave IV.

I take pictures and/or videos on each of my runs so that I could look back at them and the views I was able to take in later on. The photos in the gallery below are some of my favorites!