Why Law Students Should Take Up Running

There are a lot of reasons that running is helpful for coping with stress. As a law student, I can speak to how running helps me deal with the specific stressors faced by law students, but I think these comments and observations are pretty universal.

First, let me explain a little bit about my stressors this year as a 2L. As a 1L, my biggest source of anxiety was school. I was worried about being prepared for cold-calls, I was worried about exams, I was worried that I wasn't participating enough, I was worried about grades. As a 2L, school is not my biggest stressor. I still feel the pressure to be prepared and get everything done on time, but my anxiety is coming from different sources. I'm in law review, so I am working on writing my student note (which is a misnomer because it is a paper that is at least 30 pages), and working on citation checks for articles that are going to be published. I'm a teaching assistant for legal writing, so I'm working with 1Ls and checking their citations in papers. I'm in a clinic, so I'm working with clients and going to court. There are probably other things that I'm worried about on any given day, but you can already see why I might be a bit stressed out.

Running has helped me tremendously in coping with that stress. I've talked about experiencing a runner's high in other posts. It's that amazing feeling when you finish a run and feel like you can do anything. If you're just starting to begin running, you might not have really noticed this feeling yet. When I began this training program in the summer of 2018, I didn't understand what the runner's high was. I would get back from a run and feel tired, sore, and ready to eat a big breakfast of turkey bacon and eggs. I think the reason for this is that as a beginner, the whole run I'm just looking towards the end and pushing through the challenge of running instead of walking.

But when I restarted training this fall, I felt amazing after every run. I don't notice the soreness and cramps (at least until the next day, haha). If I had trouble controlling my breath and pacing during the run, I forget about it afterwards and can't wait for the next run. My anxiety lessens and I feel more motivated. I feel the urge to plan my next run, look at other runner's blogs, review where I am in training and where I'm going. I read posts about recommended running gear and tips about training for 10ks and half-marathons (even though that is WAY down the road). I relax for a while, and instead of feeling guilty like a normally do, I feel like I've earned it.

Other than the runner's high, training has also given me goals to work towards. As a law student, there are not many times when I feel a real sense of accomplishment. I have no idea how I'm doing in classes until after exams because there are no assignments or midterms to get grades for. There are very few times when I can feel good about myself. While training, there are real goals that I'm working towards. Each run gives me a sense of accomplishment. When I set a new personal pace record, I feel pride. When I finish a week of training, that's another goal I've reached and now I can start working toward the next goal. The feeling is similar to getting good grades and comments on papers in university (I was an English major).

Training to run a 5k is challenging. But it is a different kind of challenging than law school. There are real and frequent achievements. There is a rush upon completing a run. There's no one you're competing against except yourself. If you're like me and need to have real accomplishments to feel proud and active, running is one way to accomplish that.