Running for a different reason now got me thinking about the ways I’ve related to my body over my lifetime and how this is changing as I transition from being a young person to being a middle-aged person. I don’t think I’ve respected my body, not deep down. I’ve valued it only for its functions and the purposes it served me: trying to attract others; avoiding feelings; running a faster (or, rather, a slightly less slow) 5km. Until today, I’ve not understood that my body is me, it is my life, rather than something that produces results.