During my week off, in between jobs, I didn’t have email on my phone. I also decided to take a social-media hiatus. That’s right, folks: no email, no Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. I didn’t even snap my meals or scenes of my glorious week off to my fellow Snapchatters.

So, you may ask: What in the world did I do for an entire week without any of those things? In true Katie fashion, I made a “staycation” list. As you’ll learn, I’m a lover of all things in list form — there’s few greater pleasures for me in life than crossing things off a list. Anyway, my list had four categories: wedding, errands, chores and me time. Under “me time,” one of the items was to read a book. A few months ago, I purchased the book “Born to Run,” and it’s been sitting in my drawer ever since. So, on a sunny day, I sat outside and started reading.

The book is about the author, Christopher McDougall, who was on a mission to figure out why his foot was hurt when he ran. He travels to Mexico to find a tribe of the greatest distance runners, the Tarahumara. Through adventure, research, conversations and science, the book teaches us that we were indeed born to run.

Growing up, nobody in my family was very interested in athletics. I dabbled in gymnastics, t-ball, basketball, and played soccer from kindergarten through 12th grade. However, it wasn’t until college that I discovered running. I began jogging a few miles, and soon decided I wanted to try the Gary Bjorkland half marathon in Duluth, my hometown. The first few years my times were nothing impressive, but I began to fall in love with the sport.

For me (and like many), I feel the greatest sense of accomplishment when I set goals and achieve them. I began to set goals to run more half-marathons, get faster times and eventually run a marathon. Not only do I love running to feel a sense of accomplishment, but for a whole list of other reasons: there’s a true sense of camaraderie among the running community, it allows me to catch up with my friends, I can manage my stress, listen to new tunes, clear my head — and all I have to do is lace up my shoes and go.

Even though sometimes I get really muddy.

Since college, I have run five marathons, 10 half marathons and multiple other races. I run with my friends, clients, coworkers, my fiancé and by myself. I’ve travelled to run, and prefer exploring new cities on foot.

My fiancé has mastered the running selfie. (I’m #dying)

While I have mastered the post-race beer consumption.

Running helps me feel like a whole person. It guides my overall health and happiness. Running isn’t for everyone, but I encourage you on one of these sunny spring days to go outside, lace up your shoes and hit the pavement. Walk, bike, run, crawl, skip, jump rope, skateboard — move.  Set your goals, reach for them, achieve them, fail a few times — and set some more.