Other Hearst Subscriptions Since then, my career has. I remember going on these long treks through the mountains when I was a Boy Scout during my childhood in Utah. The elevation was rough, and those trips kicked our butts. But you always ended the day feeling great, and the experience was so worth it.
Since then, my career has dancer and started to rehearse or perform every night, it became difficult to do any real running. Every night I was doing the equivalent of 10 to 15 miles on the dance floor. My hip flexors were getting beaten up, so it was impossible to go on a jog for any quality distances. My relationship with running was relegated to jumping on the treadmill for a warmup or conditioning exercise.
I’m a Runner: Derek Hough Races - Places, and I’ve had the energy to take on long runs again; it’s been amazing. There is an expression I use a lot: “Motion creates emotion.” I feel like when I am running, it not only helps change me physically, it also improves my state of mind. I believe you can feel it affect your chemistry, which helps give you clarity and focus. Getting in a run helps set me up to win. And now that I have more time to train, I want to take on a marathon. I was just in Chicago—I’d like to start there.
Nutrition - Weight Loss music, preferably with a lot of strings and percussion. On runs where I am in a city or just training hard, I usually throw on some rock or metal. I think it is healthy to tap into that primal element of yourself every once in awhile. My favorite track now is “New Blood,” by Zayde WØlf, so I will throw that into Spotify and see where it takes me.
run is just before dark run is just before dark. The world starts to get quiet and still. The air is still warm, but cooling down. You are out in the world sharing this experience with the other runners; there really isn’t a word to describe how connected you feel with everything.
