Paria Hassouri Has Mostly Changed From the Inside Out Since She Started Running

Today I’m running with Paria Hassouri.

Paria Hassouri

Paris started running just a few years ago, and on the surface things may not seem like much has changed in her time as a runner. However, below the surface, things in Paria’s life have definitely changed quite a bit.

A Late Arrival to the Running Scene

Paria has a history of riding the exercise roller coaster, where she would get serious about working out for a few weeks and then “forget about it” for a few months before the cycle would repeat.

And even when she was in her phases of consistent working out, Paria was never a runner.

Until she was one. 

When talking with another mom at a birthday party, and hearing her talking about a recent race, Paria decided to give running a legitimate shot.

She’s now run one marathon, will be running another soon (NYC in 2016), and she has no plans of stopping anytime soon.

Paria Hassouri After Running LA

The Internal Impact of Running

Since Paria started running, many of the biggest changes/impacts she’s experienced have been internal.

Paria has experienced many of the “typical” impacts like improved mood and decreased stress levels, that many runners experience. She’s also seen an increase in self-confidence and improved relationships with others, including the relationship with her husband.

But she’s also noticed a change in some other personal areas of her life as well.

Paria was very close to an aunt that passed away before she started running, and during her time as a runner she has been able to work through the grieving process in a healthy way.

Paria also had some unhealthy relationships with food, specifically with episodic binging to help deal with her emotions, and she has found running to be a much healthier alternative to eating when life is at its most chaotic.

Internal Benefits of Running for Paria Hassouri

Starting a Blog

Paria is a beautiful writer! I would have never guessed it, but before she started running (which led to her starting her blog) Paria did very little writing at all.

Yet she really has a gift for writing, and I would definitely encourage you to check out her posts and add her blog to your reading rotation.

One of the things that she does that is somewhat unique, at least from the blogs that I read, is that almost every one of her posts start with a quote.

The quotes always tie in very well with the content of the post, she’s a great writer so that’s not surprising.

Sometimes she sees a quote and it inspires a post, and sometimes she writes the post and then finds a great quote to include, but either way the posts are beautifully written and the quotes are definitely the icing on the cake.

An Opportunity to Give Back Through Running

As Paria got more involved with the running community, she learned about how awesome runners are at giving back and raising awareness for many worthy causes.

One cause that Paria is very passionate about, in large part because of a close personal connection, is the Slay Sarcoma 5k (and there is a virtual run as well) to help fund research about leiomyosarcoma.

I may not be the biggest fan of a 5k, but if I’m going to do one it had better be for a good cause. And after hearing a little bit about Paria’s friend and her struggle with leimyosarcoma, I can confidently say that this is a very good cause.

For @pariahassouri, the biggest changes she's seen as a #runner have occurred from the inside out! Click To Tweet

Check out Paria’s blog (you won’t regret it, I promise!) and make sure you say hi to her on Twitter and/or Instagram!

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