What does running teach you about friendships?

             Running has helped me process pain and discomfort in new ways. They are generally believed to be experiences we all try to avoid as best we can, yet, running with and through pain has taught me to also withstand an awful lot of discomfort and not have it affect me negatively at all;  I have long learned to work, live and breathe alongside everyday discomforts and keep a proverbial smile as things come undone, as they often do in life.  
           But things have not always been this clear, this simple. As a teenager and even as a young woman in my late 20's I have also struggled with maintaining emotionally healthy female friendships. These issues mostly stemmed from me thinking that in friendships one has to wait around for a person who deems you to possess enough 'friendship material' to then choose you as a friend. Needless to say, I greatly lacked self-esteem as a young woman, I was living hell at home and was very quiet and shy; so this lack of worth did not help the issue either. 
              Nevertheless, all through my 20's and 30's I would very often fall into friendships with women who were very high maintenance and always feel puzzled and hurt as to why I felt so drained from these relationships. It was only after completing several long races and after months of training for each of them that I began to value me, Miriam. No so much for the accomplishment of finishing a race, but from the training process itself. Suddenly, the draining friendships had no place in my life anymore, I was too busy training and feeling amazing to be sucked under by lots of one-sided friendships who took and took but never gave. I began to organically gravitate towards people who made me feel strong, valued and happy. The process was in no way abrupt or obvious, it happened slowly, subtly.  Over time, I began to simply drop one 'friend' after another as I became stronger, and felt better about myself. 
                 A colleague whom I worked with a few years back once shared an opinion on friendship of which I then agreed with strongly. She believed that having lots and lots of female friendships meant you'd be happier. I would severely disagree. Having many friends is, first of all, impossible. There is no way one could qualitatively keep a good relationship with that many people, acquaintances maybe, but true friends, no. Second, I would much rather have 2-3 amazing friends anyway over twelve "kinda" friends. Again, all these changes in perspectives about friendships have changed thanks to my running journey. The only way I can explain this change is that running, being a solitary sport, teaches one to become super comfortable with one's own thoughts, mind patterns, and humor. Running has taught me that there is no one I'd rather spend a day with than myself. I'd be perfectly content with a book, a good pen and a notebook anywhere. While most people avoid being alone, I cherish, and even look forward to my time alone.  
                     To this day, running has never solved any of my problems, but it has allowed me to see situations clearer in order to move past them much faster.  I can easily process people's behavior as they act them, never question the universe "why?" or waste my time wishing and pining for another outcome. I simply accept, re-assess the relationship and if nothing is there I move on.....peacefully .....and never look back.