WHAT AM I DOING IN THE MIDDLE OF A PICTURE WITH THIS RUNNING CLUB??
Well, it might not look strange to you, but for me, seeing myself hanging out at 6:30 am
with a bunch of runners is about as far from my perception of reality as imaginable.
We jogged a little over 2.5 miles. I am typically a pretty secure person in public, but
running outside has always seemed sort of uncomfortable for me. This was definitely a
face-your-fears challenge for me, since I was visibly out of shape in front of all these
awesome athletic people! After 2 miles I nearly passed out, or was I nauseas? or was I
getting a really strange runner's high? I couldn't tell... but I decided that there is
a time to "push through it" and a time to listen to the body, so I chose to not black
out on the first day of meeting these sweet people and walked the last half mile.
My ego told me a million excuses while I was walking!
"you're tired because didn't really eat much for dinner last night"
"your core is still sore from your workout yesterday so it affects your running"
"you're very dehydrated, so that's slowing you down"
"you're just running this course for the first time so it's harder"
.... but then I got stronger and realized none of those beliefs, true or not, would make
anyone in this new group I'm gettng to know,think better of me, or wish I would come
with them more, or try to make friends with me.
I finished the last of the run smiling, and told the club organizer I couldn't wait to
be able to run the whole thing, I still felt a little sick so I told the rest of the
group how great it felt that I was getting back in shape! I found the most positive,
excuse-free language I could use, even though it partially felt like a lie. And the
result? One personal trainer in the group invited me to her pilates class for free!
The club organizer filled me in on all sorts of other workouts and events he puts on for
free, and the other runners just kept telling me how happy they were that I was there.
Am I saying this to pat myself on the back?
Not specifically.
I just had to write this down to help myself to remember how valuable positive attitude
are when trying new things. It's so easy to be embarrassed when we are new and publicly
floundering, but if we waste our time receiving sypathy or even just encouragement,
then we are missing precious moments to connect and grow with the people who will get us
out of the floundering stage!
Reflecting now, I am so glad I went, I feel great that I am getting back in shape, and
I really cannot wait until I can run the whole thing.
If anyone else is interested in checking out this awesome running club the link is:
https://www.facebook.com/liveRIGHTnowLLC