I know, I know. You have all been feeling so abandoned since I took the holiday and Friday off of blogging. Practically crying yourselves to sleep I'm sure.
Sorry. I just took a little day off, but now I'm weekend posting you to make up for it. So, that deserves some cookies or something. . . Just sayin.
I've had a bunch of people say to me lately "oh, I'm not a runner." Well, why the heck not? What makes a runner? You don't have to do sprints or marathons to be a runner, you don't have to be fast. Heck, you don't even have to get very far. You just have to move.
I know some of you are saying- but I'm too big, I'll do videos first then run. Or you think you look funny.
NEWS FLASH: No one cares! For certain, I have not had one person come to me while running and say "you sound like a camel dry heaving on the desert". When I'm on trails, people only have time to say "hi" then you are past them. I'll I'm saying is I have insecurities to, and I finally stopped letting them stop me. And I'm so glad I did. Because I'm still not the perfect size, but I feel better. And everyone deserves that.
However, we can Monday pep talk it more. Today's the day I'm really honest about the misery of running.
I have never been good at exercise. I was the slowest mile runner in junior high and high school. Which, by the way, public school system- give it up. I'm 5 ft. How in the blankity blank blank fast do you think I can run? My legs are only like 1.5 ft of that. Don't be ridiculous. Anyways, my gym teacher once called me "cow" instead of "kal" so there's that. And just so we are really clear, that back when my size wasn't even a number yet. So, running isn't my dream workout. I never understood it. I was one of those "not a runner" people.
Last summer, my in laws REALLY wanted the whole fam to do a 5K on the 4th of July. Case and I agreed. We trained all of three times (couch to 5k, week 1). It was absolutely terrible. I was so embarrassed and thought everyone thought I was so fat. Again, no one really cares. I needed to get over myself. After the 5K, I swore I was not a runner and I would never do it again.
Fast forward. Over the winter, I bought some beach body videos. I used them. Then stopped. ... yeah. I do that a lot. I just kept gaining weight. I didn't feel happy. I started going to a workout class with friends from work. I started to feel a bit more confident and I could feel myself getting some muscle, but still not enough yet. I felt better, but you know you want instant magic skinny too. Then my neighbors approached me and told me they had just started the C25K program, and asked if I wanted to join. They convinced me by saying "we aren't runners. It will just be fun". Okay... it's now or never.
The first week, they told me Week 1 was too easy and we could surely hack Week 2.
NO, NO, No. I could not. We had to go back to Week 1. My lungs could not do it! That Breathing Thing runners do- it takes a long time to learn how to do that.
I've told you before, we repeated weeks. If something was killing us, we did it again. We started running in May. It's the end of July. We still aren't done. And it's OKAY. Only compare yourself to yourself.
I felt miserable those first few weeks. Everyone said running made them feel less stress, more calm. That they felt better on days they ran, that they ate better. They felt happier. Remember, it's going to be miserable for a minute. You are asking your body to do something you don't normally do. It gets better. I really promise.
If you are new to running, this is my advice. And this is coming from me. Not Malibu barbie at the gym. Me, a real person, who still has 40 pounds to lose. I'm not only in your boat but I'm freakin rowing it to shore.
1. Don't Give Up! I know you want to after every day. Something strange will happen. Your long runs will become your short ones. And then your short ones become even longer. You won't even remember the 1 minute runs.
2. Accountability Partner. For me, I am so not a self motivator. But my friends were counting on me, waiting for me outside. I had to go. I couldn't let them down. And, on our runs--no way I was giving up first.
3. Breathing: I know it feels wrong. You feel like your lungs just aren't getting enough air. Slow your run and concentrate. It gets better. Keep at it. I promise. In your nose, out your mouth. Slow. Just like normal.
4. Take Breaks: I started to feel like I wasn't progressing fast enough. So I would do Week 2 on M, W, F and Week 1 on T, Th. I figured I would be fine since Week 1 had become my easy run. One of my runner besties (cough, thanks Jess) told me to stop. I'm glad she did. Bodies need a break. Even if you aren't feeling tired or sore that next day, make sure you are resting. Cross train, sure, but get into it slowly. McDonald's didn't make you overweight overnight. One run won't fix it.
5. Enjoy yourself: don't beat yourself up. It's just running. There will be bad days. And it's okay. Have fun. Really. It will be.
So, how do I feel now? [We are probably 10-12 weeks in and just finished week 5] 》
SO MUCH BETTER.
--> 5:40 a.m. wake up is still painful, but it's doable. I'm back down to 2 alarms. (There was a minute there when I switched it to 3)
--> I love running clothes. I can't wait to look better in them, every time.
--> I can breathe! This was a hard one, and some times I lose my pattern on the longer parts of my run. Keep chugging along.
--> I sweat {AND smell like a foot}. That's new. I never work myself so hard that I sweat. I had to teach myself how, and it feels dang good!
--> I crave my run days, did I just become a runner?
--> "endorphins make you happy. Happy people don't kill their husbands." -Elle Woods, Legally Blonde. It's true. I'm happy, I'm less stressed. You won't feel this way overnight, but it comes and it's so good when it does.
Just keep going, wherever you are at with yourself--keep going! You can definitely be exactly who you want to be!
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