Confession: I'm about as non athletic as they come. High school gym ruined my 4.0 GPA. Not joking. Sports were dumb. I was the band nerd (and I still am...I teach 4th-8th grade band). Running was stupid. Running the mile in gym class was stupider because I always finished last or second to last and it was freaking EMBARRASSING.
Yet, I've always looked up to runners who have that stamina and ability. I had crushes on runners all through high school. I wanted to be that person who ran 5k's without an issue, but I was scared of it. I was scared of running all through high school and college and beyond, up until a few weeks ago. I signed up for a 5k this summer, and it was time to start training. However, I was embarrassed to go for a "run" outside because people would see me and in my mind I was still that high school kid who would run a mile in 15 minutes flat (har har). And that first step was so freaking hard. I procrastinated, I came up with excuses, but finally I just did it. I'm using the Couch to 5k program and it's really awesome. I feel empowered even though I'm only running for a few minutes at a time.
The first time out I kept on thinking everyone was watching me and judging me for only running for a minute before walking again. No they weren't judging me, but I kept on telling myself they were. Then some cute size 2 girl would run by with her perfectly shaped body and she wasn't breaking a sweat and I would just get discouraged. My very much NOT size 2 body had a tough time running for a minute flat. But at the same time at the ends of my work outs I could tell things were getting easier.
It's not going to be easy for me, and it will take work. At the same time it has been rewarding so far. I'm really excited to run this 5k even though I will not be the first one across the finish line. This is just another thing on my bucket list that has been on there for a long time. And to me, this work will be worth it.
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