I need some ideas of what to write about. So I am looking to you for ideas.
Do you want to hear about what I am eating, how much I am exercising or is there something else that you would like to hear from me? Give me some ideas...please!
I saw you at the Bluenose race today and wanted to share a little of my own experience with you, because I have found your journey so inspirational. I'm very thankful that you have the self-confidence and courage to share your journey as you are doing. I started running 9 years ago, after the birth of my second child. I was at a place in my life that I knew I wanted to make some positive changes and live healthier, and be stronger physically and emotionally. I started running on the day that my son turned 8 weeks old, and I remember that evening like it was yesterday...I swear I felt the earth shake as I took those first few strides forward! But guess what? I was hooked from that very day, and I haven't stopped since. The thing I have worked to let go of is the negative self-talk that was so ingrained in me. The things that I didn't even realize that I was saying to myself. Things like, "I'm not a Real Runner, how could I be? I didn't take up running until after I had kids. Surely that makes me some sort of imposter." Also, feeling like when I'm out running that people driving by would be looking at me and thinking I look funny, not like a Runner, and like I shouldn't be out running out all and subjecting passersby to my spectacle of non-athleticism. Luckily, part of the beauty of our sport is that it gives you lots of alone time with your thoughts and feelings. And I've come to learn that I'm my own fiercest competition, and my greatest victory is changing those old negative, unhelpful, disheatening patterns. So, out of all this and over the last years I know that every time I go out my door and propel myself down the street by putting one foot in front of the other, I am a Runner. Every time I have the courage to pin a number to my front and go over a start line and across a finish line, I am a Runner. And I may not be setting world records, but I train hard and push myself and challenge myself, and when I enter a race and hear people cheer and I accept my finishing medal, I've just finished my OWN Olympic race, and I am a Runner. My body may be capable of different things than an elite runner's body, but I am out there running just as the elite are, and the bystanders do not think that I look funny or weird as I go by, they think I am a Runner. Today Dawn when I fist saw you at the race, before I had the glimmer of recognition, as I saw you walking in your electric blue running shirt, what ran through my head was, "That woman is a Runner." I'd like to add a couple of quotes from John Bingham. "If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run." My favorite of all: "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." God bless you as you continue your journey, and thanks again for sharing! Mary-Beth
Mary-Beth, it was so great to see you and thank you for coming up and talking to me at the Bluenose. So thank you so much for calling me a Runner, it gives me hope that someday I will feel like one inside. I am where you were a while back and now I know that I am not alone in my feelings. Others have gone through these thoughts and came out on top, like you. I still have the negative self-talk when it comes to running. Most times when I run, I feel awkward and I think too much about what the bystanders are thinking. But you know what I just realized? I shouldn't worry so much about what they are thinking because they didn't even register for the run. So maybe, I am more of a runner than they are!?!? Maybe? I must say that the Bluenose was the first 5k run that I did that I really and truly enjoyed even though I did need to stop and retch. LOL Thank you so much for reading my story and sharing yours with me. I wish more people reading my blog would share their stories with me. I think that people don't realize how much it helps me to hear their stories. By the way, I love the quotes. Thank you for sharing them also. Dawn
Hi Dawn,
ReplyDeleteI saw you at the Bluenose race today and wanted to share a little of my own experience with you, because I have found your journey so inspirational. I'm very thankful that you have the self-confidence and courage to share your journey as you are doing. I started running 9 years ago, after the birth of my second child. I was at a place in my life that I knew I wanted to make some positive changes and live healthier, and be stronger physically and emotionally. I started running on the day that my son turned 8 weeks old, and I remember that evening like it was yesterday...I swear I felt the earth shake as I took those first few strides forward! But guess what? I was hooked from that very day, and I haven't stopped since. The thing I have worked to let go of is the negative self-talk that was so ingrained in me. The things that I didn't even realize that I was saying to myself. Things like, "I'm not a Real Runner, how could I be? I didn't take up running until after I had kids. Surely that makes me some sort of imposter." Also, feeling like when I'm out running that people driving by would be looking at me and thinking I look funny, not like a Runner, and like I shouldn't be out running out all and subjecting passersby to my spectacle of non-athleticism. Luckily, part of the beauty of our sport is that it gives you lots of alone time with your thoughts and feelings. And I've come to learn that I'm my own fiercest competition, and my greatest victory is changing those old negative, unhelpful, disheatening patterns. So, out of all this and over the last years I know that every time I go out my door and propel myself down the street by putting one foot in front of the other, I am a Runner. Every time I have the courage to pin a number to my front and go over a start line and across a finish line, I am a Runner. And I may not be setting world records, but I train hard and push myself and challenge myself, and when I enter a race and hear people cheer and I accept my finishing medal, I've just finished my OWN Olympic race, and I am a Runner. My body may be capable of different things than an elite runner's body, but I am out there running just as the elite are, and the bystanders do not think that I look funny or weird as I go by, they think I am a Runner. Today Dawn when I fist saw you at the race, before I had the glimmer of recognition, as I saw you walking in your electric blue running shirt, what ran through my head was, "That woman is a Runner." I'd like to add a couple of quotes from John Bingham. "If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run." My favorite of all: "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."
God bless you as you continue your journey, and thanks again for sharing! Mary-Beth
Mary-Beth, it was so great to see you and thank you for coming up and talking to me at the Bluenose.
ReplyDeleteSo thank you so much for calling me a Runner, it gives me hope that someday I will feel like one inside. I am where you were a while back and now I know that I am not alone in my feelings. Others have gone through these thoughts and came out on top, like you.
I still have the negative self-talk when it comes to running. Most times when I run, I feel awkward and I think too much about what the bystanders are thinking. But you know what I just realized? I shouldn't worry so much about what they are thinking because they didn't even register for the run. So maybe, I am more of a runner than they are!?!? Maybe?
I must say that the Bluenose was the first 5k run that I did that I really and truly enjoyed even though I did need to stop and retch. LOL
Thank you so much for reading my story and sharing yours with me. I wish more people reading my blog would share their stories with me. I think that people don't realize how much it helps me to hear their stories.
By the way, I love the quotes. Thank you for sharing them also.
Dawn