Perceptions

Ah perceptions, they can be a double-edged sword at times.  Yesterday there were two new people in the Thursday morning Nordic Walk session, a very lovely couple who had seen us walking about the park a few times who finally decided to see about joining us.  I had a chance to chat with them towards the end of the class and we discussed how walking with the poles was fun but there was more to learning it than expected.  The subject then got around to how going to the gym was intimidating when you were older, heavier, and seemingly less fit than everyone else in there and I got the "but you're slim" comment.  The thing is for a few years I wasn't slim, I weighed over 2 stone (34 pounds) more than I do now when I began the Couch to 5k program in 2007 and I was a truck driver so most of my runs started and ended with an audience.  That amount of weight might not sound like much but I am 5'3" and smallish boned so for me it was quite a bit and knowing that yes you are being stared and talked about makes you VERY self-conscious.

Not quite my heaviest but close

It took about a year before I got over the worry of being scrutinised and realising that yes, the other drivers were watching but they were going to do so anyway because a huge part of the job is staring out the window so anything new broke up the monotony of the day.  I just hope that seeing me climb out of the truck in my running gear inspired a few others to get out of the drivers seat and start exercising as well.  As far as the gym goes, most people there are too involved with their own workouts and body issues to pay attention to anyone else--and if you find yourself in one where the employees/personal trainers are being rude, go to another one ASAP, that place is not deserving of your patronage and it's YOUR money paying their wages!

With THE Marathon Trucker, 7 years after the first photo

Anyway, a bit of a rant at end of the last paragraph but I did want to share this Psychology Today article that a friend posted on facebook about exercise embarrassment.  Talk about great timing, eh and hopefully it shows that most of us have a lot of the same issues that we are self-conscious about. Get out, have fun, try something new, and don't be afraid to make an idiot of yourself occasionally--that philosophy has created lots of memories and introduced me to people I wouldn't have met otherwise.

Pic via Pinterest

Learning to speed

On my last post I alluded to something different in my training.  There are actually a couple of things--for the first time ever I have the freedom to be able to run whenever and where ever I want.  I've let it be known locally that I'm almost always up for a last minute run.......note the almost, there have been a few times that Ginny has texted and I've had to say no because I'd already trashed my legs on the trainer.  Got to be somewhat ok to run with her because we get to chatting and we end up speeding up, lol.  Her slow is my fast but I do absolutely love running with her when I get the chance.

The second thing that is different is that I'm participating in the Women Run Arkansas clinic this year.  While I have no other set mileages or distances to do the rest of the week, I'm now getting some organized speed work with coaching on Monday and Thursday nights.  When I first began running I didn't know anyone else who ran so I used the Couch to 5k program to get started and devoured the interwebs for information every chance I got.  This eventually led me to creating an awesome network of friends online for support and information.  I still talk to the majority of these people every day.  It also helped lead me to my current running club--that and meeting Ms. Vic at my first ever 5k--but I've never had any formal coaching.  Brenda talked me into joining the WRA clinic, especially handy since it meets within walking distance of where I live.

I'm now into my 4th (I think) week of it and I'm absolutely seeing some major improvements.  The only "problem" is that Brenda and Vicki are the leaders of the intermediate/advanced groups and they know what I can run already so I don't get to slack off during the "work" part.  Not even a "But I ran with Ginny this morning!" was enough of an excuse for me to do anything less than my best during a session of diabolical 30/30s (run fast for 30 seconds, then slow jog for 30 seconds recovery, 20 minutes total).  That "excuse" elicited an "I don't care!" from Ms Vic, lol.

Tonight was 800s and each woman's time was determined by what she did on the timed mile.  My first and second timed miles were 7:11 and 7:08 respectively thus I was to do the 3x800s in 3:25.  First one was 3:20, 2nd was 3:15 (oops), and my final was darn near spot on at 3:24 (I forced myself to slow down just a bit).  I can't say the actual hard bit was fun but it was good to get out and feel the muscles working and lungs not quite to bursting in a non-race situation.  Getting to work with the other girls and women is also amazing and yes, very inspiring.  Love seeing how everyone reacts to doing something so difficult and succeeding when they didn't think they could push that hard.  I can see why so many who participate in the Cabot clinic continue on with running even after the graduation 5k.

As far as the rest of my training, I'm managing to rack up some respectable miles for someone who isn't "training" for anything specific.  The last 3 weeks I've ran 46, 48, and 50 miles--that doesn't include my walking or trainer mileages either.  Running total for March was 168 miles and I think I'm up to 419 for the year already.  This is what happens when it becomes fun again and I'm loving it.

On a slightly different tangent, I received a package today from @CleoPompom containing Malteasters!!!!!!!!!!  Thank you again Nadya, I'm loving the candy AND the beautiful postcard.  Such a thoughtful thing to include, it's currently on my refrigerator with my other souvenirs from the UK and my recent road trips.