I should state, from the get-go, that I am not a runner.
I am a jogger and a hiker. I state so proudly! 🙂
This is why I had to share this experience with you. It may be a bit longwinded, but it’s because I believe we can keep surprising ourselves with unexpected successes and wish that you may believe the same. I hope you read along 🙂
A little over a month ago Kelsey asked me if I wanted to join a 30-day challenge. So I joined the appropriate group on Facebook, and started a 30-day free trial of Beachbody on Demand. Funny enough, when I first got to Santa Monica, CA from Tanzania, I just knew that Beachbody was a program for….beach bodies; one of which I did not own (LOL). I thought the Before & After images were fake and Beachbody wasn’t a program I thought I would ever take part in. Boy was I wrong! I still don’t have a ‘beach’ body…whatever that is, right? But I embarked on this 30-day program and I am enthused by the results!
So how does this tie in with the running? Well, at home the number one program I have been doing is the Cardio Axe, which is under Leandro’s Brazilian Butt Lift program. I just LOVE it, because you just dance. You dance HARD…. but you dance! I also tried some of the other programs and overtime I noticed that though the workouts were hard and I was breaking more & more of a sweat, they were becoming a little less..painful. You know the pain I’m talking about…that…that muscle-tearing pain that makes you wince every time you have to go down the stairs, or when you laugh, or when your two-year old lovingly lands his little elbows into your gut WWE-style. Yeaaaaah! That pain. Well, it started being less. Yesterday I had the perfect window to go hiking. So I took it.
I walked quickly, and that put me at an average of 14 minutes / mile, which I thought was not good enough. I shaved it down to 13, but still wasn’t too happy about it. I jogged for about a minute, at a pace I know I can keep for a mile, but only shaves off a maximum of two minutes from my fast walking pace (12 minutes).
Mile 3 began and I walked for maybe two minutes.
Then I started running.
I ran.
It was definitely not a jog. It was harder, the space between my feet was wider, and I knew I had just jumped into the big leagues here (lol). Seriously, though. I knew I was running and I thought I knew I could only keep it up for a minute at most! I was so wrong. I kept running. uphill, downhill, going over tree roots protruding from the ground…I kept running. I would make future markings my ‘stops’, but when I approached them I wasn’t done. So I kept running. I ran until I heard my device say ‘Mile 4’.
I stopped out of fear.
Isn’t that funny? I had truly surprised myself by doing something I had never done! I was not hyperventilating, I was hot and sweaty but I felt the same I usually do when having jogged a mile. Yet, I let fear be my obstacle.
I only mention this because I wager to say I am not the only one who has let fear get in the way of progress. Right?
Just imagine what things we could achieve if we believe in ourselves and trust in the process!
So, if I was only imagining that I was running through the wind like a wild horse (disregard the exaggeration, just feel where I’m coming from), my device actually confirmed it. Remember up there somewhere I said my 1-mile jog would take me about 12 minutes? Well, with this impromptu run I finished a mile in 7:55 minutes! As I ran I felt various muscle groups working. I mean I felt them individually & like machinery, and they felt strong!
I realized that it was because of the workouts I had been doing at home, that I was now out here beating my own records. I hadn’t realized how much the daily intense body-loving was actually impacting me. Yes, body-loving. Because that’s what it is. I mean, however physically-abled you are, do what you can to love your body. Even if you can only do so mentally & emotionally, then do that. If you can do both, do that. Whatever you can do, be really honest with yourself and push yourself. I am sure you will surprise yourself by doing things you didn’t know you could do! I hear this from my coach and other women who either coaches, or are great motivators within the Facebook group that’s doing this 30-day challenge. In fact if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have thought this run was anything of significance. I thought I run a bit faster and that was cool. They helped me see this was in fact a victory, and one of which I should be proud.
Speaking of coaches, let’s get back to Kelsey. Kelsey is perfect as a coach because you can tell she loves her body & she wants you to feel the same way. She is an exemplar when it comes to getting a workout in every day: 5am, or 12p, or 9pm….she’ll do at least one 30-minute hard-core program daily & she looks so happy to have done it! Not only is she encouraging verbally, but also by actively doing what she is asking of you. This is really important of course, and makes you know you are not alone in any of your struggles. She probably has had some of them as well & is still smiling.
As a last note I’d just like to say that I put links here to connect you to Beachbody and particularly to Kelsey because I would love for you to make progress in your own lives if fitness is one of the areas you’re working on. There is information on nutrition on there as well. I personally follow my own meal plan, which is a combination of paleo-friendly foods with days on which follow Beachbody’s food portions.
They say ‘if you have nothing good to say, don’t say anything’.
I say, ‘if you have something good you know, pass it along’
Thanks for journeying with me. Please feel free to ask questions and/or share your own experiences in the comments.
Think Say Be 