I was in my 40’s and searching for a new way to work out. My neighborhood advertised for a Thanksgiving Day race and my interest was piqued…but I had never ran before! I posted questions on the race Facebook page about training and preparing and a kind person mentioned that my local running store was holding a running class. Perfect! On September 21, 2013, I posted “please…someone tell me I am crazy. Considering training for a 5K!” on Facebook not knowing how supportive and encouraging friends throughout the world would be. Some of their initial comments to that post included:
- Ok….you’re crazy! Go for it!
- 5K really isn’t that bad…. if I can do it… you will be FINE! 🙂
- Of course you are crazy! lol you could do a 5k with no prob. 🙂
- You are not crazy at all. I started training a year ago and have loved running. I do a run/walk methodology and love it.
- I wish I had a reason to talk you out of it, but I just decided to up my goal to a 10K by next fall. 🙂
- Well if I did a 5k mud run this summer, then you really don’t have an excuse…LOL
- You can certainly do it…trust me 😉
- If I can do it, you can! Seriously
- Do it!!
- I did it a few times.. ok, I have walked them but YOU can run it! 🙂
- If I could do it (Ok, so I did it walking, pushing a stroller and sometimes stopping)….then YOU CAN do it! You will love it!
- You may like…go for it!!!!
- I highly recommend the C25K app. I used it last year and just started it again. Couch to 5k in 8 weeks…
- OK, you’re crazy but best of luck!
- Not crazy. 🙂
- If I can run them, so can you!
And on September 30, 2013, I shared on Facebook, “Survived the first night of the beginning running group at The Runner’s Soul (now closed). I find that running in a group, chatting with others, and someone else who is responsible for the keeping of the time makes the work-out go smoother and faster. 🙂 Look forward to coming back on Wednesday! Of course, I may say something completely different tomorrow morning!” One of my friends who runs often posted “what you say tomorrow morning isn’t important. What you say next time it’s time to run is. Trust me. It’ll be great.” I did return to the second day…and beyond…and completed the class! What I learned is that no one is going to push you to do something. You are the one person who can motivate yourself to get out of bed, off the couch, away from the TV, etc. to try something new, something unknown, and learn something new. Go for it, what do you have to lose? This year, I will return to the same race, if it exists, to improve on my time, but in reality – to cross the finish line.