Welcome back to my new series called, “Flying Solo” where I will be doing things all by myself and blogging about it. Today let’s talk about how I’m training for my first 5K. All by myself. Well, mostly by myself.
This journey started a few months ago when I realized that my 29th year is almost up and I hadn’t accomplished much of what I set out to do.
-read more (to be exact read 30 books before turning 30 -which is next month, yikes!)
-start and finish writing a book
-run a 5k
While I’m reading a hell of a lot more than last year, I’m nowhere near 30 books. And that book I’m supposed to be writing - well it’s just going to have to happen in my 30s. But running a 5k? Is that possible? Maybe. However, I had too many excuses up my sleeve a few months ago.
-I’m not a runner.
-I don’t have a running belt.
-It’s not enough to time to train.
-It’s too late in the year, so I’ll just do it next year.
But the truth is, I had a panicky feeling every time I thought about it. It was the same type of feeling I had right before I decided to seriously move to Australia for a year. It was fear.
-Fear that I won’t be able to hack it.
-Fear that I’d be too slow.
-Fear that I’ll stop too often.
-Fear that I’m just not good enough.
There was a tight knot in my stomach every time I thought about it. Run outside where other people will see me? Run when I don’t even know how to run? Me? Run? That panicky feeling was my sign that I had to do it. That’s the feeling you get right before something great is going to happen. That’s the feeling you get right before you get mentally stronger. That feeling is almost like your personal guide - almost like a compass, guiding you in the right direction.
I’ve always wanted to run a 5k and it was on my bucket list. Pushing it off every year wasn’t helping me accomplish anything. So that was that. I signed up for a 5k (as blackmail so I’m forced to do it), downloaded the Couch to 5K app, and started running. And by running, I mean slowly jogging and stopping a lot. But that’s where I was at and the only way to improve was to keep going. The only way to get better was to continue showing up. You have to accept yourself for where you are right now. Because, the truth is, I’m slow AF. But after a few weeks, I noticed that I could run a bit longer. I noticed that my breathing was better. And, sometimes, I even enjoy it.
I also asked around to see if anyone wanted to join me in the training process. I asked. And I asked. And guess what? I had about a million people who wanted to run with me. Any guess how many of those people actually ran with me? None. Zero. Zip. Nada.
They were all: “Yeah, I’d totally run with you!”
And I’m all: “Cool, when?”
Then they’d disappear.
The lesson here is when people bail on you, you do it anyway. You fly solo. I knew I had to stay committed. And being signed up for a 5k helped, especially those times when I wanted to give up.
During the process, I found one person to run with one time. Then I joined a running group and ran with them a couple of times. This was also another fear. I was afraid to join a running group because I was afraid that I’d be too slow. But since I couldn’t find people to run with, I needed to find a different way to push myself. So I joined and was I slow? Yes. Did I trail behind? Yes. But I learned that I didn’t have to be afraid and should’ve joined them sooner. Everyone was really nice and encouraging and made sure that I didn’t get left behind.
The rest of the time, I’m running by myself. Sometimes with music. Sometimes without. Sometimes with apps. Sometimes without. And when I have setbacks - like if I’m out of town or sick or just lazy - I need to just get back up and continue. Because progress only happens if you continue to show up.
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m freelancing with Selz and I’ll be linking a some of their popular posts in exchange for a few bucks. And since this post is technically about working out (and giving into the fear and doing things alone because you’re a badass!), I thought it’d be appropriate to link the following posts on how to get online personal training clients and how to sell workout plans online.
So with that said if you are a personal trainer, in the fitness industry or just need a distraction while you’re browsing the web at work, check out the following posts.
Get Online Personal Training Clients in 5 Steps - how to get online personal training clients
4 Steps to Starting an Online Personal Training Business - sell workout plans online
If you want to read the first post from this series on “Flying Solo” on how I made myself awkwardly go to to a murder mystery dinner alone, you can read that here. And if you have any ideas on things I should do alone and blog about, let me know in the comments below. I believe someone mentioned I should go out to eat alone in my previous post. Maybe I’ll do that for my next adventure.
Until next time, notice when you’re afraid to do something you really want to do and then consider doing it!
I’m running my first 5k in a couple of weeks! Am I ready? Nope. Will I do it? Hell yes. Wish me luck!
