I think about this a lot when I’m running. I also routinely think: why is it raining again? why am I doing this? Why am I so slow today? what if I fall over and break my foot and no-one can find me? can I breathe? Oh no I need the loo!
I also think about the work I do and how running is like life: getting a job, being brave, trying a new path. Here’s how:
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I don’t need to be the best at the thing I want to try; but I do need to turn up and have a go, do my version of it, not someone else’s, run my own race, don’t compare myself, I am the only benchmark I need
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It doesn’t matter if I wobble (literally), am slow, or keep going back to the start. Start. Keep going.
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Find my motivation in life, however simple. The C25K graduation badge, a person who makes everything matter, the team I adore being part of, the life I can have a positive impact on.
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My mentality is the most important part because no matter how physically in-shape I am (or am not) my attitude is what will get my trainers on, come wind, rain or shine (not hail though! And I don’t like wind either)
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Catastrophising and over-thinking. When I start to run, I’m thinking I’m going to die of exhaustion, but I never have - I can always slow down or walk if I need to (I never do, I’m stubborn)
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I can break any goal down in to tiny parts, run for a minute, set my goal but be ready to put in the time to get good at it
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Before a big project, life change or challenge, I will have seeds (sometimes boulders) of self-doubt. I can’t do this, I don’t know how, what if I’m not up to it, what will people think? I reassure myself that I can chunk up the task, one step in front of the other, build myself up by knowing I worked hard to get here. And I can change my mind if I want to.
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I focus on the joy of finishing. It’s worth all the ups and downs along the way, if I can push past the heavy legs, voices in my head, or stick with the bits I don’t really like (hills!) and still get back – that’s what truly counts
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There’s a community to be found in everything, people will help me, encourage me, cheer me on and be joyful with me when I do well. And I can be that person for them too. I love the non-judgemental warm welcome I had on the C25K online forum and the local running group; it doesn’t matter who I am. Be that person for someone else.
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The best things in life are often the things you can already do. All I need every now and again are new trainers. As long as there’s an outside, I can run, it’s liberating. In life, there’s always something I can do, always somewhere that’s right for me, where I belong.