(disclaimer this is not a whinge post I promise, although it may seem like is in the first couple of paragraphs)
Everyone I know who has taken up running is better at it than me. From this I can infer that I am amongst the worst runners in the world.
Well my world which is to say my immediate sphere of reference…which is all I really have to compare it to.
I know people who haven’t run in 15 year then go and run 5km straight off. I know people who can go from not being able to run for a minute to being able to run 10km in less than a year (by which I mean their transition took less than a year, not that they take less than a year to run 10km, they do take less than a year to run 10km but even I can do it in less than a year!). I know people who can run marathons, or 3 marathons in 3 days, or ultramaratons. I know people who claim to be slow/not very good who out pace and out run me every time.
I know people who love running, I know people for whom running is catharsis and not running is as incomprehensible as not breathing!
I am not one of those people.
![IMG_1551[1]](https://midsummer365project.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/img_15511.jpg?w=300&h=300)
The problem I have with running is the comparisons i draw between me and everyone else. Despite all I say and all I have written in the past, despite what I know when I engage logical thought, I can’t break free from the “I should be better at this” and the “I want to be as good as them” mentality.
Deep down on a subconcious level, not being very good at running make me feel like a failure.
There is an unspoken (and sometimes spoken) belief held by a lot of people that getting fit is synonymous with running. Following that to its logical conclusion, there is a belief that to be fit means you can run.
I am writing this to remind myself and to reassure anyone out there who is in the same boat as me, that running is not a prerequisite to fitness. Running is great for fitness, if you enjoy running!
I need to remind myself that there are a multitude of other ways to be fit. I have done Insanity and Insanity max 30…I lift and lift and am getting stronger all the time! I can dance my boots off every day if I need too. It is as pointless to compare myself to runners as it is for a person who runs marathons to compare themselves to Arnie!
I am learning not to compare myself to other people, we all have different strengths and weaknesses. My runner friends are not my competition, the other people I see zooming (or not zooming) are not my competition. My only competition is me!
Now if I could only remember that I’d be set!
Running has grown in my mind into an unscaleable mountain, I need to find a way back to the mindset I had before the half marathon. The one where I was happy being not a runner. I was content to run sometimes when I felt like it.
So from here on out, I am not going to use phrases like “that run was good for me but I know it was crap really” or ” I know I am slow but I am just getting back into it” or even “It is good for me but I am not a runner”
These things just serve to reinforce the negative mindset I have about being bad at running. If there is one thing I know it is that going into anything with a negative mindset you are never going to do it well!
I may run more, I may not, but if I do, I am going into it for the fun of it and to get a little bit better than I used to be.
If nothing else…running makes me a better dancer 🙂
Project Warrior Goddess 
Running is a hideous past time of Satan and his terrible imps. I think some people are built to run and others are not. If you ever see me running, you should probably run too as something is probably chasing me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally agree with you! I love a lot of activities including Insanity and even burpees but somehow me and running don’t click.
And yet I keep trying, I keep falling for it when I know I am better at other things
This may be a new definition of madness!
LikeLike
I love that you won’t let it beat you. You are sort my hero, in fact 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awww! yeay! That is awesome!
It makes me even more determined not to let it beat me!! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hear, hear to this amazing post! That’s a big part of why I have such a negative relationship with running: because I feel like the world equates running to elite athleticism, and to not be a good runner means you are less than as an athlete. It makes me angry that a) I’m not better at it; and b) that I don’t enjoy it. But, hey, it is what it is – so screw it! 🙂
I can climb the shit out of mountains! That makes me a bad ass! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is strange isn’t it there is such a huge correlation in people’s minds with running and fitness yet there are hundreds of ways to be extremely fit without ever running!!
You, my friend are undoubtedly a bad ass 😀
Mountains beat running every day of the week!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes they do!
LikeLiked by 1 person
As do deadlifts (in my eyes)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Totally.
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀
LikeLike
We’re such a constant work-in-progress. The fact that you keep working, recognizing, and trying to do better for yourself really is an optimistic view (even with the occasional gray clouds)!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is so important to recognise these thing, one of my goals this year is to be more positive! I normally try but I think the thing with running last year made me quite negative!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, sometimes it’s hard to be 100% positive about certain things. Personally, I hate ballroom dancing (but I do watch “Dancing with the Stars”). I want to throw a fit because I am totally uncoordinated and can’t remember a routine.
Actually, I think you have quite a good sense of humor about running. It makes you seem upbeat despite your moments of hatred. I’d say you’re pretty balanced 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 🙂
I try to be! I think that it is getting back into proportion now!
I just have to remember not to enter races, I am an angry runner in races!
Woohoo balanced! I am almost never called balanced!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
hahaha!! Well, I’ve experienced my fair share of VERY unbalanced people, so yes, you’re very much in the range of fairly balanced with a side of healthy imbalance. I quite like that in a person.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Woohoo that is an awesome compliment!
Fairly balanced with a healthy side of imbalance is an excellent description 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person