Sometimes I feel a little bit like the odd ball amongst my fellow “healthy living” bloggers. On any given day, I’ll most likely come across at least three blogs (that’s low balling it, mind you) that are talking about a race. Whether they just ran one, just signed up for one, or are training for one, running races seems to be the “norm.”
Well, not for me.
I can count on one hand how many races I’ve run. Actually…scratch that. I can count it on two fingers. I ran my first 5K race back before I even started blogging with a group of my girlfriends. My second race was a 10K back in 2011 with a group of local bloggers.
(Honest truth: That was the one and only time I have ever ran the distance of a 10K.)
While both of those races were fun, I guess you could say I’ve always been a little intimidated by races. When it comes to running, I prefer treadmills. I can set my pace easier, I can breathe easier, I can stop when I want to, I don’t have to see people flying by me, AND I can even watch tv. I know. At least 95% of you probably think I’m crazy, right?
So a couple months ago, I got an email at work saying that my company was going to be taking part in the CDPHP Workforce Team Challenge, a local a 3.5 mile road race.
My company participated last year as well but, considering I was about 6 months pregnant (and not a running preggo) I was easily able to turn it down. This year, however, I had no excuse when the coordinator asked me if I’d be participating (I told him last year to “come back next year!”…and he remembered).
I got talking with one of my girlfriends at work, and we were both saying how we wanted to sign up, buuuuut then again, we kinda didn’t. For me, that slight fear of failure kept creeping up on me, and it would have just been so easy to say, “Nope, I’m busy that day!” Ultimately though, we decided to be each other’s motivator and we both signed up.
So now, I’ve got a race on my calendar in just nine days from today. Yep, nine.
I’m facing my fear head on, which actually coincided perfectly with a challenge that I was given this month from Propel.
I’m really pumped to be working with Propel for the next few months on their Add Flavor Challenge, where they will be challenging me and a few other bloggers to “add flavor” to our lives with new fitness challenges.
I’m not exactly sure how prepared I’ll be for this race, considering the last time I truly ran any sort of distance outside was probably two years ago(?!?). It’s certainly making me a bit more nervous but, nonetheless, I’m looking forward to taking on this challenge. And hey, if I can’t run the whole thing, so be it. The fact that I’m even getting out there is big enough for me!
So now that I’m going forward and facing one of my fitness fears, I want to challenge all of YOU to face one of yours! Whether you’re afraid of heights or lifting heavy weights, think of a fitness fear you face in your exercise life and challenge yourself to overcome it this month.
What do ya think? What are YOU gonna do this month?!
Disclaimer: This post is part of my partnership with Propel. All opinions, as always, are my own.
Comments