Scared? Happy? Excited? Apprehensive? Hard to tell from the look on Andrew’s face as he attempts this new slide for the first time.
How many things in life can you look back on, and remember how nervous and apprehensive you were the first time you did them? It’s a tremendous benefit of aging, all the confidence we gain going forward, doing things over and over until what was once a big deal is now routine.
When I was 17, my doctor wanted to have my cholesterol checked. She gave me the lab work request, and instructions to walk down the hallway and get some blood taken. I went out the back door of the office building instead and never went back.
Now, I’m a regular blood donor.
When I was in college, it took me about seventeen minutes to run a mile for my mandatory Physical Education class… I could have walked it faster, but because we were required to run, without stopping, with no training, it actually took me longer than it would have to walk.
Now, I’ve run a half marathon and am training for my second.
I mean, shoot, I even dropped out of preschool when I was three because I couldn’t handle being there without my mother.
Before you can do anything for the first time, you have to believe that it’s a possibility. Enough of one to be worth taking the time and energy to work towards it. That’s not always a small thing. But think of all the things you do now that once would have freaked you out totally.
I remember being very nervous about scooping my cat’s litter box when I was in high school. Mom always did it at home. I wanted a cat when I grew up, but I was legitimately concerned that I wouldn’t be able to handle the litter box.
SERIOUSLY?! Now that I’m a parent, being grossed out by a litter box is such a non-possibility that it makes me laugh hysterically.
But I love it. It’s not a reflection of me, then or now. It’s a reflection of all of us and what happens when we are exposed to something we’re not sure of, and find out it’s not so bad after all.
So, ask yourself. How much have you grown and overcome? What’s something that scares you now, but that you’d really like to achieve? Chances are, you might be capable of more than you think.
First, your little one is so cute 🙂 The look on his face is great!
Second, I love this.. “Before you can do anything for the first time, you have to believe that it’s a possibility.” It’s SO true! I was just like you when I first started “running” It took me 14-15 min to run a mile and I was whooped afterwards. Now, I’m running my first half this weekend and am pretty excited about it! Nervous, but excited that I finally believed I can do it! I enjoyed reading your posts leading up to your first half. I share some of your same feelings. Have you considered training for a full marathon in the future??
Hi Tara! I’m so excited that you’re running your first half this weekend – it’s a great accomplishment and training for it for the first time has a lot of tough moments, as I’m sure you know! I look forward to hearing how it goes 🙂 Please let me know via comments or e-mail!!! Which half marathon are you doing? I hope you have great weather and a good race!
I am not sure at this point whether or not I’ll train for a full marathon. I certainly won’t do it soon, just because I don’t have that kind of time to train and keep my family life balanced. One of the hardest parts of staying in half marathon shape is using a full three hours of babysitting time to run, stretch and shower each week. Think of the laundry, meal planning, de-cluttering, meal preparation, etc. I could be doing in three extra hours a week! After my next half in November, I plan to do shorter, more frequent runs, so that I’m not using big blocks of time for running that I could really use around the house! But maybe, when the kids are older and in school, it’d be something I’d enjoy working towards. I’m not ruling it out, but I’m not ready to put the time into it yet!
I’m running in the Hershey, PA half on Sunday. Weather is supposed to be nice. Cool, perfect running weather so that’s a plus! I’ve just been getting really nervous about the hills. Like you initially, my goal was to simply finish. Now, I want to finish under 2:30. We’ll see 🙂
Makes sense about the full. I currently don’t have kids, but I get it with it taking a lot of extra time and commitment. I’m more curious if that after your half, you have maybe thought about it more. A year ago, I never pictured myself running more than 3 miles, but now here I am.
All the best for your half, Tara! Once that start pistol goes off, your nerves will vanish, and you’ll know that all that training you did was so worth it for the feeling you will have when you cross that finish line.
I also asked myself whether I would consider doing a full marathon after completing my first half 2 weeks ago, but I have decided that for now, it’s not something I will consider. I work full time, so my long runs were on a Saturday morning, and I felt pretty wiped out for the rest of the day, so I am not sure that I would want to do that to myself on multiple weekends in a row for months at a time. Having said that, doing a 10km used to wipe me out, and now that’s just a weeknight training run, so I do know that my body would adjust to the extra distances, but I am not sure that I love running enough to want to commit to that much training!
Looking forward to hearing how you went after your half!
I love that you’re running 10ks as weeknight training runs – it seems like I am always either running a long run, or squeezing in 3 miles when I have time! I need to do more mid-range runs! So many ways to improve!
You were right! Once I got started, I couldn’t help but feel extremely happy! There had to have been a permanent smile on my face.
I was feeling the same after my long runs, but like you, doing a 10k or even a 5k over a year ago used to wipe me out!
I replied about the half below 🙂
How did it go?!?!!? I would love to hear! Beautiful day up here, hope it was a great day down there too!!!
I definitely think about the full more now that I’ve run a half, and am running my next one soon. Not in the sense of whether or not I’ll do it, as much as acknowledging to myself that if I wanted to at some point, it’s an achievable goal as long as I dedicated enough time to training for it. Before running my half, I thought of marathoners as different kinds of people. Now I realize that they’re regular people, who dedicate a lot of time and work to a specific goal and are therefore able to achieve it. So I know I could do it, if I decide I want to in the future. That feels neat. Who knows if I’ll decide that I have the time and interest later on, or not!
The weather was absolutely perfect. It was a bit chilly at the start, but it’s the kind of weather I love running in plus the sun was shining!
My original goal was to do it under 2:30. Then I secretly wanted 2:20, but I wouldn’t have been bummed if I didn’t reach it. I ended up finishing in 2:18! I’m pretty happy with it. There were some tough hills and a gnarly one at mile 12, but I just kept pushing and telling myself that I could do it! After that last hill, I think I almost started crying because I was realizing that I was actually going to finish! The whole experience was great!! Plus, right before the 12th mile marker, they handed out Hershey bars 🙂 I can not wait to sign up for another one and I’ll definitely be doing Hershey next year. I highly recommend it.
I would love to get a lot more half marathons under my belt before getting too serious about a full. I experienced killer shin splints during training just for the half and they were starting to kill me at mile 11 of this race. I think I need to incorporate more cross training for sure. I’ve considered taking a spin class. Are you doing any cross training currently?
I remember a little over a year ago when 3 miles would leave me whooped for a while. lol Now I feel like that’s when I’m getting warmed up on my long runs!
That’s AMAZING! AMAZINGAMAZINGAMAZING! I’m so glad you had such a good race! I was ecstatic to read that you came in so well under goal! That’s got to be a GREAT feeling 🙂 I KNOW you worked out there on the course for it, and it’s awesome to have it pay off!
I am not doing any cross training – I just don’t have time. I would LOVE to, because I think it’s important, but I don’t have a gym membership and don’t really have time to go to the gym and get a sitter for the kids etc., and I find it tough to cross train at home since we only have a treadmill. I almost bought a cheap rowing machine last year so I could do that… I’m going to have to figure something out eventually because it reduces your risk of injury and improves your running and overall fitness if you’re more balanced than I am right now. I joke that I weight train because I’m carrying my kids around, but that’s not really enough strength training either!
Thanks for using the word “gnarly” to describe a hill in your comment. Not only did it make me laugh, but I will think of it and smile when I hit the gnarly hills on my next half in November 🙂
GREAT RACE, nice work Tara!! Congratulations!!!!
Thank you so much! It means a lot coming from another runner 🙂 Out of all people, other runners truly know how much work it takes and how good it feels to run your first.
I’m kind of in the same boat with cross training, although I do not have kids. I wish I could just get into a good routine doing SOMETHING. Gym memberships, even if I had the time, are really expensive. I give you major props finding time to run as much as you do with kids!
I have a friend in my running group who had suggested yoga or pilates for runners. So, I did some searching around and found this DVD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007C3W2ZY/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I just recently purchased it and tried it out AFTER a run once. I didn’t make it the whole way through because I was so tired, but It really helped stretch me out and I felt really good. I recommend trying something like that out.. or even a basic yoga DVD.
Ha! I’m glad you liked the word gnarly because that’s truly the first word I thought of while I was in the middle of the darn thing.
Thanks again!! I hope you kick butt in your 2nd one coming up! What weekend and where is it??
Go Andrew, you can totally do it! (And I bet he did 🙂 I love that look of no fear on his face!
So far, I’ve set out to achieve and then accomplished things purely for me, so my sense of accomplishment is very self focussed, even though they were things 20 year old me would have NEVER predicted 40 year old me would do! I’d really like to move that focus outwards, and start accomplishing things that mean something to others, or have an impact on their lives through fundraising. One event that stands out for me is the Oxfam Trailwalker event (https://trailwalker.oxfam.org.au/), a 100km trek within 48 hours through Australian bush to raise funds to help overcome poverty and injustice around the world. I volunteered overnight for the first time at the Sydney one in August, as I wanted to be there to cheer on one of the trainers at the outdoor group I exercise with – she did it as part of a team in 26 hrs 38 mins. It is an incredibly well organised and well run event, and I would love to be part of it, to feel that I have contributed in some small way to helping others, as I think it compounds that sense of achievement by making it more than just about myself.
I am also determined not to allow my world to become small through fear, to push myself to try new things and be brave, and even though I know I will get old, to not allow myself to BE old. I have decided that I want to die young at a very old age, and between now and then, I have a lot of living to do!
Sounds like you have a lot of good ideas for how to do all that living you have left! You can be my role model for how to live an awesome middle life once the kids leave the nest! That Oxfam Trailwalker event sounds crazy… like a good way to get eaten by a spider the size of an elephant. You are very brave to even consider it! I am sure you will find a way to make a positive contribution to the world, just by virtue of how much you’re thinking about it – whether it’s Oxfam or something else!
Today I did something I was super nervous about—I went to the pool and swum laps. It was worse than when I ran for the first time. If someone looked at me funny running, I could always walk–I’ve been walking for a long time, I’m super good at it. Swimming, however, is not something I’m at all good at. I have a terror of putting my face ALL the way in the water, so I’m somewhere in between a doggy paddle and freestyle–freestyle without the head in the water.
I think that, even though I’m still nervous about doing it again, my determination to keep exercising while recovering from runner’s knee is greater than my humiliation at flailing around the pool.
And, as I told the lifegaurd when I left the pool, I didn’t drown. Setting the bar low, but mission accomplished!
I am SUCH a horrible swimmer… good for you for braving the pool! Best wishes as you recover from runner’s knee… I think it’s amazing that you’re breaking out of your comfort zone and hitting the pool. It’ll give you those positive exercise endorphins that we miss so much when we’re not able to run, and help keep you positive and get you back in your running shoes sooner. That’s really smart – and like running, even if you’re not a great swimmer, if you’re putting a lot of effort in you’re getting a good workout and that’s important!