The Inner Athlete

When I was a kid I was in no way athletic. I was the tallest in my class, awkward as anything and so unsure of myself. So that translated into being picked last for sports, always finding ways to get out of PE class. Anything to avoid exercise.

So this week, where I have  been exercising, I have been pushed to limits I didn’t know I had. And the thing is….I LOVE IT. I’m not saying I like every minute of the workouts. They are hard. I won’t lie. Lisa pushes us beyond what we believe are our own capabilities.  But we all succeed and make it through the workouts. Do we have to take breaks? Sure. But only for 5 seconds or so and then we carry on.

It’s called endurance. For me, it is nurturing the athlete that I never knew existed.

I decided to start the Couch to 5K program today. I am running my first 5k in June with my cousin and since C25K is an 8 week program how perfect!

I went out to an area on my side of town where one lap around the lake is 2 miles. Now, I’m slow and don’t care about my pace right now so I knew that the C25K workout, which is only 20 minutes long right now would end before I got all the way around the lake; but I didn’t care. I didn’t care who was looking at me or what people thought. I didn’t even think about the workout.

I’m in this mindset right now where I don’t think about my next workout. I just do it. Ugh I hate sounding like the Nike commercial but I really am just doing it. Do I feel motivated all the time? No, but if I waited for motivation I would never do it.

I did that C25K week one day one and found out that I am going to adore running. Running I can tell already is just part of who I am. And if you can jog at 250 pounds 1:25 minutes and walk at 1:25 minutes for 20 minutes and keep it going to where you will run a 5 K in 8 weeks then I don’t care what you say, THAT is an athlete in my book.

For those of you out there that never considered yourself athletic, think again. I’m 47 and just now finding my inner athlete. Seek it, and you will find it.