What's My Fitness Identity?
If you had asked me a year ago to define my Fitness Identity, I would have laughed and asked if you wanted another glass of wine.
But, as some of you may know, I completed my first ever 5K run this past October, and surprised myself by how reasonably well I did. There was probably a dash of beginner’s luck happening there, but regardless I felt imbued with something I have heretofore never experienced: Physical Confidence.
Ergo, it was easy for my friend Erin to talk me into another 5K-this one a Turkey Trot at 9am Thanksgiving morning. It sounded like a fun way to kick off a day of eating and drinking. This time, I asked the Esposo if he wanted to run too. Now, Esposo was a track star in high school and coaches track where he teaches now. So obviously he is inherently faster than me. But I figured Erin would be there to keep pace with me while he sprinted ahead. It would be good for me to keep my momentum and fun for him to do something he loves.
The day of the Turkey Trot dawned, and Esposo and I might have snoozed the alarm. Several million times. 9am is just so…EARLY. We weren’t being particularly motivating for each other either-the bed was warm and we technically didn’t have to be anywhere until 1pm for Thanksgiving dinner. So I texted Erin to see if she was still up for running. This is when I found out her poor little Chicken had the croup and, instead of running a race, she had to run her kid to the pediatrician’s. Booo.
You would think this information would have solidified our resolve to stay in bed, but for some reason we said, “Eh, what the hell,” threw on some cold-weather running gear, and dropped the kids off at my Sensational Sister’s to watch the Macy’s Day Parade in their jammies.
When we arrived at the start of the race, I noticed some discernable differences from my first run:
1. It was daylight (last race was a Blacklight Run at night)
2. It was freezing cold
Like, OMG so cold. I thought running a late-October race at night would have prepared me for cold, but no. A quick Google search puts the low temp in the Boston area that day at 27 degrees F, but it felt even colder than that. As we walked through the crowd to the start line, smoke billowing from our mouths and noses, I said:
“This is SO not in my wheelhouse.”
To which he said:
“I know. That’s why we’re doing it.”
It was at that moment that I cursed my newly acquired confidence in my running prowess. A few jogs around the block and one fun-run Does Not A Runner Make. Who did I think I was, sidling up next to these REAL runners with their skin-tight running leggings and sleek iPods strapped to their taut upper arms? I began to feel like a right old fraud.
But there was no time for second-guessing because we were there, along with 1,200 other people, and the race was about to start.
It was nowhere near as easy as my first race. The cold air hurt to breathe in, and the course was substantially hillier. Also: I wonder if being able to see how much further I had to run played a factor in the race’s difficulty. I couldn’t see very far ahead of me during the Blacklight Run, so I couldn’t mentally freak-out about how much further I had to go.
The first mile was okay, actually. But my lack of pre-race practice finally caught up with me, and somewhere just past the first mile mark I felt a stabbing pain in my right leg. My “quad” I would later be told. Not wanting to profoundly injure myself on a national holiday, I slowed to a brisk walk.
“Are you walking now?” he asked.
“Um…yup…just for a little bit…don’t wait for me!”
And he didn’t. Which is good-I didn’t want my shortcomings to ruin his time. In the end, I alternated between a brisk walk and a run…finishing in 36 minutes (according to the run's website). And I did get my second wind near the end, which meant I ran across the finish line instead of hobbled.
When all was said and done, I felt good afterwards. It was fun and I was happy I did it-although not quite as impressed with myself as before. But it did make me seriously consider…if I want to identify myself as a “runner” … I am going to need to actually RUN more often during the cold season. Does it mean joining a gym so I can use the treadmills? Does it mean sucking it up and running outside in Antarctic conditions? (yeahhhh….no on that one) What is Mostly Irish willing to do to keep up with this new facet of her Fitness Identity?
Or should I just go back to yoga where it’s always nice and warm?
Here we are, by the way, the intrepid Turkey Trotters. It really *was* fun. Except for the ouchy quads part.
But, as some of you may know, I completed my first ever 5K run this past October, and surprised myself by how reasonably well I did. There was probably a dash of beginner’s luck happening there, but regardless I felt imbued with something I have heretofore never experienced: Physical Confidence.
Ergo, it was easy for my friend Erin to talk me into another 5K-this one a Turkey Trot at 9am Thanksgiving morning. It sounded like a fun way to kick off a day of eating and drinking. This time, I asked the Esposo if he wanted to run too. Now, Esposo was a track star in high school and coaches track where he teaches now. So obviously he is inherently faster than me. But I figured Erin would be there to keep pace with me while he sprinted ahead. It would be good for me to keep my momentum and fun for him to do something he loves.
The day of the Turkey Trot dawned, and Esposo and I might have snoozed the alarm. Several million times. 9am is just so…EARLY. We weren’t being particularly motivating for each other either-the bed was warm and we technically didn’t have to be anywhere until 1pm for Thanksgiving dinner. So I texted Erin to see if she was still up for running. This is when I found out her poor little Chicken had the croup and, instead of running a race, she had to run her kid to the pediatrician’s. Booo.
You would think this information would have solidified our resolve to stay in bed, but for some reason we said, “Eh, what the hell,” threw on some cold-weather running gear, and dropped the kids off at my Sensational Sister’s to watch the Macy’s Day Parade in their jammies.
When we arrived at the start of the race, I noticed some discernable differences from my first run:
1. It was daylight (last race was a Blacklight Run at night)
2. It was freezing cold
Like, OMG so cold. I thought running a late-October race at night would have prepared me for cold, but no. A quick Google search puts the low temp in the Boston area that day at 27 degrees F, but it felt even colder than that. As we walked through the crowd to the start line, smoke billowing from our mouths and noses, I said:
“This is SO not in my wheelhouse.”
To which he said:
“I know. That’s why we’re doing it.”
It was at that moment that I cursed my newly acquired confidence in my running prowess. A few jogs around the block and one fun-run Does Not A Runner Make. Who did I think I was, sidling up next to these REAL runners with their skin-tight running leggings and sleek iPods strapped to their taut upper arms? I began to feel like a right old fraud.
But there was no time for second-guessing because we were there, along with 1,200 other people, and the race was about to start.
It was nowhere near as easy as my first race. The cold air hurt to breathe in, and the course was substantially hillier. Also: I wonder if being able to see how much further I had to run played a factor in the race’s difficulty. I couldn’t see very far ahead of me during the Blacklight Run, so I couldn’t mentally freak-out about how much further I had to go.
The first mile was okay, actually. But my lack of pre-race practice finally caught up with me, and somewhere just past the first mile mark I felt a stabbing pain in my right leg. My “quad” I would later be told. Not wanting to profoundly injure myself on a national holiday, I slowed to a brisk walk.
“Are you walking now?” he asked.
“Um…yup…just for a little bit…don’t wait for me!”
And he didn’t. Which is good-I didn’t want my shortcomings to ruin his time. In the end, I alternated between a brisk walk and a run…finishing in 36 minutes (according to the run's website). And I did get my second wind near the end, which meant I ran across the finish line instead of hobbled.
When all was said and done, I felt good afterwards. It was fun and I was happy I did it-although not quite as impressed with myself as before. But it did make me seriously consider…if I want to identify myself as a “runner” … I am going to need to actually RUN more often during the cold season. Does it mean joining a gym so I can use the treadmills? Does it mean sucking it up and running outside in Antarctic conditions? (yeahhhh….no on that one) What is Mostly Irish willing to do to keep up with this new facet of her Fitness Identity?
Or should I just go back to yoga where it’s always nice and warm?
Here we are, by the way, the intrepid Turkey Trotters. It really *was* fun. Except for the ouchy quads part.