Park, patisserie, self consciousness

[Runnf]

First run after an unexpected pause. Not amazing at the time, but wonderful when I got back. Especially since I passed that patisserie again on the way home ☺️. Happy to be at the point in my running life where I don't care about being That Sweaty Lady in shops!

I've been running in the park instead of my usual route, and as lovely as the surroundings are I can't quite get into my normal groove because I feel more self-conscious. There are more people around, and other runners, and I just feel I'm going too slowly. I don't have the same problem on my other route -no one can see me so I happily dawdle along - but the reason no one is out on my other route is because it is noisy and smelly and full of traffic 😆

[Grannyhugs Graduate10]

Stick to the park for all sorts of reasons then do as I do, slap on a smile and give a bright hello to all you pass, you may be the 1st person to have treated them kindly that day. Be proud of what you are doing and enjoy, everyone has their own pace and you are so so much faster than those still at home on the couch. Happy running

[Runnf Graduate10 in reply to Grannyhugs]

Thanks, Grannytobe. Yes, I've exchanged some nice smiles and hellos. And, on reflection, that sounds worth pushing through the selfconsciousness.

[emmat7 in reply to Grannyhugs]

I ve turned this issue around in my head I was sooo self conscious but think I’m doing this for my health and I think the same the other people are going about with their own concerns also a smile goes a long way I’m not at all fast in fact very slow but I ve become proud slowly and realised the only person in the way is me they might not be thinking what you fear at all and we are a better sight than smokers or sprawled on sofa our bodies are thankful we can’t let ourselves down.

[Runnf Graduate10 in reply to emmat7]

Thank you, Emma, that really helps. We must both keep going, keep smiling, and be proud!

[emmat7 in reply to Runnf]

Yes it’s a crazy thing but having spent most of my life as a non runner it takes a while ,like a metamorphosis process we are now runners ,we need to be kind to ourselves as we adjust and get used to it .

[ju-ju- Graduate10]

Well done for being brave and going to a place with other people. The more you do it, the more confidant you will feel. I am very similar, I am not comfortable running with others so I always go very early in the morning, or in the woods so I dont see a soul, and I have been running for 6 years!! I have decided its just the way I am and I just accept it now.

[Runnf Graduate10 in reply to ju-ju-]

Ah, you too! Yes, I usually go out super early, & then the traffic on Normal Route hasn't started in earnest yet. Change in my schedule is forcing me to *gasp* be in the same place as others 😆

[misswobble Graduate10]

Don’t bother about being too slow. It doesn’t matter at all. No-one is judging you,’cept perhaps yourself 🙂

Run and just have fun. By taking it slow you’re far less likely to get injuries p, and recover well before your next session

i run and shop all the time. Is it our fault if shops are too hot 🤷‍♀️😂

[Hidden]

I get that familiar route thing, it's like s comfort blanket 👍.

But I got back into my running after c25k take two (take one completed but fizzled out 😬)...

I stumbled across a YouTube chap "Andy Clayton" total non runner doesn't look like a runner ( what does a runner look like though) and as he said he doesn't care what he looks like, as long as he's running, baggy shorts, earpods growing out of his ears and but he runs...

I started on towpaths away from home and now leave the house with a spring in my step.....

As long as we run who cares

Happy running

[Runnf Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for this. You're right. I will look that YouTube guy up ☺️

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10]

Tbh I don't know what the answer to feeling self conscious is. I do think running at any speed is very much accepted, socially, by pretty much all people I see out and about when I'm plodding along. Before I began C25K I was walking along the same route and would sometimes see runners who were going no faster than me. Honestly my thought when I saw that was "good on them!".

[Runnf Graduate10 in reply to ForbiddenPlanet]

Oh that's good, thanks- that's what I tell myself they are thinking (as I huff n puff alongside them) ❤️

[Debston Graduate10]

Seeing a slower runner in the park is far more likely to inspire someone to give it a go than seeing Usain Bolt whizzing past!

[Runnf Graduate10 in reply to Debston]

Never thought of it like that! Brilliant!

[Runnf Graduate10]

What a terrific bunch of replies. Thank you lovelies - makes we want to get back out to that park! 😊😊

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10]

I did feel self conscious when I started out in May 2018 aged 66. In fact I went by car to the walkway car park, 5 minutes walk from our house, just so the neighbours wouldn’t see me. Now? I couldn’t care less! People, if they notice me at all, which for the most part they don’t, are really supportive. I think that we runners have cloaks of invisibility! 😊

[misswobble Graduate10 in reply to Beachcomber66]

It's true. Totally invisible when you hit a certain age. So, we can do what the flip we like out there and no-one notices. I threw weird shapes to Footlose and Land of a Thousand Dances. Still do!

I ran today, got very overheated due to being overdresssed (again) and called in at the Co-op for lunch stuff. No-one sniffed, so that's ok then.

Don't be confined by self-consciousness. Just get out there and do! It's such fun

[Runnf Graduate10 in reply to misswobble]

Thank you! Confined is the right word - definitely don't want that.

[ktsok]

Well done. Be proud. When I see other runners I guess I look at how they run, what pace they are going, how comfortable they look, but it’s without judgement. I admire and envy the really fit ones who look as if it is no effort; applaud the effort of someone who is clearly struggling; think ‘well done’ to the plodders (and wonder if my plod would match theirs) 🙂