Deja Vu

I must apologies for anyone who read my post with the same title yesterday. I was not until I saw replies from Cmoi and MissUnderstanding that I realised that the point I originally had tried to make had come across completely wrong. In the post I had referred to physical appearance of runners and not made it clear that I was interpreting that as the effort that was being exerted.

The point I was trying to make was that when we originally started the C25K we had seen 4 other mums (who we had referred to as the Human Gazelles) go for a run and made it look effortless. They returned from their run looking the same as when they left. In our minds, this running lark looked an easy way to get fit. We enrolled on the C25K program and off we went.

The reality was that when we returned we were hot, red and sweaty, not at all like the gazelles. We persevered and three years later we have progressed immensely. Yes we still get hot, red and sweaty, but not quite as quickly.

One of our group spoke with another mum who was new to the school and the subject of exercise came up as our friend was dressed ready for a run. The woman had said that she was disillusioned with the gym they had just started as the trainer (that they were paying for) favored women with a particular look!! The others were pointed in the direction of the equipment and basically left to their own devices. Our friend had told her about us and the C25K which obviously must have sparked the interest.

We saw her and a group of other mums preparing for their after school drop off run as four of us prepared for ours. We guessed they were doing the C25K from their attire, and the familiar way they were all fiddling with their phones.

Shortly after we returned from a 5K run, we then saw these women return and, from their appearance, had put in a lot of effort (they looked knackered!!). It made me laugh as I remembered what it was like in those early days and how the reality of running was not how we had imagined it to be after seeing the gazelles. (In my original post I made it sound like I was laughing at these women which was not the case). The memories we have from our early days will stick with us for ever.

We did not know at the time, but in our early days of running, there were those that found us amusing and ridiculed our efforts to get fit. We were nothing like the gazelles (and probably never will be), but we were trying. At the beginning of our second year, we had progressed and actually inspired another group of mothers to start the C25K program. We had been proud of our progress but it made us feel even better to know that others had seen this and wanted to emulate it.

With this weeks new group starting their C25K journey I wondered if they view us like we viewed the gazelles as running effortlessly, or, do we still look just as hot and sweaty when we return as we did when we started?

Seeing this new group of mums just starting out reminds me of those American army films like Private Benjamin where you follow the progress of individuals through their basic training and then after their passing out parade they see the new batch of raw recruits getting off the bus.

I must again apologies for anyone who read my original post. Although I read it through before posting, in my mind, I was relating the physical appearance to how much effort was put into the running but that was not how it came out. I was devastated to read the replies and then realised when reading my post back later that it was giving a terrible impression. I hope this post reads better. My apologies again.

[Bruuuce Graduate]

I didn’t see your first post but just wanted to say that how you look after a run doesn’t necessarily reflect your fitness. If you watch sport, say football, all the players are presumably the same level of fitness. After a match some are red, hot and sweaty and some look as fresh as daisies. I’m in the re, hot and sweaty camp but I aspire to be a gazelle one day 😀

[Brixcos Graduate]

So sorry to hear about the response to your previous post. I didn't see it either but you have definitely put the record straight. It's not always easy to convey exactly what you mean in writing, but you are crystal clear here. I was always really inspired by your story of running as a group 🥰

[Chris--B Graduate]

Firstly, I have been following your posts for a long time and have always found them to be amusing and considerate about others and keen to promote the C25k plan.

I did read your original post but initially did not see anything wrong, maybe I read it in the way you intended or just saw it from a different angle. However after reading the comments given by others I re-read you post and could understand where they were coming from. I think you new post probably describes your intended view better.

Written communication always has the disadvantage that you do not get active feedback and therefore the opportunity to correct any misunderstanding. If I had £1 for every time I have seen text where readers have interpreted it in multiple different ways and none in the way the writer had intended I would not have to do the lottery each week.

I must admit to always being in the hot and sweaty state when running but I have never progressed further than 5k. Each time i reach the end of the C25k program, within a few weeks something disrupts my running and I end up starting from the beginning again later. When dog walking in the morning I see quite a few regular runners at various points of their run depending on the time I leave. Some look like me, ready to drop any second wherever they are on their route, others look like they could carry on forever. I have always assumed that those that looked as I do were not as fit as those that always look as fresh as a daisy. One of the other comments on your post has suggested that this may not be the case which is an interesting thought.

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate]

I’ve been thinking about your post and I absolutely don’t think you had any bad intentions at all in posting what you said. I’m really glad you decided to delete it. I’m sure all of us have written things that have read differently to the way we meant it. I certainly have and I’ve been glad when others have pointed how how it might look.

Female runners are judged a lot. Too fat. Too thin. Wearing the wrong clothes. Looking too sweaty. Being too red. Having bad hair. Wearing too much make up. Having imperfect make up. Looking out of breath. Not getting out of breath. Being too competitive. Most of us have been harassed at some point. I would guess that most of us have been laughed at at some point. Sometimes posts look like they’re reinforcing those sorts of ideas about what female runners should be like (often unintentionally) and I think respectfully pointing that out is the job of all of us who want to run without that negativity put upon us.

Thanks for responding so positively.