Running!

[EarthMama]

I’ve taken up running for pretty much the first time in my life. It’s free, it’s accessible and I am trying to associate breathlessness with exercise rather than anxiety.
Does anyone run?
What are your tips? Especially in relation to not feeling panicked and self-conscious any time you run past someone or god forbid…they look at you 😛

[stephaniaaaah]

hahaha @earthmama GO YOU!!! I love running – are you finding it fun?? So cool that you are making that connection with breathlessness as a positive! LOVE IT!

OH my I’ve been out running and my leggings are falling down and then I’ve got swooped by a plover and there are people drinking wine on the verandah of the house by the path actually laughing and pointing at me trying to fight off a plover and pull up my pants at the same time.

The beauty of running is that it can be like a meditation and when you find that zone you don’t even notice other people. TBH I think that everyone is so self absorbed. When I do see someone out running if I am driving I think ‘good on you ! I know how good that feels ! go you ! etc.’ It motivates me to put on my runners seeing other people run – so instead of feeling self-conscious, maybe think that you are inspiring them!

My hot tips:

– high waisted leggings are good and less likely to fall down
– wear whatever is comfy for you – there is NO running uniform or any particular brand that improves your performance
– read Born to Run or watch the Barkley Marathon (on Netflix) SUPER inspiring and amazing humans that reinforce prior point about running uniforms / gear / that anyone can do anything they set out to do
– get a good BPM playlist going mine is all dance music but I know some people run to podcasts!
– it’s useful to track your runs if you are interested in seeing how far you can go or are interested in improving your speed, but the best thing about running like you say is it is free and accessible and you don’t need to take it seriously
– warm down properly (Stretch, stretch, stretch)
– Set yourself a goal like a 5k park run to train for – they are all over the country, cost nothing to join and are super fun to do!

YAY! Running is the best!

[tea]

@earthmama Omg!!! I am so following this thread, I really want to get into some cardio but maybe rollerblading instead? Running is just so hard!!!

The tips from @stephaniaaaah are really helpful though! Thank you!! My gf agrees with the meditation thing too actually, she says it’s ‘soothing’ which I can’t really get into myself!!

I really love getting a good Spotify playlist going, the ones where they’re running focused is soo good!

[stephaniaaaah]

@tea YAY it takes a little bit of practice to get yourself in the relaxing zone and it can definitely be a struggle. I started out DYING by about the 500 metre mark and had to really persist to get to one or two kilometres. I find it really helpful to breath in through the nose and out through the mouth and just try to do that in rhythm to the music. Once everything is working together – legs, breath, arms, the BPM – it’s pretty damn special!

I reckon we feel heaps better about how we look when we run compared to what we actually look like when we are running haha. I go SO red in the face!

[tea]

@stephaniaaaah Thank you for the support! I think I’m going to stick to doing cardio a different way though 🙁

[stephaniaaaah]

Struggle street? @tea it’s not for everyone! There are so many ways to get your cardio in – my other favourite type of cardio is dancing

[EarthMama]

Ahhh @stephaniaaah thank you for all these great tips and sorry for my late late late reply!
I am so with you on the high-waisted leggings! I am sorry about your plover experience… I too learned the hard way when it came to pants falling down.
I was going well for about a month and then I got sick, so I just had my first day again today and good news is- it was actually okay! I definitely hate it less than so many others sports, but @tea omg rollerblading sounds amazing!! I want to start dancing again too.

As for the judgment…I’ve worked out a good time to go when only people who are also exercising tend to be out, I have decided this is a good solution. And I wear sunglasses 😛

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