By Jen Delaney
Welcome to my first contribution to our blog.
I wanted to write a post about how we describe ourselves and our fitness habits. Specifically, I'd like to can the word 'lazy' if you runners can get behind this.
I know when we use this word about ourselves it's in good humour, but because you're all awesome I'd love you to use language that's more realistic than self-deprecating (even if you're being light-hearted and shameless).
I'm definitely not trying to sell you toxic positivity here - and full disclosure, I probably find the word 'lazy' more jarring given that I'm a lifelong sufferer of chronic depression. But in terms of describing exercise choices I just don't think 'lazy' is accurate.
To give examples of more truthful reasoning around times we didn't run, if you used to run and then lost motivation for it - your circumstances, interests and/or priorities changed. As everybody's do! You did not, in my view, simply "get lazy".
Or if you missed a training session you could have attended or skipped an opportunity to run, you just weren't driven or intentional enough to run that time. I don't think "lazy" gives an honest picture of the choice made.
Being women, hormones alone are enough to mess with our energy levels and motivation sometimes. That, and we all have lives around running - we're not exclusively athletes, neither are we robots. Most of our running/fitness journeys are not linear - everyone takes breaks and we don't actually owe justifications for them. We certainly don't need to slap on a label of "lazy" for choosing to spend our time and energy on different things, including on rest.
If you actually crave more consistency in your running, time to set a goal and break it down into achievable steps - scheduling runs becomes more meaningful when you're training toward something!
If you're happily enjoying the group sessions and maybe an extra run when you feel like it - all power to you! Run Like A Girl offers the same support to everyone, your participation is not expected to produce anything except your enjoyment at minimum. If you hope to chase a distance or time goal, we'll also help you.
And if you sometimes get struck by anxieties about running, please be kind to yourself and gently examine what those worrying feelings are. Sometimes the hardest part is just getting out the door. Nothing is off-limits at RLAG. Remember that you are strong enough to speak your fear out loud, and capable enough to explore solutions. With help from your coaches and teammates always available.
So just to summarise, we are a running group that offers exercise training for physical, social and emotional well-being, and recognises all of our runners as individuals with their own particular strengths, histories and intentions.
You are a completely valid human being whose value does not vary in relation to how much exercise you complete. We love to see you treat running as a celebration of moving your body with purpose, and perhaps testing your perceived mental limitations. But you are never letting anyone down, nor are you any less worthy as a person or an athlete, if you don't always feel like it.
Buckets of love always,
Coach Jen
