When this happens to me, my brain goes right to those awful thoughts. Thoughts about my worth, or whether I deserve to be happy and healthy, or how I must be doing everything wrong. I don’t stop to think about whether there is an underlying issue; I go straight to “you are a failure.”

That is my mental state right now. As much as I’ve tried to work on it, I’m still living in the hurt, scared, inferior place my mind creates for me. I’ve seen the ads on social media for all the tricks and gimmicks and schemes, and believe me, I’ve been sorely tempted to throw money at a gimmicky solution for a quick fix, even though I know there isn’t one.

Think of the truth

Before simply continuing on this downward spiral, I’ve decided to stop and consider what is true:

• I’ve undergone considerable change and emotional upheaval in the past 12 months
• My blood work shows my thyroid could be a little out of whack
• My hormones, while “normal,” are on the low end of the range, which may be causing issues
• I have not weighed, measured, and tracked every morsel of food, so there is the possibility I’ve underestimated my calories

Thyroid and hormone results alone could account for much of my weight gain this year. I have not checked cortisol levels, but with everything going on, I have no doubt those are abnormal. I head back to the doc soon, to hopefully get some answers and solutions for those potential issues.

Other people who go through significant life changes tend to have some period of time called a “glow up.” Can I sign up for that part of the process now, please? I think I’m ready. I’m ready for both a mental AND physical glow up.

Where I’m starting from

Most days, I still feel like I’m in the chrysalis. In many ways, things in my life have not settled. To add insult to injury, my beloved dog passed away earlier this year, so I lost my lovable little furry buddy. Seems like for every step I’ve moved forward, I go another few steps back.

Not to mention I’m still not over everything that happened last year. I’m still dealing with the stress and fallout. I think I tried too hard to create normalcy, and that meant I didn’t deal with the hard emotions; I just stuffed them. I’m learning that no matter how hard we try to stuff them, they will surface eventually.

Also, what even IS a glow up? According to Merriam-Webster, it is “a striking transformation in a person’s appearance; a makeover, a coming-of-age”.

Somehow, for me, I think it will be more than just a physical transformation. It will need to also be an emergence into a more confident, uplifting, joyful human being. A mental and physical glow up.

The Glow Up List

Lists are fun and informative, no? In case you were curious, here is a list of 10 things I commit to doing regularly in order to facilitate my own glow up, in order of physical health, then mental health, then emotional/spiritual health. Also these are in no particular order, and I reserve the right to add or delete items as necessary for said health.

1. Track my food intake daily.
2. Work out 5 days per week.
3. Stretching & mobility work 3 times per week (more as needed).
4. Decide who I want to become — set goals in order to become her.
5. Continue therapy.
6. Branch out and find new support groups in addition to the ones I currently have.
7. Journal 10 minutes per day.
8. Practice reframing my dumpster fire thoughts into more positive and affirming ones.
9. Learn to spend time in silence and meditative prayer.
10. Take a break from social media at least one day per week.

While this seems a little daunting, I have confidence I can make this happen most days. Watch out world, when this glow up happens no one will know what hit them.

The post It is time for a ‘Glow Up’ first appeared on Sore Not Sorry.

Heavy lifts … that’s where the magic happens.

The extra mile…that’s where the magic happens.

Consistency…that’s where the magic happens.

Growth…that’s where the magic happens.

Or, having a friend who will drop everything to help you out. Who makes sure your car smells like Christmas and you are properly caffeinated at all times. Who has notes about everyone’s bloodwork and compares Pub Med research to the doctor’s recommendations. Who pays for copays for friends so he can be sure they go to the doctor when they are sick and who buys groceries and meal preps for people who are going through rough times. Who embodies positivity even when you don’t. Who pushes you to lift heavier, run faster, be better. Who thinks everyone he is friends with and cares about is perfect and there is no arguing with him. (Newsflash: his friends might not be perfect…) Who signs you up for random races and encourages you when you doubt you can finish them.

Who encourages his pregnant friend to run a double marathon…on her due date. Who shows up to a basketball game past his bedtime to see a friend perform pre-game. Who makes every birthday, ‘birthday month’, anniversary, and heck, even ‘date-a-versaries’ special. Who thinks making those celebrations special equals writing unique kinds of torture for all of us to do at 4:45 am, and sometimes giving the gift of heavier dumbbells or gloves or energy drinks or a book someone mentioned wanting to read or a supplement he thinks would be good for the person. Who never quits, even when things are painful or hard. Who truly feels others’ pain and does whatever he can to take that away.

Maybe the magic happens when we truly look at those people in our life who are there for us no matter what and spread themselves thin to make sure every person they care about feels cared for, and we take a moment to let them know that we see them. We see everything they do for everyone, with little to no thought to what it might cost them. We see the good they do even when they think they are keeping it secret.

So, while being consistent, growing, heavy lifts, early morning workouts, and the extra mile do produce some sort of “magic”, I would argue that the best magic of all is calling someone like Isaac your friend. We should all have a friend like him in our lives, and I count myself very lucky to be considered one.

Happiest of birthdays, friend.

The post That’s Where ‘The Magic’ Happens first appeared on Sore Not Sorry.

What is my fence?

Some of this is my own fault. I’ll admit I wasn’t as focused on the habits that would get me closer to my desired results. I let the stressors of life get in the way of my routines. Life is always stressful in some way, we build our routines to work for us in times of stress so we don’t spend the mental energy thinking about it. I did an extremely poor job building those routines…which led to huge amounts of mental fatigue and minimal results.

Much of this fence that I can’t seem to leap over is just …life. Family struggles, death, marital struggles, illness, stress, worry, job struggles; you name it and I’ve most likely experienced all of it, all within the past 6 months. It is a little too raw for me to discuss here, but just know I’m right there in the middle of all the pain and stress, and every time I think, “Ahh it must be almost over now”…something comes up out of the blue to throw me right back in the spiral.

Maybe the extra boost that will get my hind end over the fence..

I’ve felt more tired last fall than I remember feeling in a long time; my fitness activities were more draining than energizing; mental and physical fatigue was at an all time high for me in the month of December. I did not want to make the effort to do anything else, whether that be write, mop the floors, wrap the presents…I just wanted to hang out on the couch and take a long winters’ nap. That is when I knew something had to change in my life for the time being.

There are seasons to training–a season to push, and a season to pull back and re-evaluate. Right now, I’m in the re-evaluate season. I’m prioritizing sleep and rest and recovery and prioritizing one thing that is just for fun (for me, that is dance). I’m changing my weight lifting routine to do a different program for a few months, and focusing more on maintaining than adding lots of weight. I will eventually get back to a season where I can truly push my limits to see what I am capable of; my mind and body just need the break right now.

The other side of the fence?

There are also seasons to life. I am entering a season where the question “what do you want the rest of your life to look like?” looks a whole lot different than it did when my kids were younger. This season is less about surviving and more about thriving. Enjoying and living life to the fullest extent possible. Doing a job that brings me joy (and compensates accordingly!).

This season is also terrifying. I have never ONCE asked myself what I truly wanted. I’m assuming I’m not alone when I say that my “wants” have always, ALWAYS included someone else, whether that was my husband, kids, extended family, or friends. I was alone for dinner on a Friday night and it shocked me that I couldn’t even decide what I wanted to eat, I was so used to choosing based on others’ preferences.

Suffice it to say, it will take me longer than a weekend to figure out the answer to the “what do you want the rest of your life to look like?” question. But it is a question worth asking.

The post There are cows that can jump over the moon… first appeared on Sore Not Sorry.

The Dreaded Scale

Many people have a love/hate relationship with this device. It is the most common way to measure progress with health. The problem is, most people have a “weekly weigh-in” and don’t take into account the daily changes our body goes through. What you ate for dinner, how much water you are retaining, whether you have had a bowel movement…these all play a role in determining what that scale says.

We let this number affect our mental health. How many times have you gotten a result that you didn’t like, and said to yourself, ‘forget it — none of this matters, I’ll just have a cookie’. Oh wait — is that just me? Don’t tell me if it is.

Pro tip: as long as you don’t have an emotional attachment to this number–and trust me, this has taken me a long time–taking an average over time is a much better measure of this data.

Tape measure

Another way to measure your progress is to literally measure your body. I bought a new tape measure last month, and so far, I’ve been impressed! It is easy to use on yourself, and keeps the data in an app, which is really convenient.

Again…this is something that is better to collect data and look for trends over time rather than obsessing over your measurements.

That is so hard to do! I know. I’m right there with you. If I knew how to stop obsessing, believe me, I would be giving out all the tips. As it stands, I just measure and forget about it. And then conveniently forget to measure for the next 6 months.

Body Scans

You might be thinking, ‘what other torture devices are available to shoot down my confidence and tell me I’m clinically obese?’ Well, my friend, you are in luck! InBody is just such a torture device!

How much body fat do you have? How much lean muscle mass? What is your bone density? If you have ever wondered about those things…look no further. Set your bare feet on the scale and your hands on the convenient handle and let the…current?…flow through and determine the amount of all your tissues.

Then you can look at the results and die inside just a little bit.

But remember…like any other scale…it is affected by what you ate the night before, what time of day you are measuring, and can vary widely in the numbers it tells you–even on the same day. So take heart!

Which brings me to…

DXA Scanning

This scan is supposed to have maybe a 1% margin of error. Lie down, let the low-grade X-ray judge you. Show you your Visceral Adipose Tissue (that is, fat around your organs). Have fat somewhere else? Yep…you’ll see all that in a dark purple color! Didn’t think you were fat before? Oh boy, get ready!!

To be honest…it is a really good baseline. Repeating this measurement a couple times a year is probably beneficial. There is a lot of data to sift through and utilize to adjust your current routine and nutrition. (I’m still sifting through my data…and trying to understand what it all means.) Dr. Peter Attia probably has a podcast all about this scan and how to interpret data.

Non-Scale Victories

We can’t always rely on the hard data. Sometimes, you have to step back and assess your quality of life. Scale stays the same…are your clothes fitting better? Do you have more energy? Can you lift heavier weights? Did you beat your personal best mile time? There are plenty of other ways to measure your progress that have nothing to do with the outward appearance of your body.

Frankly…this is the HARDEST part of measuring for me. I tend to focus on the negative side; for example: ‘I can lift 5 more lbs than last week…but still not as much as ‘so-and-so”. This is extremely counterproductive. Once I figure out how to stop doing this I’ll probably write a post about it. Until then, I’ll try out all the tricks I can find to stop the self-sabotage.

So tell me…how do you measure progress? Anything else I should try?

The post If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it first appeared on Sore Not Sorry.

Don’t be ‘that’ person

Have a little patience. By the second week of January, most people give up on their resolutions. So if you are truly annoyed by the crowds, just wait…they’ll dissipate. Being rude to others never solved anything. Being the reason someone quits going to the gym just makes you a jerk. Everyone deserves to find their own pathway to health and wellness, and just because you started earlier than others, doesn’t make you any better. In fact, you should view it as an opportunity to be welcoming and helpful. Show off those gains and that knowledge! Be the reason people LOVE going to the gym, instead of the reason they dread it.

One guy at the gym I started going to last fall pretended to jump onto the sled I was pushing. This guy is a muscular person and would have made that sled push way harder! He was (thankfully) joking and didn’t really sit on the sled. When he walked out that day, he said “I expect to see you tomorrow!” with loads of enthusiasm and a huge smile. He is now someone I look forward to saying hello to when we happen to be at the gym at the same time!

Know when to share your knowledge …

And when to keep your mouth shut. Is the person risking injury to themselves or others? THAT is when you speak up. Is the person using equipment in an unconventional manner, but not in a way that would injure anyone? Then it is none of your business. Let it be!

There is someone at the gym that constantly appears to judge me. Has spoken up with inane questions like “you are really going to use this machine for THAT exercise?” Well, yes, that was the plan. What is it to you??? Why does it matter? Needless to say, I do NOT say hello to this person when we happen to be working out at the same time, and they do not make my gym experience more enjoyable.

Find times that are less crowded

Adjust your schedule some if the crowds bother you! Head up a little earlier…go a little later…find the ‘off’ times and work with it. It’s probably only for a few weeks. Alternatively, you could view this as less of a drain on your healthcare expense if everyone gets their behind in gear and takes charge of their own wellness…and that is a great thing! That small adjustment in mindset might make the crowds a little easier to handle.

Go with a buddy

They can save your spot at the equipment so you don’t yell at unsuspecting people who start using it not knowing you just took a restroom break. At the very least, communicate with others around you if you aren’t done with your set but need to leave the equipment unattended. People aren’t mind readers, you know.

Buddies are also helpful to have…they make the time pass more enjoyably, they critique form, they show you random reels and TikToks of weird things you “should try”…which makes everyone’s gym experience better because then everyone can laugh at your expense when you try it.

Ultimately, just be a nice human

We’re all on a journey to health. Be kind and welcoming and realize that the gym being more crowded doesn’t make that much of a difference in your day. Have options for yourself should equipment be in use. Find a new time to go (waking up 30 minutes earlier won’t kill you!). Most of all, a mindset shift will help you. Realize how awesome it is that more people are showing up for their health. It makes society better as a whole! Embrace this new normal, however long it lasts.

The post How to survive the first of the year at the gym first appeared on Sore Not Sorry.

I’ve signed up for obstacle course races even though I am unable to do a pull up (YET–see…still working on that mental game). I work with a nutritionist, focus on macros and eating more protein, challenge myself to complete programs like 75 Hard, lift heavier weights than I ever thought I could, bore my kids with anecdotes from podcasts I listen to or books I read regarding health and fitness (I get lots of eyerolls ). Basically I spend a lot of energy focusing on how to better myself.

Why is that crazy?

So when I tell people about my schedule and my activities, I get a range of responses, beginning with the blank stare and ending with “that’s crazy, I would never do that.” My question is…why? Fitting in a workout where I can, which just so happens to be early, is bonkers? Wouldn’t it be crazier not to fit in a workout at all, and go through life sluggish and unhappy?

Signing up for races and training for them. Nuts? Or motivational? Setting a goal and reaching it…proving to yourself that you, in fact, CAN do hard things. Why is that considered crazy?

Participating in programs like 75 Hard, that challenge you mentally and physically. Insane? Or…training yourself to be disciplined in your health journey? The rules, while challenging, are not necessarily crazy. Why do we think giving up alcohol, following a diet, exercising outside, taking progress pictures, drinking a gallon of water, and reading 10 pages a day of a book — for 75 days — is crazy?

Redefining the word

What does it say about us as a society when we categorize healthy behavior in this way? Here’s a radical idea — being sedentary, feasting on the Standard American Diet (there’s a reason the acronym is SAD), bingeing streaming services, not drinking nearly enough water, and drinking too much alcohol…that is what is insane. And the vast majority of us repeat these patterns day in and day out and wonder why our mental health is suffering, we feel lethargic and crappy, our hormones are out of whack, and that extra weight hangs on for dear life.

Here’s your wake up call to use the proper definition of ‘crazy’ in this instance: passionate. Excited. Fanatical. In that sense, absolutely YES. I am crazy. I am passionate about bettering myself. Excited to see what I can accomplish. Fanatical about learning what my limits are and exceeding them. I’m not letting society’s definition of what is normal dictate how I live my life.

Why would you?

The post One Sandwich Short of a Picnic first appeared on Sore Not Sorry.

Scale Results

To be fair, I’ve been trying to disassociate myself with the numbers. The data is good to be aware of, but at the end of the day, it is just data. And I have made progress, and the numbers are moving in the right direction, just not at the rate that I would prefer to see.

So, now we pivot.

The good news is, the added calories did not make me gain weight. Just the opposite, I actually lost both weight and body fat. I could continue with this progress and I would still reach my goals, it would just take a lot longer. Mind blowing information for someone who has tried every diet known to mankind (except Whole 30) and always thought a deficit meant I needed to severely restrict calories. Now I know my maintenance calories can be a lot higher than I originally thought.

How to Pivot?

I will know for sure what the next phase of my plan is sometime in the coming week. For now, I’m continuing to focus on meeting my protein number. I think what will happen is I will have to be in a larger deficit for a short period of time, while still hitting a high protein number. The larger deficit should be fairly easy to return to, the hard part will be meeting a higher protein goal while keeping my calories in that deficit.

One Caveat

I chose this option of quicker results for two reasons: one, the holidays are coming up and starting in a good place might allow for me to feel more comfortable with a few indulgences here and there. I want to be able to enjoy different foods with my family and not feel like I am doing something to set myself back. Two, I still have over 30 days on 75 Hard so I have the leeway to challenge myself further and get the most out of the program. Why not make 75 Hard even harder? #stayhard

Caveat being — there is nothing wrong with continuing with the snail’s pace progress. It is still progress! Things are still moving in the right direction, I still lost weight and body fat, my muscle mass essentially stayed the same, if I kept this up I would continue those trends (while hopefully adding muscle mass) and in what might feel like 87 years, I would reach the end result I was after. Mentally, I don’t want this process to feel like 87 years! I want to reach my goals and tweak my maintenance phase so that I can live happily and comfortably forever and ever, amen.

I want to step off the roller coaster for good. I also can’t wait to see what happens after I try the slightly more drastic approach!

The post Pivot! first appeared on Sore Not Sorry.

How I see my progress

I know all about thinking that the progress is too slow. Nothing is happening. My body must be happy with the extra weight. Maybe it will always stick around. Maybe I don’t work hard enough. Or I don’t eat well enough. It *is* 80% nutrition, after all. What could I do differently? Would it really make any difference?

Welcome to my mind, y’all.

When you have to tilt your head and squint to maaaayyyybe see some bodily changes, you know you have some stalled progress. Almost one full year and 250 more hours of workouts under my belt. Plus a round of 75 Hard and Phase 1. Was I expecting to be ripped in less than a year? Not exactly…but maybe less pudgy. And maybe a smaller clothing size.

How others view my progress

My friends see me with rose-colored glasses, though they will tell you I have a distorted view of myself. They look at the above photos and see lots of changes (in the face, mostly).

Other people are surprised when I tell them how often I work out and what we do. I’m not sure if they are shocked because I don’t really look as if I work out that often, or from my descriptions of the creative torture my trainers concoct. Possibly a little of both.

They are also flabbergasted when I tell them I haven’t missed a single day of exercise in the past year and a half. Since January 2021 I have worked out, walked, ran (er, jogged), or danced for at least 30 minutes. Some weeks there was a hard workout every single day, which I don’t really recommend (more on that later!). But most days, I simply made it a habit to get up, get out of bed, and get moving.

What does this mean for you?

When I wrote this post about being discouraged, I had no less than 4 people send me a message (or tell me in person) that they continue to push and work toward their goals because they have seen my efforts these past two years. You could have knocked me over with a feather. These are people that I look at and think…they are killing it! In a lot of ways, I look to these people for advice and guidance. They walk the same road of self-improvement and personal achievement that I do. I would never, in a million years, have thought any of these people looked at me in that way.

All of this to say…you never know who you inspire. Your efforts do not go unnoticed. People look at you and see your progress, even when you don’t. Don’t let your perception about your own progress (or lack thereof) cause you to give up on your goals. You are likely farther along than you will admit to yourself.

The post Keep Going…You never know who is watching first appeared on Sore Not Sorry.

Instead of thinking how hard your journey is, think how great your story will be.

Week 1 of the 75 Hard Program created by Andy Frisella is in the books. I’ve challenged myself to complete this program before, and this is my second time around the block. The second time has less initial excitement, to be honest. There is no wondering ‘can I really do this?’ because I know I can. I’ve done it. I didn’t see the physical results I wanted to see, but I gained a new perspective on just about everything else in life, so I call it a win.

Lessons During Round 1 of the 75 Hard Program

The first time around, I was a little bit complacent at first. I thought, ‘I already do most of this stuff, so this won’t be so hard.’ Boy, was I wrong. By day 50 I didn’t want to take any more progress photos! I got tired of fitting reading into my schedule (those who know me, know that is not like me at all.)

I learned a lot about myself during this process.

My biggest takeaway, and the lesson that helped me the most: I need to front-load my day. I need to wake up early and get as many tasks checked off my to-do list as possible before about 3 pm. Otherwise, I drag my feet and avoid the tasks important to me. Or I lose sleep–and believe me, you don’t want to see me when I am low on sleep.

The second thing I learned is I really like the easy way out. It was a constant mental battle with my whiny inner voice. I had to tell my whiny voice to shut up and get things done, and then I had to push through and do it. Most days…I was able to go to sleep at my normal (admittedly early) bedtime and wake up recovered and ready to face the next day. We all have this whiny inner voice, but how often before this program did I actually persevere and do what I promised myself I would do? Not as often as I should have, that is for sure.

Starting over again

After completing the first 75 days, I procrastinated starting Phase 1. I made all the excuses. Once I started, I realized I wanted to complete the Live Hard year, but quickly understood that I had waited fifteen days too long to start. I wouldn’t complete Phase 3 by the required date. I knew if I really wanted to complete this year, I had to start all over.

That is an entirely different mental challenge to overcome. My whiny inner voice is complaining about starting all over, like a pre-teen child who doesn’t want to do their chores. Having three teenagers…I know all about the pre-teen attitude. It’s a little humbling to admit that I have these tendencies, too.

The first book I read this time was The Power of One More by Ed Mylett. One of the lessons is to focus on one more day. (By no means is this every lesson in this book, and I highly recommend it for everyone.) This concept of just reaching for ONE MORE one more is continuing to be a fabulous reminder to me to take everything one day at a time. I am trying not to think about how many days I have left. I’m focusing on today. What can I do to make today successful?

There are a couple of things I’m doing differently this time around.

Number 1, I’m focusing on recovery. One day per week will be full recovery. This doesn’t mean I don’t move, or I sit around on the couch wishing I could eat bon bons. My recovery workout options are walking, yoga, stretching, foam rolling…basically anything that keeps me moving and also keeps my heart rate in a lower zone than my usual workouts.

Two, I’m focusing on a much higher number for protein in my diet. I’m not going to lie, this one has been very difficult so far. It feels like I am eating SO. MUCH. I am full by lunch and almost don’t even want to eat dinner! But, I am working through it and gradually getting used to the new numbers. I’m excited to see results!

10 more weeks to go!

Okay, I know I said I was focusing on one more day at a time. And I am! But I want to update here weekly with any new happenings, discoveries, or insights. So for the next 10 weeks you will hear all about my struggles and successes on this journey (you’re welcome). I have a few battle buddies going through this with me. We are all succeeding so far! I’m excited to see what we all accomplish. I know the Spartan Beast is in our future…two of us are doing Hyrox doubles…and one of us is doing some 100 mile bike race in the hottest month of the year (you know this one isn’t me, right?)! We’ve got a lot coming up this fall and it will be an experience, for sure. So buckle up and get ready for a wild ride!

The post 75 Days, 0 Compromises first appeared on Sore Not Sorry.

Some people enjoy running. From the time I was little, and forced to participate in summer track, I remember dreading it. I was never the fastest kid, and my short legs made field events improbable at best. Stuck running long distance and relay races…and when I got old enough, throwing shotput and discus…with little success wears on you. Admittedly, I became discouraged and decided running wasn’t for me. As a young adult, I avoided running like the plague. I saw the cute families dressed up for the cute races with the fun names (i.e. Turkey Trot) in their adorable gear and matching shirts…and while I thought all of the matching was fun, if it meant I had to run I was not going to do it. Nope. Not me!

Sucked In

Then I joined my fitness community and got suckered in to a lot of different fitness competitions/challenges–CG Games, Spartan races, and Hyrox, to name a few. I ran my first Turkey Trot last November. Cold, windy, festive, and complete with matching t-shirts. I came full circle. Who knows, I might even decide to run it again this year.

In the fall, we all got the bright idea to run a 15K. The annual Hot Chocolate 15K in Dallas every February. (Note: all the races I sign up for involve food! ) We signed up and then I completely forgot about it. My super on-top-of-things organized friend (we ALL need one of these friends in our life!) sent us a training schedule at the end of the year. If we added 1K of running every Sunday to our current running routine, we would be at 15K by February! So we ran. We persevered through every miserable moment.

I heard people say the more you run, the more you enjoy it. I can honestly say that is not true for everyone. *raises hand* I could live without running forever and ever, amen. But I showed up weekly to improve and come race day, I finished. I still had to run interval, but I ran most of it!

Getting Discouraged

After this run, our group cut back on our running a little. We still met every Sunday but we didn’t run much longer than 6 miles. There were some weeks I ran a 5K instead. It got hot (who turned up the heat here in TX??) and we had CG Games Prelims to train for, which required less running and a lot more walking lunges and weighted jump ropes. After the second prelims weekend, we decided to meet again at our normal spot (very close to coffee, of course…rewards are necessary), and do a 4 mile loop.

At some point after Mile 1, I got behind. I had a lot of time by myself to think, and I let discouragement get the better of me. That little nagging voice of self-doubt grew into a giant wave of insecurity. I let every disappointment — my mile time isn’t that fast, I hold everyone back, if I didn’t show up they wouldn’t have to wait for me at our photo op, I’m tired, I don’t think I can run another step, and on and on. It was the closest I have come to quitting since I started running. When I finally made it back to our coffee reward, I didn’t know if I could go in and face everyone.

Luckily, my friends won’t let me give up. Not on my goals, and not on myself. The doubts and insecurities are still there, lurking under the surface, but I’m working through them. Eventually I will reframe all of my thinking (hello, growth mindset!), and become the person I was truly meant to be.

Until then, I’ll keep showing up and hanging at the back of the running pack.

I know we all suffer from this malady to some degree; how do you handle the moments you are insecure or discouraged?

The post Running …away from doubt first appeared on Sore Not Sorry.