Fearless Friday: start running

In observance of Fearless Friday today, I was torn between two recent (and fearless) pledges. I could talk about my commitment to join the mominatrix in her sexual resolution. Lord knows that’s scary to admit in public. But, nah, Whitney talked about that yesterday!

So, instead, I announce my plan to fearlessly reclaim an athletic achievement from my past. I will run with 11 virtual strangers (and, yet, because of the interwebs, many are also “virtual friends” too) for a relay race of 199 miles with the team Eat. Blog. Run. My own section will be three different legs of approximately five miles each.

I completed this relay race two other times. Back then, I was given the easiest running assignments and was in my best shape from triathlon training. I also had a training partner with the same pace, races, and life schedule as myself. I thought it was hard back then.

But not anymore.

Why am I so scared?
Glad you asked. If I’ve already done this before, I should feel confident. But I don’t. Let me count the ways.

1. I pee when I run. There I said it. In front of God, my coworkers and the eleventeen strangers reading this. Four and a half years since my 44 hour labor with four frakking hours of pushing and I still pee when I run. And I hate it. And it causes me not to run.
2. I am not in great shape. Because of reason #1, two young children, and a myriad of other excuses, I am going to have to really work for this one. Like that part of Rocky when they play Eye of the Tiger, but with kids and a full-time job.
3. I’m shy. What if they don’t like me? There are no secrets from the ladies in the van, when you’re running, sweating, and self-doubting around the clock on very little sleep. While it’s easy to crack jokes through twitter, I lose some of my charm at 2am.

But I’m gonna be fearless about this. I’m going to figure out a training schedule that works for my family. I am lucky enough to have a super supportive husband that wants me to exercise and be healthy almost as much as he wants to do it himself.

I will claim Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday as my running days and find some running buddies for the next few months.

I will also use all the geekery (pedometer, new Nike Plus) at my disposal to see my running times improve from a 14 minute run/walk to the 9 minute mile pace I can be proud of. And if a 9-minute-mile is still the slowest, I will not worry about it because I have improved so much.

Oh, and about being shy in the presence of blogging-greatness, can I worry about that another day?