Still Learning

OK, I just had the most amazing run this morning.

4 miles at a respectable 14:42 average pace. For a longer run, that is phenomenal! Hooray!

(Anything over 3 miles is a long run for me at this point, in case you were wondering.)

It was with my running group, but the meeting was a little different than usual: We met at 7am instead of 8, and it was for an event sponsored by Brooks called the Power Hour. Anyone could join and all anyone had to do was walk or run as far as they could in one hour. So that is what I did! My goal was to get a solid four miles in, and I happened to do just a smidge under 4.1! So there. I was thrilled. It even felt pretty good, like I could have kept running if I had to. I probably could have run five miles with not too much trouble, to be honest. (Wow!)

And then, there were the photos on Facebook, again. OK, so I am learning to deal with seeing my body in ways that I don't usually get to see it. Today's featured photo is one to which my initial response was, "God! I'm built like a truck!" Said photo is, for your reference:

I'm the figure in all black with her back to the camera toward the right of the photo.  Built to last!

Even though I am getting more used to seeing shots like these, it's still always a bit of a shock at first. I know I talk about this a lot here, but it is a big issue for me and I figure the more I take it head-on, the better it will get. Also, sharing the photos that I have a hard time with seems to help somehow. I'm putting myself out there as a big, dare I say it?, athlete. It's scary but it's something that I need to do not just for me, but for everyone else out there in the world who is not used to seeing people like me doing things like running.

Since I started writing this post and looking at the photo over and over, I am happy to say that I am feeling better about it. I mean, I have a body and it is doing stuff and it looks fine. So why was my first reaction so harsh? This is what I am trying to get past and this is why I makes posts like this one. (Edit to add: Photos taken of me from the front never bother me, and neither does looking in the mirror. I think it's because I never get to see myself from these other angles that gets me.)

I'm learning. And boy, did I ever kick ass this morning... and now I am about to head over to the lake for some outdoor yoga. GO ME!