How I am Learning to Kiss My Comfort Zone GOODBYE…

I AM FINALLY GETTING GOOD AT TELLING THAT VOICE IN MY HEAD TO SHUTUP. I think I am figuring out the secret to how to make this happen. Because she likes to tell me how many things I CAN’T DO, and I am OVER IT.

I found the secret in this Marathon Challenge I am doing. No, I am not ACTUALLY running a marathon all at once, and TBH, at this point that idea still seems totally cray to me. The longest race I’ve ever done is a 10k and that distance was perfectly good for me:).

So here is what it is to give you the scoop: for the month of April at Orangetheory Fitness, you can sign up to do a Half(13.1mi.), a Whole(26.2 mi.), or an Ultra(31.3) Marathon in April. Total mileage. So if you come twice a week and usually run 1.5 miles a class, you’d typically do 12 miles a month. So maybe you sign up for the Half and try to do 13.1 instead. You get the idea.

Let me tell you about Orangetheory. I had been looking for something to really challenge me and 2 years ago I heard about this new gym that was going to open near me and decided to sign up. If you haven’t heard of Orangetheory, go to their website and check it out! In a nutshell, it is an interval training workout based on keeping your heart rate in a certain “Orange Zone” (>84% your max heart rate) for at least 12 minutes of the class. And in general, you are on a treadmill for approximately half the class or 25-30 minutes, and then the weight room and rower for the other half.

With the exception of one crazy year of my life, I have never really been a runner. Most of my young life, especially through high school, I was overweight and avoided exercise like the plague. And then I struggled on and off with anorexia, binge eating, obsessive exercising, you name it. And not until probably 10 years ago did I really gain a healthy relationship with food and exercise. But after having kids, I really had no motivation to exercise consistently. Not until Orangetheory.

I began as a “jogger”(you can choose jogger, runner or powerwalker), and at the beginning, my base pace was 5 mph, and then my fastest was maybe 7 mph. But one of the things I noticed quickly was that to consistently get my heart rate in the “Orange Zone”, I had to keep increasing the intensity. That’s the key to the whole thing-after two years, it NEVER gets easier, because you have to up your game as you get stronger.

My favorite things about Orangetheory:

1. It never gets easier.
2. I AM NEVER BORED!
3. It makes me feel like a badass!
4. I don’t have to think, they tell me what to do!
5. I am so focused on the process, I never obsess over the “product” , aka how my body looks.
6. It is one hour I devote only to myself.

So, like I said, I never thought of myself as a “runner”. I never wanted to run a marathon, or even make a habit of hitting the road for hours at a time. But 28 minutes on a treadmill with loud music and someone telling me what to do I liked.

And then last year I did my first “Dri-Tri” race there, and my 5k time was 24:50. And I was SHOCKED I could run that fast. But there was something about running faster than I EVER could that got me totally pumped. And then I did it again 6 months later and I HAD to beat my time. So this time I did it in 23:50. And in the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you, I am 5’1, so running anything faster than a 10 minute mile has always been hard for me. I am not exactly a gazelle.

So here we are, I just hit my 2 year anniversary at Orange, and I am faster, but not “fast” by any means. I typically run on an incline to keep my heart rate up, but don’t consistently cover more than 2.5-2.7 miles per class. So I thought, ok cool, I want to do the Ultra Marathon, and if I go 5x/week, that’s 50 miles. So my initial goal was 60 miles for the month.

Then I changed it. Why not try to run 3 miles EVERY class? So that was my new goal. I ran faster than I ever had. My heart rate was consistently higher than it ever had been. And I wanted to DIE. And my voice kept telling me to quit, but I wouldn’t. Then………

I finished day 3 and I was already at 9.77 miles! I thought to myself, at this pace, I will be done with the Ultra in 10 days! So that became my goal. Then……….

I finished day 7 and was almost at 24 miles! And that day was today. And I woke up 15 minutes before class and I was exhausted and thought I couldn’t do it. And not only did I do it, but I ran further today than any other day so far, 3.84 miles. Because I told that voice in my head to SHUT UP and kept hitting that UP arrow on the treadmill.

So as of today, this is my goal: to do the Ultra TWICE this month. 62.6 miles. And in my next post, I will have an update which will hopefully include me upping the goal. Again. Because that’s the point………

KISSING MY COMFORT ZONE GOODBYE. 

 

I know there are tons of people that run faster and more than I do. A lot more. But that’s not the point. The point is I am doing something I NEVER thought I could. And I do it daily. And it feels AMAZING. And I keep reminding myself that if I do it in a workout, I can do in any area of my life. I can ask for the business, I can go for the role that I don’t think I can pull off, I can create a successful blog, and so much more. AND SO CAN YOU! 

The hard thing for me, and maybe for you too, is to consistently stay positive, and not let that voice get to you. So to keep the voice quiet, I am committing to doing something that scares me every day. Saying YES to things even though I think I might fail. Do it with me! And feel free to comment or message me if you need me to tell that voice to shut up for you-I’d be happy to!

So write a Dear John letter to that comfort zone….SEE YA…….

 

And here is a picture of a puppy to leave you feeling happy and excited! Because who could honestly frown at this?????

xo