By a half of a mile I was contemplating my recent eating woes. I've been unhappy with life and I have to admit, I have been feeding my emotions. I have made my plans for eating but often times I look at the food I've planned and I make a concious decision to eat something else. Usually (ok always) something higher in fat and calorie content! I am making choices that are totally divergent from what my ultimate goal is. So why am I doing it to myself? Ok, that's what an addict does, it's not really a question of why. It's not pretty and I know why I'm doing it. I just need to use willpower to stop!!
The next mile or two passed I eventfully. I cried about things. I ran some more (with some bouts of walking because monkeys just felt icky). I stopped to take a picture of some bluebells.
I even stopped to take a picture of myself laying on the ground surrounded by bluebells.
And then the run went from bad to horrible. I started to question and doubt myself. My mini me was standing on my shoulder hurling negative talk into my ear! "Seriously MaryFran, why are you out here flailing around on the towpath and calling it running? You are not a runner and you will never be a runner."
I questioned my commitment to run and decided to quite...I could ride my bike instead, no problem!!! But the litany of self doubt and negative talk continued in my head. "You may as well sell your bikes, you are not a biker either!!"
It was a non-ending refrain being pounded in my head.
Finally I had enough and I started to yell. "Shut up!!" Oh yes, I yelled it out loud. (I'm so very glad that there was no one on the canal today near me because between the crying and the so big and now the yelling, I'm sure they would have pulled out the straight jackets for me!!!)
I finished my run strong. Nothing was going to make me stop running until I got to the car. Those voices kept telling me to stop and kept hurling insults but I don't listen. Sure my legs hurt, but I finished strong chanting these words the whole way. "Shut up, shut up, shut the 'f' up!!!!"
Shut up!! I can be a runner if I want to!!
Shut up!! I can be a biker if I want!!
Shut up!!! I can be thin it I want!!!
9 comments:
I like the sound of those last few lines. Yes, Yes, Yes!
You can be anything you want to be! Do you want me to come beat up the voice in your head. You are a runner, and an awesome biker.
Shut the negativity out girl! Shaazam!!
absolutely and darling you ARE a runner and a biker! and you can tell anyone including your little voice who doubts it that timmy said to FUCK OFF! no one trash talks my friends especially not my friends themselves! put this doubt behind you it's not who you are today it's the corpse of who you used to be and you need to put that thing 6 feet under where it belongs. I believe in you and I know you can do it and by golly I am an extremely intelligent and perceptive man (if I do say so myself!LOL) so you better listen!
Damn right! Put those negative voices in their place. This is one of my favorite running quotes: "If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run."
--John Bingham
You ARE a runner and you ARE a biker. You were running and you have biked.
Lori
You ARE a runner and you ARE a biker. You were running and you have biked.
Lori
MaryFran, you are awesome! Screw those thoughts in your head. As everyone has said, you ARE a runne, you ARE a biker.
You're also inspirational. When I think of my paltry efforts with exercise, your are one of the folks I think of to get my head out of my ass about it.
Keep on girlfriend!
You are so much than a runner or anything else!!! You are awesome!!! You inspire me day after day :) All we can do is each day push ourselves to be the best we can be. That is it :) You are wonderful!!!
Oh you sound like me!!!!! I'm here and I'm stuck!!! So proud of you for setting yourself straight
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