The penguins from "Happy Feet" doing their impression of the beginning of a crowded race. Lemming impersonation optional. (c) Kingdom Feature Productions
The assertion that we’ve got happy feet may be a slight overstatement, but it’s certainly more true this morning than it’s apt to be mid-morning on Saturday, when your intrepid scribes (that’d be me and Mike) will be hitting the road, literally, for a 5k race together for the first time. There will be several friends and colleagues of ours there, both from our day job and other circles, not to mention several thousand other other folks.
Much like the first time you step into a PvP arena (I’m partial to Quake ]|[, which tells you how long it’s been since I was any good at that sort of thing), where it’s you against other actual humans, the very act of being surrounded by fellow athletes with an actual scoreboard brings a certain crispness to the proceedings. Sure, it’s just going for a run – in our case, it’s pretty much the same one we do several times a week – but doing it “for real” brings another dimension to it, beyond the fresh route and, shall we say, interactive scenery.
Unless you’re the one leading the way, there’s a fair bit of weaving around your fellow participants (both forward and backward), not to mention the novelty of having new folks on either side of you, and maybe someone to chase. The excitement of getting out there and actually doing it is its own rush.
There’s nothing that says the goal of our fitness pursuits has to be competition. Many of us aren’t the competitive sort, anyway (I can hear Mike snickering in his office, because he knows that, as much as I talk it down, I am pretty damn competitive when given the chance). None of us are probably in much danger of winning, especially our first couple of times out, but it does give us a couple of meaningful tools to work with:
- Game day is a goal to work towards. Having a deadline to shoot for helps us focus what we’re doing.
- Once we do it, we have a handy benchmark for next time.
- You’ve done it! Never discount the awesomeness that a feeling of achievement has going for it.
Whether it’s a race like this, or a vacation where you want to fit into a special outfit, or some other external goal you’ve set for yourself, putting yourself out there to have something to shoot for is often just what we need. To anyone who’s feeling self-conscious about giving it a try – there’s really nothing to worry about. Everyone there is too busy doing their thing to be critical, and you’ll quickly see that the vast majority of folks, even (and especially) complete strangers, are cheering you on.
When you first picked up that pair of sneakers, did you ever imagine you’d get to where you’ve gotten? Even if the finish line is just a stone’s throw from the starting gate, it is, literally, miles away.
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