I am training for a 5K and have made significant progress by taking things slow and being nice to myself and actively working to have a positive relationship with fitness as opposed to my previous Not Positive™️ experiences
My relationship to exercise has changed so much — I grew up playing softball super seriously and was told from ages 12-15 basically that I should keep running until I puke. I quit softball, didn’t exercise regularly for a while, then slowly got back into yoga/pilates over the last 5 yrs, now running
I’ve realized that a lot of women who played high level sports as a kid have very similar experiences of being taught really harmful habits/mindsets/constantly being screamed at by old men coaches?/ and it’s simultaneously very hard but also empowering to unlearn that
Even though I now understand that exercise should never come from a place of self-harm, it’s wild how these mindsets are still super normalized, especially in running (running subreddits are a “how fast is your mile” dick measuring contest)
Or, we were left on the bench so we never really got to enjoy playing sports and were left with no confidence.
Youth sports seems to be calculated to make sure that no one is ever active in their adulthood...
It’s wild how this is such a common thing!!! I was always taught exercise was something I should to do change how I look and not something I should do because I know it makes me feel physically and mentally better and it can be fun when done right
I basically don’t run on a track anymore because I STILL mentally compare myself to my times when I was 15/16 and training 3+ hours/day. I don’t have to be fast! I can stop and look at the pretty flowers, it’s okay!
there is a part of me that is upset that my mile time is way slower than it was when I was 13 and then I realize how deranged it is to compare my 27 yr old body with my 13 yr old body???? also like. does speed really matter. I’m not COMPETING I’m VIBING
