How I steped out of my Comfort Zone...

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."

-Neale Donald Walsch-

Too many times in life we say, "I can't"  or "I won't," simply because we are too afraid to step out of  that soft little bubble we live inside of.  If we do happen to step out of it things get hard... unfamiliar... uncomfortable!

The same goes with running.  Three years ago, with the help of a friend, I stepped out of my comfort zone and onto the pavement!  She had picked up running after the birth of her second child and had been pushing me to try it as well.   "Hi, Friend.  Would you like to go on a run with me today?"  She would say.  "Oh, no thank you, Friend!  You see, I'm just not a runner!"  Would be my response, and would then watch her run off into the sunset... ok maybe that's not exactly how it went, but you get the drift! 

While she was pregnant with her third child we would go for walks together.  Nice, easy, comfortable walks!  After a while she would say to me, "Hey, do you want to run to the corner?"  I would, in my mind, judge the distance to the corner, look at her with her little basketball tummy pushing her older two kids in the double jogger stroller, and think, "I guess she won't be running that fast."  "Sure,"  I said.  And that was it... That was how I started running!

I think most people who say they aren't runners, like I used to, say it because they've never tried it!  I mean really tried it.  Sure they might have gone out and tried to run, but then they got uncomfortable, started breathing hard, their legs started to hurt, got a cramp in their side, and quit!  "That's it, my body just wasn't made for running," is what I picture them saying!

The word 'RUNNER' alone is intimidating!  I used to picture tall skinny Kenyans who could run faster than I could drive my car.  I am in no way a fast runner!  I like to think of myself more as a jogger.  I like to go out for jogs... some days it feels like I'm trotting... But the fact of the matter is that I'm out there! 

So, my challenge to you, my faithful reader, (if there is anyone out there actually reading this) is to step out of your comfort zone!  Give running (or jogging or trotting) a try!  Start by going for a walk and pick a point to start running and another point to end running.  After a while add a little distance between your starting point and stopping point.  Then just run!  You'll have good days and bad days.  Days when you feel as if you could run forever, and days when you feel like you are literally going to die... but whatever you do... DON'T GIVE UP!

Happy Running!