Bridget Hunt

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The excuses we make

I am REALLY good at procrastinating....  so much so that it took me a while to sit down and write this blog post.  Then I figured, just sit down and write it Bridget.... what's the worst that can happen?  You don't like what you have written?  Edit it.

Last Sunday I woke up with a sore throat and a headache at 7:00am and lay in bed staring at my running clothes.  I had laid them out ready to get up and get dressed and go join the BearCat running club for a Sunday club run.

I started to argue with myself, to procrastinate and to make excuses as to WHY I SHOULDN'T go.  My reasoning for not going was that my sore throat would turn into something worse, a cold or flu or strep throat.  

I reached for my phone and googled 'running with a sore throat'.  I pre-agreed that I would go with the first piece of advice that came up.....

'If your symptoms are above the neck you should be fine.  Below the neck i.e. chest problems, give it a miss'

So I got out of bed, put my clothes on and went off for the club run.

As I cycled to the clubhouse I felt instantly better - more energy, less shivery, my sore throat easing.  Why hadn't I trusted my own judgement?  I ALWAYS feel better when I move.

If I hadn't gone running I would have concentrated on feeling sorry for myself, guilty that I hadn't got my run in, sluggish for the rest of the day.  I had momentarily let fear get in the way.

I believe that many of us of procrastinate out of fear - fear of not being good enough, fear it's going to hurt, fear that we won't be able to complete what we set out to do.

I enjoyed every minute of my club run, I ran slowly, for fun and chatted to my fellow club mates.  

I now have a post-it note with NO EXCUSES written on it, it is attached to this laptop screen.  I WILL post this blog article and I WILL be going out running again in a couple of days.