Last weekend my family went on a one-mile “fun run.” Many people brought their dogs, and my daughter pushed her little dog in a stroller. The morning was a bit chilly, so we wore light jackets as we walked to the start line. I didn’t press the stopwatch button on my sports watch because I thought it would just be a nice easy run, with no reason to time it.

I ran with my husband at first, but then he speeded up and got ahead of me. After a little while my daughter’s fiancé passed me with his Labradoodle puppy, Ziggy, loping happily by on legs that looked like they’d gotten much longer since I last saw him. A few other guys passed me too, but most of my attention was on the puppy, who looked very excited about being taken to such a big event.

After I finished the race, I got a cup of water and a freebie sugar cookie (yum) contributed by a sponsor bakery. Then I put on my jacket, but I soon took it off again because the sleeves felt sweaty enough to be uncomfortable. That seemed kind of peculiar when I hadn’t done anything other than a one-mile fun run, but then we all went out to brunch and my thoughts moved on to other things.

I washed the jacket along with the workout clothes after I got home, and I didn’t think anything more about it until my husband looked up the race results online and said, “Hey, Meg, did you know that you ran an eight-minute mile and were the first woman to finish the race?”

My first thought was, well, that explains the jacket! And my second thought was, dang, I hadn’t run that fast in, what, 14 or 15 years, maybe?

That left me wondering how much I had been subconsciously limiting myself through low expectations all those years. Back in August, I wrote a blog post about my imaginary adventures in 2083. Some of the adventures were pretty silly, but the post had a more serious aim; I wrote in it that I wanted to plant healthy ideas in my subconscious to crowd out negative views of aging. After running so fast in a fun sprint without even realizing it, I’m beginning to wonder if some of those healthy ideas are now taking root!

Word-art that says "The only way that we can live is if we grow. The only way that we can grow is if we change. The only way that we can change is if we learn. The only way that we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we can become exposed is if we throw ourselves out into the open. Do it. Throw yourself." -C. JoyBell C

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.

8 Comments

  1. Bravo Meg, looks like the seeds germinated and sprouted! Thank you for sharing your time with family and your adventurous accomplishment! ???

  2. Hi Meg, such a great job! Congrats, I love when I see people running, I always thinking a should give a try, but I always say it is not for me. You just have inspired me. Thanks so much!

  3. Well …. one never know what one can do until we try. Starting out without too much pressure afforded you stellar results. GOOD JOB …. keep up the positive energy for future accomplishments. Loved this story and your accomplsihment.
    Isadora ?

  4. Way to go, Meg! I think about what I’ll be doing way ahead in my future when some of my friends seem to think it’s all downhill from here.

    No way!!!!! Even when we’re middle-aged, we’ve got a ton of livin’ left to do, right?!

    • Hi Stephanie, thanks for coming by to visit! And yes, considering how long people can live in today’s world, there is certainly no reason for anyone to waste what could easily end up being more than half their life because of “downhill” feelings.

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