How do you overcome being embarrassed to workout outside?
stayclassyanom
Posts: 9
So I kind of started running but I have only done it early in the morning. I am in college and live on campus so by the morning classes the place gets crowded. I am embarrassed to run outside when there are so many people around. I want to go running in the evenings just because I keep skipping days in the morning because I want to sleep and stay in my warm bed! So I feel evenings will be better to stick to. So how do I overcome the embarrassment and intimidation I feel? I know its irrational but has anyone else been through this? How did you go about it?
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Replies
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You just have to do it. I am a big girl and every time I go I am embarrassed. But I still go. I just suck it up and make myself do it. Good music helps. Enjoy nature. Don't let yourself or other people shame you into not exercising.
and it isn't irrational. Yes people will say noone is paying attention but they are. You know how I know? because I'm paying attention. Don't let it bother you. Damned if you do damned if you don't.0 -
Evening runs when I was in college is what helped for me... Less people out and about on campus and yes, a good play list blasting in my ears! Make sure if you do have music, you are running in a safe area though! You don't want to tune out the world!
Also, if you can get a running buddy, that always helps! 0 -
Just do it:) Before I transferred, I had a loop I ran around our campus which is pretty big (go Big10!). The first few times were a little intimidating as there are a good number of students milling around in the evening, but after awhile it actually became a confidence boost. For me, working out is a mental thing. I got it in my head that people were watching me so that alone pushed me to run a little further or a little faster on days I wasn't feeling up to the challenge. I also tend to run in sports bras when it gets warm so that also was a motivator to keep up on my weight training and nutrition. At the end of the day, you're going farther than the kids sitting on the couch so don't be embarassed!0
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What's more important.......your health or what you imagine other people are thinking?
I have a news flash for you, no one notices runners (unless they go out of their way to draw attention) we're invisible, just part of the urban landscape......get out and run and have fun!0 -
Do you run with a gimpy limp, or have any other sort of disability that would make you embarrassed to run outside? Do you plan to run naked? If not, what's embarrassing about it? Go run. Nobody is going to look at you/laugh/care.0
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You doing this to benefit you not the ppl around you... if they looking let them and use it as motivation to run faster for longer0
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So I kind of started running but I have only done it early in the morning. I am in college and live on campus so by the morning classes the place gets crowded. I am embarrassed to run outside when there are so many people around. I want to go running in the evenings just because I keep skipping days in the morning because I want to sleep and stay in my warm bed! So I feel evenings will be better to stick to. So how do I overcome the embarrassment and intimidation I feel? I know its irrational but has anyone else been through this? How did you go about it?
the same way you get over ANYTHING you feel embarrassed about doing... by doing it and discovering that other people are paying far less attention to you than you think.0 -
I didn't0
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Thanks everyone! I know that the only way to get over is to do it and I will! Thanks for the support and the motivation 0
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Music is a great way to ignore the people and to be less embarrassed.0
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I'm glad you are going to do it. Dont worry put on earphones and you wont hear a thing.0
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Ok, not really true, and I am nowhere near as pretty as she is
I do however only workout at home, inside. I am a little self conscious working out around others but it's more a convenience thing for me.
I say just do whatever you know you will stick with. If you can push through the awkwardness and do it anyway, then do that... but if that feeling is going to stop you then workout at home/inside/etc instead.0 -
I didn't
why not?0 -
Hold your head up and run like a gazelle, like this is what you're meant to do, just like anything else in life. Running is your gift to yourself. Don't let others take it. FEAR = false events appearing real. Just run and enjoy your legs and your lungs.0
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I put in headphones. And I just went and did it anyway. It was the only way I overcame that feeling. I promise - the feeling does go away.0
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you just do it. Other runners will have respect for you. Non runners will be secretly envious of you. true story0
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Just a quick supportive word.
People don't care. Unless you're running naked.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
i wear sunglasses they can't see me attitude im not even joking big daddy style.0
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i wore a cap n headphones when id go running outside lol oh & avoided all eye contact this all helped me... just do it!!!0
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Good motivating music
A quiet atmosphere
Xanax0 -
I do an easy walk in the mornings - it's my standard must do walk (dogs demand it) and then I do my harder stuff at night. I get the "just do it anyway" crowd - but I'm right there with ya. I have found myself jogging short spurts more confidently in the morning walk than I would have and caring less. My stick to it-ness came from nights. and dogs. dang hairy personal trainers.
Sometimes it's no better at night - I live in a small rural town - not much out at night but a random walker and deer - and about 1 car per round of exercise for me. If I'm on my bike guess where the ONE CAR is - yup, right behind me. I always feel self conscious but what am I going to do, jump off the bike and run? I just tough it out. I always imagine it's some dopey teen hurrying home as they scoot around me in their loud truck - and I always imagine they think "look at that fat chick on a bike." But I keep peddling. It is more comfortable for my psyche at night.0 -
That was amazing! Thanks for sharing!!0 -
Read this!
http://flintland.blogspot.com/2012/05/hey-fat-girl.html
And don't comment on the title before you read it, please. This blog entry is what gave me the kick in the pants that I needed to run! And I just realized that someone shared it before me! lol Great minds think alike! But it's worth a SECOND read! 0 -
Just do it. The alternative id not doing anything.0
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The following is a blog post
Hey Fat Girl
Yes, you. The one feigning to not see me when we cross paths on the running track. The one not even wearing sports gear, breathing heavy. You’re slow, you breathe hard and your efforts at moving forward make you cringe.
You cling shyly to the furthest corridor, sometimes making larger loops on the gravel ring by the track just so you’re not on it. You sweat so much that your hair is all wet. You rarely stay for more than 20 minutes at a time, and you look exhausted when you leave to go back home. You never talk to anyone. I’ve got something I’d like to say to you.
You are awesome.
If you’d look me in the eye only for an instant, you would notice the reverence and respect I have for you. The adventure you have started is tremendous; it leads to a better health, to renewed confidence and to a brand new kind of freedom. The gifts you will receive from running will far exceed the gigantic effort it takes you to show up here, to face your fears and to bravely set yourself in motion, in front of others.
You have already begun your transformation. You no longer accept this physical state of numbness and passivity. You have taken a difficult decision, but one that holds so much promise. Every hard breath you take is actually a tad easier than the one before, and every step is ever so slightly lighter. Each push forward leaves the former person you were in your wake, creating room for an improved version, one that is stronger, healthier and forward-looking, one who knows that anything is possible.
You’re a hero to me. And, if you’d take off the blaring headphones and put your head up for more than a second or two, you would notice that the other runners you cross, the ones that probably make you feel so inadequate, stare in awe at your determination. They, of all people, know best where you are coming from. They heard the resolutions of so many others, who vowed to pick up running and improve their health, “starting next week”. Yet, it is YOU who runs alongside, who digs from deep inside to find the strength to come here, and to come back again.
You are a runner, and no one can take that away from you. You are relentlessly moving forward. You are stronger than even you think, and you are about to be amazed by what you can do. One day, very soon, maybe tomorrow, you’ll step outside and marvel at your capabilities. You will not believe your own body, you will realize that you can do this. And a new horizon will open up for you. You are a true inspiration.
I bow to you.
http://flintland.blogspot.com/2012/05/hey-fat-girl.html0 -
This blog is great! Also, it really does mirror my experience with runners. Runners are very supportive. I am not fast. I am not skinny. I will never win a race. That being said, even when I was dying through my first few 5K races, there were faster runners who came back along the course and cheered everyone else on. You are running. Runners will respect you. If any non-runners don't, just remember that they aren't running at all!0 -
Just go in the evening. Or start on a Sunday morning. There's hardly anyone out before 11am on Sundays.
How to overcome your fear? Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Use that anxiety to keep you moving.
The only way out is through.0 -
I"m a back of the pack runner myself. There is real camaraderie with people in this group. We are there the longest so we get to make friends with each other LOL0
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Yes, you JUST DO IT!! At least you are doing something! More than those sitting on the couch are doing. 0
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