Self-Doubt, Happy Ending, Blahdy Blah

As part of my recently declared effort to say YES! to my whims, I woke up at 7am on Saturday, got dressed in cold-weather running gear (it was TWENTY-NINE DEGREES outside, I live in the South for a REASON so get it together, North Carolina), and went to my local running store to go for a run with a group of strangers.

There are several reasons this decision was insane. For one, I am not a "morning person" or an "early riser." I do not particularly like cold weather. Meeting new people makes me anxious. I am not secure enough in my identity as a "runner" to just come out and claim to be one in public. I worried that I'd look a little too Rubenesque in my running tights. I fretted that I'd be the heaviest or slowest runner. I was concerned that when I talked to people they'd think I was weird (which... fair enough, I suppose).

Of course, we all know how it turned out. I sucked it up, I said YES!, I went. I met a lot of very lovely people. I wasn't the slowest or the heaviest or the goofiest. I ran with a really nice girl who seemed inordinately impressed with the fact that I had run a half marathon, so I spent much of the 3-mile run trying to lower her expectations of my skillz. Afterward most of us went to get brunch together. It was a lot of fun.

Honestly, I ought to type up a template for these blog posts:
"Today, I was afraid to do [Thing X]. I was afraid because [Irrational Reasons 1, 2, and 3]. Eventually, I sucked it up and did [Thing X], and it turned out to be pretty fun. Shocking! [Self-deprecating joke.] [Non sequitur.] [Abrupt ending.]

Anyway, the run was fun, and was the first meeting of a formal group training program that will last 12 weeks. I had held off officially committing to the program because I wasn't sure if I could devote that much time to something non-school-related right now. But I think it would be an awesome way for me to hang out with people that aren't my classmates, and do something other than homework and worrying about homework. Also, it will hopefully keep me from giving up running during the colder months. So I think I'm going to sign up. Feel free to remind me of this optimistic post two months from now when I'm freaking out because I have some kind of leg injury and I'm behind in my schoolwork.