I hit my 700th (recorded) class today OrangeTheory and it was a sweaty one! I joined OTF in November of 2017, which I can honestly say was one of the greatest decisions I made in my 20s. I moved cities/states five times between ages 21-27 and trying to make friends repeatedly became more stressful than the vicious unpacking/packing cycle. My first studio became my social support group, and I am so grateful for the women and men I met there who pushed me physically and mentally while supporting me socially for 2.5 years.
Over this 3 months year embarkment, I’ve had plenty of competitive highs and personal bummers, like a broken shoulder/surgery in 2018. I’ve set many personal records and been in the BEST shape of my life. Here are a few of my proud accomplishments:
? two 5-minute miles
? two 18 minute 5ks
?♀️ 500m row 1:29.0 secs
? 200m row 32.6 secs
?♂️ 2000m row 7:04 secs
?♀️ 23 min distance run: 3.507 miles
?♀️ 12 min distance run: 2.200
⛰ Everest 3.01 miles
? Catch me if you can (22 min) 3.67 miles
Oddly, I’ve never really considered myself an “athlete.” I played various sports growing up and was pretty average at all of them. I come from a relatively competitive and quite athletic family, most of them college athletes and national champions of something. Not me. I won one state title with a soccer team I inconsistently started on my final year of organized sports, but I was what my college athlete sisters referred to as a “NARP.” If you are unfamiliar with this term, as I was in college, it stands for “nonathletic regular person.” Apparently this is a term student athletes use to refer to us quotidian college students.
Looking at these personal records I’ve set over the past 3 years have really changed my inferiority complex as a narp. They also made me realize I should’ve stuck with track and field. To drive my point home, I am humbled to be the muscular, running mother and athlete I am now as a 30-something year old. It’s never too late to add a new title to your identity (or to get an 8-pack).
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