Overcoming 'The Fear'

You see that face? Not a good one hey! It's a mixture of pain and fear. Mostly fear.

Now I have to admit that until just 2 weeks ago, I thought that us Fathletes were the only ones who experienced 'The Fear'. You know the feeling - you may be saying things to yourself like....

'Everyone will be watching me, judging me for being overweight, judging me on my ability to run.'

'Everyone will be better than me. They will laugh at me.'

'Everyone will think that I shouldn't be doing this.'

I felt it on my first race just over a year ago. I felt it on my second race earlier this year. I felt it every time I went for a run. I felt it again on race day just two weeks ago. That little niggle. But what I learned is that all runners feel nervous before a race. It's natural. We all want to do well. We all worry about what people think. Even slim, athletic people who run miles without breaking a sweat and looking like they might pass out or throw up at any minute. They feel it too.

Do you know what I also learned? People don't look at us Fathletes and think:

'Ew look at that fat person trying to run.'

What they actually think is:

'Excellent - someone taking their health and fitness seriously. I'm going to support this person and encourage them. Hats off to them.'

Now I'm not going to lie, we're all going to continue to have 'The Fear'. In fact 'The Fear' is what will make us better Fathletes, but what we can do is learn to channel 'The Fear'. We can learn to get over the negative bits that we add in ourselves about people judging how we look and use it to push ourselves to give the best that we can. At the end of the day, the best person to compete against is yourself. It's the best way to see how you are improving and to push yourself sensibly.

Now I raced again on Sunday and although I felt a bit nervous beforehand, I didn't actually care what anyone thought I looked like because as a Fathlete, I was dragging my arse around a muddy obstacle course when other people would be happily sat on theirs at home! Embrace 'The Fear' and let it make you a better Fathlete. Trust me it is worth it!!!