Peer Pressure



Disney Princesses

 It is interesting that the term Peer Pressure has such a negative connotation.  I mean, nothing about the words themselves is negative, right?  I'm thinking about this because I am currently being pressured by my peers.  I am 46 years old.  Old enough to 'Just Say No' in the words of Nancy Reagan.  But should I?  Just Say No, I mean.  What if my peers are right?  What if it really is ok?  What if it really won't hurt me and might even be fun?  Hmmm. 

What is it they want me to do?  The Disney Princess Half Marathon.  Seriously.  My friends are not athletes (well most of them).  My friends are in various stages of fitness, weight and age.  My friends (mostly) do not work out.  My friends drink a lot of beer.  And for some reason they think this will be fun.  It is six months from now.  They all plan to walk it at a 15 minute mile pace.  Wearing tutus and bunny ears (or something equally ridiculous). 

First 5k

Last fall I ran/walked my first, second and third 5k's.  They were not fun.  It hurt.  I am not a runner.  I am not even a good fast walker.  I tend to get tendinitis in my calves.  My average mile is 20 minutes walking.  My best 5k time was 36 minutes.  I'm busy.  It rains every afternoon.  I missed the early registration rate.  It's expensive.  It starts too early in the morning.  It is in Orlando.  There won't be any place to park.  It would be embarrassing to be 'swept'.  All my friends walk faster than me.  I can come up with thousands of excuses not to do this. 



Evil Friends applying pressure

 But how many times have I blogged about motivation and how hard it is to get off the couch?  When did I start thinking in terms of "I can't vs. I can".  I know I used to think there was nothing I couldn't do (except ski).  Now my mind is filled so often with images of failure instead of images of success.  I wonder why.  Is this a common side effect of grief?  Depression?  I don't know.  But I do know I have been asking for help getting motivated and getting my physical self back to a healthy weight and state along with my emotional self.  What better than peer pressure to motivate me?  Is it wrong to ask for help and then ignore it when it is offered?

If all my friends were triathletes (some of them are) or size 6 super models, then I could excuse myself from this.  But they are not.  They are normal middle aged women wanting to improve themselves.  I am a normal middle aged woman wanting to improve myself.  Coincidence?  I think not.



If you try, haven't you already
Succeeded?

 So, I have not signed up for the half marathon yet.  But I did sign up for 2 5k's next month.  That means procrastination is not an option.  They are not in six months, they are in one month.  I can not run them, at least not yet.  I have an ankle that just won't cooperate with me for running.  But I can walk and work on my speed.   We'll see how these 5k's go and then I will decide.  I know if I don't at least try this, the only person I will be failing is myself.