Walking Archives - Be Brave Coaching

July 30, 2016

Moving past the clutter

Last weekend I was in the San Francisco Bay Area for the first module of iPEC’s Coaching Certification training. An awesome weekend where I experienced a sense that what I was doing, learning, experiencing, was on track with my gifts, talents and the purpose God has for my life. I came home on a high that lasted all week – gotta love that!

As I always do, I think a lot about life, even in the midst of my training. Didn’t hurt that because we practiced coaching throughout the course, I felt like I was in therapy all weekend – I thought my brain would explode. On Sunday morning, I left my hotel early for a walk along the Bay Bridge Trail which I’d discovered on Saturday, it’s my favorite way to start the day! I love new adventures and I think it’s super cool to walk over the Bay. I’ve done it on the Golden Gate Bridge, so the Bay Bridge was calling me.

I had about an hour and a half to walk so I could get back and ready in time for class. No sweat (well, there was sweating), 6 miles-ish and that would certainly get me at least halfway across the bridge from where I started. One of the things I was excited about was walking on the new span of bridge that opened a couple years ago. Off I went and after making my way through the maze under the freeway I was on the bridge. If you don’t live around here, you may not know that after they opened the bridge, the next project was to take down the old bridge. It’s a steel, ugly thing that now is cluttered with equipment used in deconstructing it.

So there I was, on the bridge, walking, walking, walking. Seriously, when was I going to move past the old bridge and have an unobstructed view from the new span? Cut to the chase, I didn’t. I ran out of time and had to turn back.

And that was ok. But here’s what ran through my head. My life is on a new the bridge, so to speak. I finally feel like I’m on a path to live out my passion, my desire to help other people, to help them move their lives closer to where they want it to be. Making choices instead of letting life just happen to me. But as I walk on that new path, the bright and shiny path, I’m not free from the clutter of my life thus far. Granted, I’m making progress, a lot of it, but it’s still there. Occurred to me that it’s like the Bay Bridge. The new span is beautiful and you can walk on it, enjoy it, experience it, but at the same time, you have to deal with the deconstruction of the old span. They’re making progress on it, just like I’m making progress in my own life, but it’s not gone yet, even in the midst of finding my purpose.

I’m going to get there, I know I am, but it can’t be rushed, it’s on its own time schedule, God’s time schedule. Trying to move it any faster will just frustrate me, I don’t have control of the timing. But unlike my walk on the bridge, I won’t turn around. I’ve made a choice to move forward, and my clutter will be there for a while, truth is, even once I clear out the old stuff, more will appear. That’s part of the deal and it’s ok.

I’d enourage anyone moving through change, and truthfully, isn’t that all of us in one way or another, to think about the bridge. To not lose sight of the fact that you’re on the new span – celebrate the fact that you’re on the new span. The old is still there, but you’re making progress. It’s one step at a time, enjoy the walk.

June 5, 2016

Being Brave Today

Lisa Forresthill Bridge.JPG So yesterday, I cooked up plans with my friend to go hiking today. Connecting with a group of gals from her gym and going to Lake Clementine for an early Sunday hike. Sounded awesome, especially since I have wanted to start hiking more. Since I love walking half marathons, hiking seems like a natural extension of it. Plan was set, all good. And then last night the “in my head” talk happened. Here’s how it goes for me. I make the plan, woohoo! and then start second guessing. I think about how it would be nice to have a low key morning, get a few things done – or not, but just be mellow. Ok, truth be told, it was about staying in my comfort zone, my routine. I even thought about my recent “take it easy” recommendation from the doctor, he lifted it last week but, well, maybe. In the end, I told myself to stay strong, be brave with myself, step out of my comfort zone and do it.

So I did. And it was awesome! I met some great women, hiking beautiful land, enjoying God’s creation, felt GREAT! Made me think about why I do that, why I wimp out sometimes – falling back to my routine, my safe zone. I know that the safe zone doesn’t lead to the big stuff – the big fun, the big joy, the life God has for me. So why do I stay in the safe zone so often? Fear? Maybe. But fear of what is the question. I don’t really know what. Because the thing is, when I do step out of the zone, it’s always good. I never regret it. I’m always happy for the new experience. I don’t have this mental struggle with my day to day life. Getting up at 4 a.m. to exercise? No problem. Swimming an hour and half? Check. Walking my half marathons or cycling 100 miles? All good. I might question my sanity, but I do it. But new experiences? Let me think about it, think about how to get out of it, re-convince myself to do it, but still question.

I’m tired of thinking so hard, figuring out ways to stay in my zone. It comes back to choices and I want to have fewer of them. It means making a decision and sticking to it. Less choices when I don’t second guess myself, my plans, re-thinking, making a new plan. When I move forward with my original decision, less choices, so much easier! Motivation is not the problem, it’s a little fear, and little being “stuck,” and that’s not a space I want to live in. Somehow, I don’t think I’m alone in this. If it’s you, you have your reasons, they may be like mine, or they could be different. The reasons keep us safe, but we miss out on so much. So I ask you the same thing I ask myself, are you ready to be brave?

April 3, 2016

Sporty goals

The funny thing about being an athlete…ok…side trip for a minute…I feel funny even calling On the bike myself an athlete. When I think about an athlete, I think of these studly men and women who are out their killing it, performing at crazy levels. But really, think about the
population. Comparing myself to other people who I see as athletes isn’t really a fair comparison. I love my sports. I love swimming, I love walking/running, I love my bike. I devote a good chunk of time to those sports. I study how to improve, I talk to people I can learn more from – who can help me get better, I talk to other people about it – I hope I can encourage other people to find a sport they love as much as I love mine. I think part of accepting myself, of being the person God called me to be is to accept these different parts of me, and I think part of me is an athlete. Still feel funny saying that, but I’m going to own it, at least work on owning it.

Ok, side trip over back to the funny thing. Sort of relates to my side trip. Being an athlete is different things to different people. For me, could be walking a marathon but for someone else, it could be a 5k or around the block. It’s all a matter of perspective. Yesterday I listened to a Skirt Sports podcast, Run this World, hosted by Nicole DeBoom – founder. She was talking with Erin Carson, owner of RallySport and pro-triathlete. There were a few things she said that really got me thinking about this idea. First, she talked about racing as a triathlete and how at the end of each leg of the triathlon she tells herself “I did the best I can.” It resonated for me because it’s such a healthy approach to competing. Last year when I started walking half marathons – I actually polled my friends on Facebook to see if it would be lame to walk these racings. Resounding no. I tried to shift my thought process to “completing” vs. “competing.” Perspective. I will admit it helped. Isn’t what any of us want, whether at play, at work, in relationships, is to do the best we can? I’m certainly not showing up to a race thinking “how can I suck at this today?” Completing/competing at any level is largely a mental game. Yeah there is the physical conditioning part – don’t get me wrong, that’s a big part of it – but the mental part is a big ta-do. Being filled with doubt does not make an event easier. When I start any open water event, I have the 5 minute panic attack. Why did I sign up? Why did I spend $100+ to do this? Can I really do this? But then, I settle in and remember that I’ll be ok and it’s my race, no one else’s. I do the best I can just like anyone else does.

I also liked a side comment Erin made at the end which was that it’s ok to set crazy ambitious goals. I do that all the time. I’m wired for it. But in reality, even though the goals seem crazy, I’m not sure I set out to do anything that I don’t actually think I can do. When I signed up to walk a marathon last year my Dad said, “Do you really think you can’t walk 26 miles?” My answer was that I could, but I wanted to prove it to myself. I think that’s part of the crazy goal is proving to myself I can. Maybe this year – and especially for my Year 49 Bucket List currently in the making – I’ll look at goals that are likely achievable, but that are a stretch. Things that will stretch my experience – bigger goals, bigger dreams. Part of this for me is making sure that I’m not stuck on the “should” stuff. I should do this or that. Though I cave to that fairly regularly, my goal this year is to put an end to it, which for me in and of itself is a crazy goal. That goes back to what I wrote about a few weeks ago though.

For today though I want to dream big, do the best I can, and think about those crazy goals. I’d say that’s enough for one day.

#realwomenmove #skirtsports

March 20, 2016

On Slowing Down

It occurs to me that I tend to set my sights high as far as what I expect from myself athletically. Walking-wise, if I’m not doing a half marathon, or training for a half marathon, why bother. What I’m coming to realize is doing that can lead to missing out on opportunities to connect with other women who still want to get out there, but for whom going long isn’t part of their plan. So earlier this week when my co-worker/friend asked me to do the local Run for Mercy, I was wishy washy about it – yes, no, ok I’ll sign up. Only a 5k, geez, what’s the point (in my head, not out loud). I fought a cold all week so I had a good excuse but decided to ignore it.

Yesterday morning was beautiful as I rolled over to the event. The Run for Mercy is a fundraising event that benefits Mercy Multiplied, a nonprofit Christian organization dedicated to helping young women break free from life-controlling behaviors and situations. It was inspiring to hear testimony from young women whose lives had changed because of the residential or outreach assistance from Mercy. I saw a friend I’d been thinking about just last week and hadn’t seen in a while…things were looking up.

As we started the walk I realized it was going to be a time of connecting, not training. While at first the driver in me tried to get my friends to walk a little faster, I settled in to their pace. The thing that I was reminded of is that although I basically do “couch to half marathon”…but don’t always do the hard core training part…and don’t really think about the difficulty of the event…everyone has different. That’s a good thing and great gut check for me. I got to talk with my friends and as we walked through the beautiful park I also got to talk with a girl who told me she was 30 days sober. WOW – that is an accomplishment. To have the courage to change your life, to rely on God and then get out and walk a 5k…it gave me chill bumps. She walked in with us and I saw her on the way out, thankful to have finished the race.

What’s my “so what” about all this? For me, the so what is the reminder that I need to slow down at times or I’m going to miss the connections God puts in front of me. I can get so focused on driving for the big goals in life that I ignore the beautiful rest stops along the way. And if I want to be an encourager of others, I have to go at their pace, whether it be athletically or through other connection points. The same is true with my own life – that idea of slowing down and listening, experiencing, just being – I don’t take time to do that and I need to.

Turns out I did achieve a goal yesterday, it just looked different than I thought it would, but that’s how God works sometimes, it’s a good thing.

March 12, 2016

Go…ready…set

So a little over a year ago, I did an obstacle race with some girls at work, the Rocklin Ramble. It was silly, and fun, and wet and I even ran a little. So what, right? Fun day, sunshine, girl time, yay Lisa. But after, my mind, being what it is, thought the running wasn’t so bad. Oh yeah, there was the fact that I’d run in the past with bad results. I have a prosthetic leg and running about near killed my stump (there were tears folks, pain and frustration). But I got it in my head that I walk pretty fast, so hey, maybe I could walk an event. 5k seemed like nothing, 10k, not much better…oh yeah, so I’ll just do a half marathon. I throw it out on Facebook, asking my running friends if I’ll be mocked for walking a half. They assure me no, go for it. Fast forward two weeks…no I did not stutter…and I’m at the start of the Avenue of the Vines Half Marathon in Lodi. By then, I’d managed to lay out a good amount of money because, of course, you have to have all the right gear, and have to look cute…duh. Gun goes off and so do I, running at first because I still worried about looking like a dork, but quickly settling into my fast walk. I know its fast (or fast enough) because my new fancy Garmin multi-sport watch tells me so. I manage to keep a decent pace all the way through and run into the finish because, again, the dork factor. It was AWESOME! Endurance events suck me in so I knew there’d be more, and there were, one a month the rest of 2015. But for that day, my achievement dial was way, way up. AND, major bonus, my foot didn’t really hurt – ok maybe a little, but it passed. Looking back, I’m reminded that some of my greatest joys come from not overthinking, from acting spontaneously and just going for it. If I planned for that race too much, got too much in my head, I probably wouldn’t have had as much fun. Definitely need to dial more not overthinking in, all part of that just start thing.