154. The Power of Running (You’re NEVER Too Old To Start!) with Beth Baker

If you don’t have your health, who the heck is running your business?  There's so much of our lives where we are sitting staring at boxes, staring at light, staring at cameras and video screens, and it's really important that we have this time to be out in nature, to breathe air all the way in, to fill our lungs completely with oxygen and to feel all of the physical sensations that come with it. I really do believe everyone can run, and to be honest, in my humble opinion, running parallels the journey of business. Our guest today is Beth Baker, a certified running coach that knows how bad running sucks...until it doesn’t. After overcoming her own fear of running, she’s gone on to personally coach 2,500 non-runners to run distances from 5K to marathons and get featured in Runner’s World Magazine. Growing up, Beth says she always received Runner’s World Magazine, but as a larger woman, she never saw herself represented in the pages. The patriarchy tells us only young, fit people run. But that’s not true.  She says there is an instinctual response to running. When you are running by yourself, out in the open in the real world – so not on a treadmill – there is a fight or flight response that can be triggered.  When you're running fast, you can either feel chased or like you're chasing. And as women, we tend to feel chased.  I've heard people say they feel like they're going to die, that they will get left behind, and that something is going to go wrong. They feel very vulnerable, and they feel like they're on stage. All of these very weird feelings, but it's just running. There are tools to help with that, but it's real. It doesn't happen with everybody, but happens with new people who don't know what's on the other side, the feeling of endorphins, the feeling of relaxation. You have to be able to push through that initial fear response to get to the goodness. Your body is meant to move. And the older you get, the more it's important for you to do it. There's that motion is lotion; it's the stiffness that comes with age and achiness. It's just the more you move it, the better it feels, and it just you just have to be mindful of going slow. Slowness is building bigger muscles and having them as a tool because going fast isn't the goal. There is a propensity to feel not strong enough or not good enough. Give yourself permission to go slow. Having accountability partners and setting a small goal like running a 5K gives people something to look forward to. Beth remembers it took her a year to do her first 5K run, and now she has a Couch to 5K club that gears up in two months. Take it slow and embrace where you’re at right now to move forward. Other Game On Girlfriend podcast episodes you might want to check out:  Changing The Conversation: Aging Is HOT with Sheilisa McNeal-Burgess: https://sarahwalton.com/sheilisa/  Take Back Your Time Every Day with Productivity Coach Heather Greco: https://sarahwalton.com/heather/  What’s Life REALLY Like After Menopause, With Dr. Cari Schaefer: https://sarahwalton.com/cari/  How to Love Your Body, With Marla Mervis-Hartmann: https://sarahwalton.com/marla/  You can check out our podcast interviews on YouTube, too! http://bit.ly/YouTubeSWalton  Thank you so much for listening. I’m honored that you’re here and would be so grateful if you could leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts by clicking here, scrolling to the bottom, and clicking “Write a review.” Then we’ll get to inspire even more people! (If you’re not sure how to leave a review, you can watch this quick tutorial.)