Emma Deguara thank you very much, Emma. Over the years of harsh discipline and all-or-nothing mentality, I’m finding that in order to keep showing up, I’ll eventually have to have times where I “under-perform”, according to my own, high standards. Being seen in my imperfection and my struggle carries so much shame for me. There’s a huge narrative around not being worthy of love connected to performance, for me.

I’m really thrilled to experience that this narrative doesn’t really have a hold on me anymore. And that I belong, in my entirety. Even when I slip up. And skip sessions. I’m

Still here. And I’ll bring this home, along with y’all ❤️

Emma Deguara thank you Emma. This message really lifted my spirit. Thanks for seeing me and my effort 🫶

Okay, here’s another one. I did the continuous run today. 35 minutes. Post having a cold. I tell y’all, this was BRUTAL. I found myself having a lot of thoughts. Harsh, negative ones, during the run.

My hack this time: Visualising them as old, dated buildings being torn off the shore by a big, beautiful ocean wave. A wave of love. And compassion. For myself and all the good things I’m doing for myself and my life these days. It helps clear my head and stay present on the run.

I had to do it several times. And it worked wonders.

Stay compassionate, glourious woman. Yes, YOU. ❤️

Also, have an image of cows. Because cows are glourious, too. And grounding like nothing else.

I’ve been sick for the past two days. I used to beat myself up over not being able to maintain the pace of challenges like this.. Even with things like physical health being out of my control. so ive found that my sign of improvement in mental strength actually comes from being totally ok with having to postpone a few session - maybe even skip some altogether. What the hell, I can just let the continuous run be the first of the week and - if I feel like it - do the interval in the weekend.!

This is a huge improvement for me.

I told myself that I’m not available for these kinds of negative thoughts. And it was as like my system remembered “oh. We’re actually ok. Even when we don’t perform or achieve every day”.

Thats huge 🩷

I’m not a doctor or a health care provider.. But I do practice breathwork a whole lot. How is your breathing while you run? Sometimes, if our breathing is shallow while our bodies are stressed, it can cause muscles to tighten. Which muscles are more affected depends on our posture and nervous system.

I can recognise a similar pain to what you describe. And it helps when I remember to breathe deeper while running. Our bodies are different, but I wanted to chip in and share my thoughts with you. Which I hope is alright with y’all.

But as Emma writes, it’s probably a good idea to consult a health advisor, just for safe measure :)

Wauw wauw wauw ❤️

I’ll look into it, if Strava turns out to not be for me. Thanks for the suggestion!

I didnt realise that the app lets you zoom in on the finer details of the run. Thats great! I’m going to check that out next time.! If nothing else, I’ll just skip the app on interval days, when I feel like running for time.

I get your point. And to a certain extent it is important for me to not focus too much on performance. But I want to honor my natural inclination for being motivated by progress as well. And find a healthy balance. Not dismissing competition totally.

This question was mostly curiosity as to how tracking runs work for all of you.

Thanks a lot for your thorough response ❤️‍🔥

This is so important! Congratulations on finding the courage to share what’s in your heart. It makes me immensely joyful to read. I hope you’ll continue doing it, no matter what the world will tell you. The creative, passionate heart can never be shattered. Only the stories that build walls in front of it.

Thanks for the inspiring comment 💛