30 for 30 Day 4: Overcoming my fear of public running

Day 4*
Progress toward goal: -5 lbs
Workout: Run/walk around the lake

I should preface this post by saying I have a slight phobia of running in public. I used to frequent a popular lake in town, but was scarred for life when some college guys drove by and yelled, "SLUT!" loudly at me.

Excuse me? I was about as modestly dressed as one can possibly be while walk/running around a lake. So much in fact I was wearing a hoodie.

That experience, combined with a story of other college guys throwing eggs at runners around that lake, pretty much made me think running was the IRL equivalent to posting a video on YouTube and waiting for all the trolls.

Nope. Nope. Nope.

Lately, though, I've been dipping my toe in the pool of public exercise. I walk around the lake near my office building during my lunch break, I walk occasionally around the lake by my apartment building - but rarely do I actually run. Today, however, I did.

I should warn you that I cannot tell you how much I ran in how many minutes because that is not at all how I measure these things. What I can tell you is I ran from the garbage can to the fifth light pole in the distance, walked three light posts, then ran to that group of ducks.

It's very high-level, expert runner stuff.

What I found during my somewhat minimal amount of running is that it's not too bad. I made sure my headphones were blaring in case of a drive-by troll, but ultimately I was just able to clear my mind and focus on my breathing. Sure, when I actually saw an experienced runner I'm not going to lie and say I didn't feel self-conscious. Because I totally did. But I guess the point is, I kept going anyway (I mean, I had no other choice. I had to get back home.)

How's your 30 for 30 going? Is there an exercise you've felt too self-conscious to ever try? You name it, and I'm sure I felt or feel the same way!

*I did walk around the lake on Day 3 during my lunch break, so the 30 minutes happened! I just didn't have time to blog about it, unfortunately. It wasn't too exciting anyways. Mostly, I kept notes on all the ducks and geese who do not give a single F about drivers and will galavant in the middle of the road at their leisure.