Ep #404: When Even a Walk Feels Impossible

Welcome to the Not Your Average Runner podcast. I’m Jill Angie, a certified running coach, and your running BFF here to help you start running. Feel confident and love the journey no matter your size. Now, if you’ve ever felt like you just weren’t meant to be a runner, think again. I believe that running is for all bodies, even yours.

This podcast is your warmup buddy, giving you tips, motivation, and the support you need to lace up and get moving. I’ve helped thousands of women become runners, and now I wanna help you. Let’s go.

Hey, hey runner and welcome back to the show. Before we dive in today, I wanna quickly tell you about not your average 5K. It is my six week training program for plus-size women who wanna become runners, even if they’ve never really done anything like this before. It is built for midlife pivots. It is built for starting over.

Hey. Hey runner. Welcome back to the show. Now, I know that this is a running podcast, but I also know that there are a lot of you listening who either aren’t running yet or you’re not running right now because you’re struggling to figure out how to get moving in a way that feels good. Today’s episode is for the woman who just wants to start moving.

Not necessarily running, just doing something, but you can’t seem to make it happen. Like you think about going for a walk. You want to go for a walk, but you’re tired, you’re overwhelmed. And the thought of putting on a bra and finding clean leggings and getting out the door. Feels like a climbing Mount Everest in Crocs.

So if that’s you, you are not broken. You are not lazy, and you are definitely not alone. So let’s talk about why this happens. How to get out of the stuck zone without forcing motivation or faking it, and just get back to feeling like you again. All right. Now, first of all. I know that it’s not that you don’t want to move.

All right, we will say this out loud. You do wanna feel better. You want more energy, you want better sleep. You wanna feel strong in your body. Again, you’re not avoiding movement because you just don’t care. But when even thinking about going for a walk makes you want to just lay down and sleep or scream or scroll your phone for 90 minutes.

That is not a willpower issue. That is a nervous system issue. All right? Your body and brain are carrying so much mental load stress, expectations, midlife chaos, and they’ve hit capacity. You’ve been in go mode for years now. There’s nothing left to give, and then we get to this point and we beat ourselves up for not doing just one more thing.

Even though we’re running on fumes. The truth is that exercise has, has been weaponized against you. Okay? Let’s just name it. We have been taught that movement is something that we should be doing to fix our bodies, to shrink them, to air quotes, get healthy, uh, to prove that we’re not lazy, to earn the right to rest or to earn our carbs, right?

So, of course your brain is gonna resist it. It exercise has literally been weaponized against you because every time you try to move, it’s loaded with guilt and shame and punishment. And a side of, well, you know, it’s not enough. Of course, you shut down. Movement should be something that supports you, not something that drains you or shames you And.

The thing is right, a lot of us want to move and not because we’re trying to look 25 again, but because we want to feel strong in our fifties, our sixties, our seventies and beyond. We wanna carry our own groceries. We wanna get off the floor without grunting in pain. We wanna go on hikes or play with the grandkids or dance in the kitchen with our partner.

We wanna travel without worrying If we can keep up and we wanna feel steady and stable and confident and flexible in our bodies for decades to come. That’s what this is really about, right? It is not about fitting into smaller jeans, it’s about having a life that feels well lived. Having a body that lets you say, yes, I’m gonna do that, it doesn’t hold you back.

It doesn’t make you nervous about injuries or limitations, a body that makes you feel alive. So if that is your goal, then movement has to be. It has to stop being something that you dread and it needs to start being something that supports you. So I’m suggesting a different approach here. Instead of dragging yourself through another five day challenge or promising that you’re gonna start on Monday, let’s just let yourself start exactly where you are.

Oh, two minutes of dancing in your kitchen while the microwave is working, walking to the end of the driveway and back doing a bunch of shoulder rolls while you’re waiting for your coffee, right? It doesn’t have to be any big sudden movements. You can start small. So if you have been stuck in all or nothing land, right?

It’s either I, I walk or I run three miles or I do nothing. You’re not alone. Okay? The perfectionist programming is deep. I get it. I am the same. But I’m suggesting that you don’t need a comeback. You just need a reset. All right? One that fits into your messy, beautiful, midlife reality, one that meets you with compassion and not demands.

And I have been working on something for you. It is called the Midlife Movement Makeover. It is coming on August 18th. It is a four week reset for women who have had enough of starting over. We’re gonna rebuild your relationship with movement, without pressure, without shame, without overwhelm, maybe even without running.

I don’t know. We’ll figure that out. But what you will get is small steps, simple wins, and support the whole way. Alright? As soon as it is ready for you, I will let you know it. It’s coming August 18th. It may be ready a little sooner. We’ll see. But I just wanted to let you know that’s coming because if you’ve been listening to this podcast thinking, I don’t even know why I bother, ’cause running is out of my, is out of my reach right now.

I want you to know that I’ve got you. And I’m gonna help you. Okay? Now, if this episode hit home, I want you to start picturing what your September could feel like. Calmer, more confident, and built around taking care of you instead of, you know, exercise punishment. Because you deserve it, right? You deserve that life, and I wanna help you get it.

All right, my friend. If movement has felt impossible lately, I want you to know it’s not a character flaw. It’s a signal, and it’s okay to start again. Slowly. Next week right here on the show, we’re gonna dive into a sneaky reason that you might feel stuck. And that is, hmm, what if it’s not burnout? It’s just boredom.

Yeah. We’re gonna go there Until then, please be kind to yourself. You are doing so much better than you think. And I want you to know that success is possible for you. Okay? Now, like I said, I’ll be back next week to talk about what if it’s not burnout, maybe it’s just boredom. And in the meantime, love you mean it.

Talk soon.

Real quick before you go, I’ve got a fun challenge for you. Take my exerciser personality quiz to find out exactly what kind of exerciser you are and how to make running feel easier and more enjoyable.

Just head over to not your average runner.com/quiz to take it and get your results. That’s not your average runner.com/quiz.