Ep #190: Poop Bags on the Trail

Welcome to The Not Your Average Runner Podcast. If you’re a woman who has never felt athletic but you still dream about becoming a runner, you are in the right place. I’m Jill Angie, a certified running and life coach and I teach women how to start running, feel confident, and change their lives, and now I want to help you.

Hey Rebels. I have a really important topic for you this week. But before we dive in, I want to let you know that on April 11^th, I’m doing a half-day workshop on how to stay consistent with exercise. And I know there are a lot of you who struggle to stay consistent with your routines, and then it’s very frustrating for you.

So, I’m going to teach you why that happens and what you can do to change it. The workshop is $39 and if you want to join, all you have to do is go to notyouraveragerunner.com and choose workshop from the menu to sign up.

And before we dive in, I actually have another fun thing that I want to share with you this week. It’s something I have been absolutely loving lately, and that is the CBD Bath Soak and Recovery Balm from Rest Day CBD. Oh my god.

So, the company was started by two women. And you know I love companies that are operated and owned and founded by women. And these women are runners. And they were trying to find a way to not feel sore all the time after training.

So, they created these CBD products to ease training fatigue and aches and pains. And you guys, they work. They legit work. I have upped my strength training lately and I’ve had a few days where I have been super-sore and using the bath soak and the relief rub has really made a difference.

So, I want you to give them a try. The company has actually given me a 25% off code for you guys to use. The code is REBELS. It’s good for 25% off your orders until May 30^th. The company name is Rest Day CBD and we’re going to have a link right in the show notes for you. Or you can just go to restdaycbd.com/discount/rebels and then use that code REBELS at checkout to grab 25% off your order. Go check them out. And check them out on Instagram too. They have a great page.

Seriously, I’m in love with this stuff. It’s a gamechanger. You know how I love my hot Epsom salt baths. This is such a level up from that.

Alright, I’ve kept you waiting long enough. Are you ready to talk about poop bags? So, unfortunately, we’re not going to talk about literal poop bags today. Just metaphorical ones, or figurative ones. I can never seem to use that word correctly.

Anyway, it all started a few weeks back when I was coaching some of my clients on other people’s opinions about their running and what to do with them.

Like, imagine this. You start running and you’re a little hesitant about telling people. But then you do. You screw up the courage, tell someone at work that you’re doing a 5K, and they’re like, “Wow, you’re really slow. You should work on getting faster.” Or you tell somebody that you do the run-walk approach and they say, “Oh, well you’re really more of a walker than a runner, aren’t you?”

And this kind of stuff happens a lot. And sidenote, legitimately 100% of the time, or 99.9% of the time, it’s not actually a runner who says these things, so you should pretty much just ignore it. But in the moment, it kind of hurts. And it makes you want to quit running, or at least never ever talk about it to anyone ever again, especially when you’re new and you’re still working through your own thoughts about being a runner and being an athlete and what that means for you.

So, here’s the thing, my friend. This is the truth that I’m going to tell you. Other people’s opinions actually can’t hurt you. For real. Other people’s opinions are the circumstances in your life.

A dude that you work with says some words about your running. Then you have thoughts about them. And then you feel hurt. It’s not dude says words and you feel hurt. You have a thought about it in between. That is how it works.

It hurts because you’re taking somebody else’s thought and putting it into your thought model. And that’s all fine and good if the thought is something like, “Hey, I’m really proud of you for doing that half-marathon.” Because when you think that to yourself, you feel really proud. When you take that thought and put it in your model, the feeling is proud and everything’s great.

But if the thought is like, “Wow, you should try harder because you’re not very fast,” and you take that other person’s thoughts and put it in the T-line of your model, guess what? You are going to feel hurt, okay.

So, I want you to start thinking about other people’s thoughts and opinions like things that you see on the trail or sidewalk when you’re out running.

Now, sometimes we see pretty leaves or coins or a lost mitten, random stuff. Sometimes we get super-lucky and it’s a $20 bill. Or if you live in my neighborhood, there’s an inexplicably high number of doggy rain boots. I do not know why everyone that lives near me puts rain boots on their dogs because clearly the dogs do not like it. I swear, I see at least one abandoned dog bootie every time I go out. It’s the weirdest thing.

But anyway, you’re out running and you see all kinds of stuff along the way. You see things that you are like, “Woah, that’s really cool.” You see neutral things. And sometimes, for me, I’ll pick up a pretty feather or a rock. I’ll put it in my pocket. If I see a coin, I always pick that up.

But guess what? When I see a bag of dog poop, I keep going. I don’t pick up dog shit and put it in my pocket. Why not? Well, obviously because it’s gross. I don’t want that mess all over me. I don’t want it all over my clothes. I don’t want to touch it. I definitely don’t want to bring dog shit home with me. So, I leave it alone and I keep going.

I might think to myself, “Jeez, that’s really irresponsible to not pick up after your fucking dog,” right? I mean, I’ve had a dog. I know it’s not convenient to pick up their poop and carry it around with you. But we do it because we love our dogs and we also love our fellow humans.

I’m getting off on a tangent, but when you see dog poop on the trail, on the sidewalk, you keep going. And then, here’s the best part. A few moments after you pass it, you’ve forgotten about the poop. So, we don’t pick it up. We don’t put it in our pocket. And we don’t spend the rest of our run thinking about the dog poop.

Other people’s unhelpful opinions are like that pile of dog poo, that baggie of dog poo. You do not pick it up. You leave it there and keep going. Maybe you roll your eyes at it. You don’t touch it. You keep moving and you forget about it. You don’t keep thinking about it for the rest of your run.

Other people’s opinions that don’t feel good to you are like dog poo. Leave them on the trail. And conversely, you know how when someone gives you a compliment and you immediately start to argue with them, you immediately tell them all the ways they’re wrong about how awesome you are, that’s exactly like spotting a $20 bill on the ground, picking it up and ripping it into pieces instead of putting it in your pocket.

Really think about that. How often do you disregard compliments that people give you? They say something nice about you and you’re like, “They’re idiots, obviously. They are totally wrong.” But if they insult you and say something rude, you’re like, “Oh yeah, that’s the opinion I want to keep. Clearly this person knows what they’re talking about. I’m all in with this shitty opinion.”

Other people’s opinions are their thoughts; the thoughts in their own brains. And they may say them out loud, but they’re not any more true than your own thoughts. So, when you’re telling somebody at work about your 5K that you did last weekend, remember that nothing they say about it can hurt your feelings unless you pick up the poop bag and put it in your pocket.

And since other people can’t make you feel bad, they also can’t make you feel good. When somebody compliments you, you don’t actually feel good unless you pick up that $20 bill and put it in your pocket. It works both ways.

The only thoughts that can make you feel any emotion are the ones in your own mind. So, let’s leave the poop bags on the trail, pick up al the $20 bills we see, and it’s going to be great, okay.

Alright, my friend. I’m going to give you one more reminder to sign up for that consistent exerciser workshop on April 11^th. And if you are busy that day, I have got you covered because I will send you a recording that night. I’ll email it right to you.

So, you’re just going to head over to notyouraveragerunner.com, go to the menu, choose workshop, and sign up there. We’ll also have a link for you in the show notes. And that’s it. Okay, my rebellious friends, I love you. Stay safe. Get your ass out there and run. And I will talk to you next week.

Oh, and one last thing. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, you have to check out the Rebel Runner Roadmap. It’s a 30-day online program that will teach you exactly how to start running, stick with it, and become the runner you’ve always wanted to be. Head on over to rebelrunnerroadmap.com to join. I’d love to be a part of your journey.