I think I’ve mentioned that I’m not a runner. In fact, I’m quite lazy about exercise, generally. I push myself until it gets a bit uncomfortable, and then…

Well. Then I usually call it done. I’ve worked up a sweat, I’ve made an effort. I’m good to go! But something interesting is happening.  Since Liam challenged me to a full tricep push up by the end of the winter Rebelfit mission, I’ve been… I don’t know… persevering. Pushing myself. Making myself do things I “know” I can’t do.

And an interesting effect of this is that I’m doing more than I’ve ever been able to do. This morning, for example, I did 5 full tricep pushups. Body straight, on my toes, elbows tucked in alongside my waist, lowering myself almost to the floor and pushing myself back up again. 5 times!!! My son was scoffing a little, because he thought it was easy.  So I challenged him to 10. He did 10 beautiful elbows-out pushups, but could only manage 3 with his elbows tucked in. It’s hard! So I went to work on a real high.

And had one of those pissy days where every small thing that could go wrong did, just on purpose to wind me up! Culminating with the death of my computer. Which meant I couldn’t work. Instead of taking refuge in cake, I went and told IT Services, got changed and went for a run!

Last time, I ran 2.3km in 18:49, at a pace of 8:10 per km. What those stats don’t tell you is that I stopped 3 times to catch my breath. Today, I ran 2.5km in 19:59, at a pace of 7:51 per km. With no stops! That’s not my normal running style. Normally I do stopping, because… well it hurts and it’s boring, and I want to check whether I’ve finished yet, and yeah. Basically, any excuse to stop. Today, every time it hurt, or I wanted to catch my breath, or I got a stitch, I told myself that magic was happening. I was out of my comfort zone, pushing my body to do what it didn’t want to do.

And that’s the magic, folks. That’s all it is. If you’re in your comfort zone, you’re heading in the wrong direction.