Thursday, April 10, 2014

Tread Lightly

This isn't a normal, happy running post.  I am still a very happy runner, don't worry.  Actually, I am a very happy runner that graduated from Physio yesterday!  I am so thankful to my wonderful physiotherapist for helping me to be able to (walk) and run again, but that is another post for another time...

I've got other things on my mind today.


I quite enjoy this blog, and my own little corner I have carved in the internet.  I have a great time writing about my running, my kids, and whatever may come to mind.  When I first started writing this blog almost four years ago, I thought it was a great way for me to keep a record of my own running antics, and it was fun to share it with others, if they wished to read it.

I did some blogging for iRun back in 2012, and that was fun too.  It was funny to think that people I didn’t know might be able to read what I had to say.  The internet is tricky that way.  People might/will be reading, even when you are unaware of it.

As I have a running blog, I read other running blogs (and other types of blogs too—I enjoy having a peek into the perspectives of other people, even people I haven’t met).  I have Facebook.  I love Facebook.  I love seeing photos, stories, and hearing from friends and family when I otherwise might not get a chance. 

I love seeing status updates like, “I signed up for a 5k!” or, “Ran the Around the Bay this morning!”  I love reading blog posts that include race recaps.  Detailed reports about each mile, the venue, the weather...I soak it all up.  If I haven’t been running, I want to live vicariously!  Race photos of my friends holding a medal and a banana at the end of a race, photos of a beautiful trail run, or even a more personal, private message involving a funny inside joke from a training run/swim/bike ride are the reasons I would never be able to give up social media.  Although it doesn’t replace a real-life connection to people, I really do enjoy it.

I am a teacher, and I spend my days with teenagers.  I feel very lucky to have a job in which I can engage with young people through coaching and teaching.  In many ways, they are sponges that are absorbing and reacting to everything that happens around them.  Much like my boys as toddlers, really.  But with fancy cell phones and (a little) more angst.

Yesterday I spent some time in a PD (professional development) session, where we focused on social media and how amazing it is a tool, and how scary it can be, especially for the young minds we are shaping every day.  I learned that perhaps I should take my twitter account from the “egg” stage to actually trying a tweet (gulp).  The session also got me to thinking about the power that social media has on all of us.

This got me thinking about how social media and the internet have the power to inspire us, and perhaps do the opposite.

When I am training for an upcoming race, I find myself reading as much as I can about it.  Training tips, obsessive checks of the race website, the weather, forums on the race or event, and, my personal weakness, “race pace calculators” (I love me a good pace calculator)!  I find myself pumped up and excited about the next challenge, and reading about it is as exciting as the training itself.

But.  There are also lots of messages out there, masked as inspiration to help “pump us up” that make me feel anxious and uneasy.  These messages are a bit tricky.  They are sneaky shaming messages that hide behind the “inspirational” front.  They are of the “fitspiration” variety.  And I want them to go. away. 
What is a “fitspirational” quote or image?  They have been around for a while, and Pinterest and Instagram are often where they can be found.  They do find their way to Facebook and Twitter also.  I really really do not want to post any of these images here, as I feel that, even though I wouldn’t be doing so in an inspirational context, it is not something I want to post. 

We’ve all seen them though,* and the message is clear.  Words like “Eat Clean,” and “strong/strength” are common. The idea that we should feel guilt or regret by skipping a workout or eating that non-restrictive food is the message.  That we are somehow weak if we allow ourselves to give in to enjoying anything other than endorphins and pain to really feel like strong women.

*Picture a photo(shopped) image of a muscular, bikini-clad (young) woman, glistening with sweat, in an athletic pose.  Along with the image is a quote.  It is about being strong.  It is about working hard for perfection.  It is about having the willpower to refuse "bad" foods.  It is about shaming us into wanting that perfection, or feeling bad that we don’t want to work for that perfection.

So, so tricky.

So, not what I (as a grown adult) want to spend any time feeling anxious about.  So, so not what I want any of the precious teenagers that I spend time with, feeling badly about. 

I know lots and lots of very fit people.  I know lots of people that live a healthy lifestyle.  I like to think of myself as one of those people that (tries) to eat healthy foods, works hard when I am running, and hopes that my children will be strong, healthy kids with a positive outlook on exercise and healthy eating.  I would argue that we all want to be healthy and injury-free. 

But messages in the form of “fitspiration” are not helping anyone here.  Seeing an image, or powerful words that make me feel shamed for eating a donut, or shamed because I didn’t sweat today isn’t helping anyone.  It is just perpetuating the cycle of making us feel guilty.  For nothing.

Of course, I must state that this is my opinion.  I feel strongly that motivation driven by shame and guilt can be damaging (there is probably actual research out there to back this up, but I am really just sharing how I feel here) to anyone that falls into this cycle. 

I think we should all take a second to think about what is driving us to “share” or “pin” or “like” these messages on social media.  We should all take a second to think about who might be viewing this.  Who’s daughter or friend or sister is looking?  We don’t know for sure, do we?




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