The other morning at my bootcamp, we were talking about… something. Honestly, I don’t remember how the conversation veered into the topic of being someplace early, but one of my campers asked, “Regular people early, or Pahla early?” Everyone laughed, and another camper remarked that my habit of running in the wee morning hours is pretty badass.
That got me thinking.
Of the things that I do that make me feel badass, getting up early isn’t really one of them. My early-to-bed, early-to-rise habit is all about practicality: I need time to drink my coffee and play a little Candy Crush before I’m ready to face the world. And if I have to run before I go somewhere else, then early running it is. I’m way more willing to give up my sleep than give up my run!
Every damn day! |
I came to the conclusion that badass – like beauty, or possibly even like crazy – is in the eye of the beholder. The things I see other people doing that I’m not capable of or willing to do seem totally badass to me. I have a friend who is putting in some serious time and distance getting ready for her first Ironman. Her numbers – especially for the swim – are incomprehensibly badass. One of my clients recently completed a Spartan race, which included rope and wall climbs. Tap out, that’s too badass for me! Another one of my clients decided – at age 64 – to take up running and has now done a handful of 5Ks. Dude!
I’m sure there were people in their lives who thought or even said out loud, “Oh, you can’t do that. That’s crazy!” But they did it anyway.
And I think that’s where the line is drawn. I mean, objectively, it’s crazy that a landlubber like me ever thought I could swim in open water, but there I went, competing in triathlon. Any fool would come to the conclusion that after ten attempts, I am clearly not fast enough to run a Boston qualifying marathon, but I haven’t given up that dream yet. I’ve stood at the starting line of many a race for which I was woefully undertrained, but willing to give it my best shot. Pretty crazy! And pretty badass.
There’s always going to be somebody in your life who thinks what you’re doing is crazy. Maybe you even think that yourself! But the flip side of the coin is that there is also going to be somebody who – when you get out there and go for it anyway – thinks you’re a total badass.
MM says
A 3am wake up call is pretty bad ass in my book!
Marcia says
You won’t see me getting up at that hour…unless it’s for a race then of course….but I totally get the mentality of doing what it takes. As I get “on in years” I get more and more gasps of astonishment. Apparently there are some pretty strong preconceived notions about how women of a certain age should act. And we aren’t quite fitting in….and I love it! I still feel like me making it one pool length doing a “real” swim stroke is badass. I can’t begin to wrap my head around an IM…..yet.
Karen Whitlock says
So true. Badass is definitely in the eye of the beholder! Funny how things that seem so normal to you can be seen as badass by others. π
PahlaB says
OMG, you said “yet!” Ironman Marcia!!!! You are a badass in my book every single day, girl.
PahlaB says
LOL, thank you! π
Laura says
You get up at 3:00 am??? You are definitely crazy AND bad ass! I don’t think I’ve done anything crazy lately… Unless you count deciding to have ANOTHER baby. Ok yeah, let’s go with that.
Coach Dion says
I have been know to go out till 03h00 and then get up at 05h00 so as not to miss the morning run… But i was younger then!
Badass, on New Years eve I run up Lion’s Head, I was there at 06h30 and the mountain was to crowded, so I left and run up Table Mountain, India Venster… much better, only a couple of people climbing into the clouds…
Andrea says
That is way early to get up. Nope. I feel like 5 is the best I can do and that isn’t often. Most bad ass? Hard to say. Someone who saw me reading a book about climbing Denali at the gym thought I was reading it because I’m going to climb it. So apparently people think I’m pretty bad ass.
Tiina L says
3 am!?! Definitely badass! One of the coolest things that I have done lately is that I learned to surf at the end of last year! It made me feel pretty badass π
cautiouslyaudacious says
Wow those are some early wake up times and that’s coming from a morning person! I am usually awake around 4:30 or 5:00 and wish I could go workout but just lay in bed reading on my tablet under the covers. My 16 month old wakes up with the slightest noise in the early morning. π One day I’ll be able to take advantage of the mornings!
Kate says
Ah, I totally get this! It’s all perspective. I know there are some people who think some of the things I do are badass, but since I’m surrounded by people who are doing the same kind of things — but bigger, scarier, and doing it better — I don’t see myself that way at all. It’s funny…I fell last weekend at my race and got pretty scraped up, and at lunch I was telling my friends that the picture looked worse than the reality because my hands had bled for 3 miles until I got to where I could clean them up. One of them said, “You’re so tough.” I hadn’t felt particularly tough; I’d walked a little until I was sure I wasn’t going to cry and then kept going because there was no choice.
But 3:10 a.m. EVERY DAY…wow.
PahlaB says
Kate, you are one of the most badass chicks I know!!
PahlaB says
I remember those days! Mine are teenagers now and have to be dragged out of bed for school, but I get up earlier than ever. Lol!
PahlaB says
Too rich for my blood, girl! Surfing is very badass!
PahlaB says
I wouldn’t put that climb past you. Maybe for your next milestone birthday. π
PahlaB says
That’s badass AND crazy! π