Confessions From A Personal Trainer: I Talk To Strangers

True Confession Tuesday

Where every Tuesday: I confess.

Confession: I talked to a stranger and had the stranger in my car.

These days talking to strangers isn’t always the best idea and you REALLY don’t put strangers in your car.

But sometimes you just know it’s going to turn out ok and quite possibly even better than okay.

This past weekend I was in Sedalia Missouri (anyone know where that is??) Small town in middle Missouri. I was there running a Tough Mudder (of course!).

Tough Mudder Missouri seems to be a special place. Three years ago we were running and met two women on the course. We struck up a conversation, kept doing the event together and now we meet there every year. Pretty cool. Meeting new people these days can be challenging so it’s very meaningful to see them every year and have a reunion.

(Our first year in Missouri with our new friends – Jackie and Roni).
We were about done with the event on Saturday and I started to think about where we’re going to go for dinner. Knowing this information ahead of time is key so that when you’re done – you don’t waste time looking for food. Otherwise – HANGER usually occurs. For some odd reason I say “Let’s go to Panera.” We NEVER go to Panera. Usually it’s a sports bar or steak house – something along those lines.

But needless to say, we ended up at Panera and as we are finishing up our meal this woman comes up and says “Did you ladies just run the event?” (What gave it away – the crusty mud on our faces??) 🙂

We said yes and continued to have a great conversation. This woman was in town visiting and she had seen them building the course the day before. She had looked up Tough Mudder and was intrigued. She was athletic and wanted to know more.

She told us she wanted to train for the event and then possibly do it in a few months. To which we said “Why don’t you come do the event with us tomorrow?” Her eyes got huge and she started to really think about it.

I said ” We have a code to get you registered.” (perks of doing a lot of events). I sent her the code and we talked a little while longer.

When we left Panera, we told her to let us know if she registered.

30 minutes later I get a text “I’m all signed up and ready to go.”

I’m thinking to myself – WOW! This woman just learned about the event, just met us, and basically on a whim signed up to run with us. She then started asking questions about where to go at the start and how it works. So, we invited her to meet us outside our hotel and we would just all ride together. She agreed.

Upon reflection of this – Are you really supposed to get into cars with strangers?? Probably not, but when you know it’s ok, you just know.

Our new friend did great. She was brave, attempted and conquered obstacles, and did an event she had no idea she was going to do when she drove to Missouri for her visit. She seized the moment!

So many people have asked me why I do so many Tough Mudder events. Yes I love the challenge, I love playing in the mud, and I love traveling to events and seeing friends. But it is so meaningful to meet up with people year after year. And having an experience like meeting this woman at Panera just blows my mind.

• She could have taken the info about the race and decided not to do it.

• She could have been too shy to come up and talk to us at Panera and ask questions.

• She could have let her curiosity die.

• She could have decided it was TOO SCARY.

• She could have said no thank you.

• She could have signed up and then not showed up.

But SHE SHOWED UP. That is what life is all about. Showing up and trusting that something amazing will happen. It will be scary, but on the other side of fear – is something incredible.

Our new friend had her own amazing experience because she chose to show up instead of falling into fear but what she doesn’t know is how impactful her decision was on me. I will forever remember her and our experience.

In the meantime – talk to a few strangers with mud on their faces – you never know what might happen!!

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