- Real Nourished: Reinventing Your Relationship with Food
- Posts
- Why I avoided Masters for 14 years — and what I learned when I came back
Why I avoided Masters for 14 years — and what I learned when I came back
Stuff you actually want to read about from Pam Moore
Hi ,
I love swimming with Masters, but I avoided it for over a decade. There’s nothing like the way feel when an hour and more than 2000 yards have flown by and my body is humming with a specific, chlorine-soaked brand of relaxed euphoria. I love chatting with the other ladies in the showers afterward, all of us in that same happy headspace, before we pull clothes onto our still slightly damp bodies and go back to our normal lives. I said I avoided one of my favorite workouts for all those years because I didn’t like the vibe, it was too intense, the coaches weren’t welcoming. The truth is, I attended one workout in 2008 right when I moved to Boulder. I was nowhere near fast enough to keep up with even the slowest lane. It was nothing like the Masters I’d attended back in Rhode Island, where the coach had a kind, grandfatherly presence and the workout was printed on a soggy piece of paper stuck to the pool’s edge. In Boulder I felt like a guppy trying to swim with a school of sharks. I climbed out of the pool after my first practice 14 years ago feeling like a failure, secretly hoping the coach would encourage me to keep coming back, but no one did. Masters, I decided, was just not for me. Last year, while I kicked down my lane, the woman in the lane next to me and I started chatting. “You should come to Masters!” she said. After all that time in lockdown, I was desperate for community. So, a week later, I tried again. The coach was the same one who I’d deemed cold and scary all those years ago. Now, though, she seemed softer. She learned my name and gave me pointers on my stroke. As I stripped out of my cold, wet swimsuit, I smiled to myself, thinking about how the coach had changed. Or maybe I was the one who’d changed. Recently I heard the saying, “We don’t see the world as it is. We see the world as we are.” At that first Masters session, I was 29 years old and desperate to prove myself. I saw my workouts, my race times, and the size of my body as reflections of my worth. I didn’t know then that I'm the only one who can provide the validation I've been looking for. I know you're awesome... but do you? Because that's all the really matters. xo,
4 Things Worth Checking Out
Casey Johnston's personal essay for The Cut on weight lifting, diet culture, body image, and self-love. (H/t Meghan Wieser)
ICYMI: My interview with Colleen Cannon on the Real Fit podcast. She's a former pro triathlete and world champion who adopted a mindfulness practice way before it was cool. She's an absolute ray of light.
Reporting this article for SELF taught me a lot about thin privilege. The people I interviewed shared candid stories about their experiences exercising in larger bodies, from not being able to find clothes that fit to harassment. I hope I did their stories justice.
Olympic freeskier Eileen Gu is a total badass and way more relatable than I would have imagined.
The Real Fit podcast features real conversations with women athletes on topics like body image and confidence, my goal is to share stories that will let you know you're not alone and that you're already enough. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and anywhere you listen to juicy podcasts. New episodes every Tuesday.
Are you ready to renegotiate your relationshipwith movement, food, and your body?
I’m on a mission to help badass women like you stop wasting your precious energy on the quest to shrink your body. You were made to do amazing things and your obsession with food, exercise, and body image is a huge distraction.Together we can clear that mental clutter and turbocharge your path to being your best self.I'm a weight-neutral health coach, occupational therapist, and certified personal trainer and I offer 1:1 health coaching services.
My 34-page e-book, 7 Pitches that Sold is everything I wish I’d known when I started as a freelance writer, including pitches that turned into stories in The Washington Post, Runner's World, and Outside. **Use the code realfit50 to get half off*
Thank you so much for inviting me into your inbox.
If you appreciate receiving this newsletter, my podcast, or any of the other content I'm creating,you can show your gratitudeby treating me to a cup of coffee.
