"Excuse me...can I talk to you for a minute?"

I am by no stretch of the imagination socially inept; however, when I am not familiar with my surroundings I can certainly get a little awkward.

That being said, I recently decided to join a running group. I’ve been looking to expand my social network for quite some time considering that the majority of my friends live out of state, and I figured that this would be an excellent place to start. However, that means interacting with people I’ve never met before while possibly looking like a slow paced buffoon while running (thank goodness the majority of the meet ups are at night).

The last thing I wanted to do – and unfortunately what I envisioned happening – was showing up, clamming up and running by myself. This would totally defeat the purpose of joining, which is to run socially.

The night came when I was going to make myself go. I literally had to force myself to get dressed, walk to my car, drive…you get the picture. I pulled into the parking lot where we were supposed to meet, glanced around, moved my car, looked around some more, decided to stay in my car, and then thankfully a friend called and the embarrassing process came to a halt. While still on the phone with her I bravely exited my car and started meandering over. Upon hanging up I…knocked it out of the park! I immediately began introducing myself to everybody, and it turned out that they are all very nice people – shocker, I know.

While I’m talking to one of the older guys in the group, I see an incredibly attractive young man join the group from the corner of my eye. My senses immediately perk up. Running group just got interesting.

Now, in the past I would have 1. Stood there, subtly stealing glances at him 2. Done nothing 3. Continued to stare hoping he did something and 4. Clam up and run by myself.

Well, not this time my friends! I saw him (he was conversing with another guy), finished my conversation, quickly (and I actually do mean quickly) gathered my nerves, and walked right over and introduced myself. It was glorious! While I was slightly nervous, I managed to be coherent and I think fun and teasing. The nice thing was that he was teasing back. I’m not saying this is the start of something magical, but it’s a start to actually talk to the guy!

There’s not much more to share about our interactions during the rest of the night because there weren’t any. We ran (him quite a ways in front of me…I couldn’t even enjoy the view), came back and everyone chatted for a bit and then we all parted ways. However, I still classify the night as a success. I approached a guy! And not just any guy, but one that I am attracted to. That might not seem like a big deal, but for me it is a HUGE step in the right direction.

I think the most exciting thing was not that I talked to a hot guy - although don’t get me wrong, that was awesome - but that I proved that I was capable of something I didn’t think I was. That my hard work – and I have been working extremely hard on this – is paying off and I am strengthening a weaker personal area. A shift has occurred and I definitely want to keep on this same path…especially if it leads to more interactions with hot running guy!