Exercising!

Looking at my life, it's pretty clear to me that I need to make a change.  Exercise used to be a legit part of my life.  When I was a kid, I was always in a sport.  Always.  I played soccer in the fall and spring, skied in the winter, played softball in the spring, and swam in the summer.  Plus there was bike riding, running around, you name it, we did it.  And of course there was the ever present dance.  I used to dance at least three days a week, reaching the five days a week level at one point.  For hardcore dancers that's nothing, but I wasn't a hardcore dancer.  So basically I had lots of exercise.

At one point, I had to learn how to run for soccer.  They used to make us run about three miles during practice a few days a week.  Good conditioning they would tell us.  For me it was a bit pointless because I was the goalie who never really had to run anywhere.  But at least I could run there fast!  Then eventually I gave up soccer (it got way to competitive and I didn't like my teammates), gave up softball because I never really liked it, and wasn't as active during the summer because I had jobs.  Then after high school I stopped dancing.  I tried to get back into it after a year but it just didn't work out.  I think the thing was that all my activities ended slowly so I didn't realize that I'd eliminated most exercise from my daily routine until it was a huge problem.

Two years ago I decided to make a change.  It was right around the time of my first reunion and I knew that something had to give.  I wasn't sleeping, and I was constantly on edge.  My stress level was through the roof and I couldn't handle my life.  I found my first mother and while that helped a little bit, I was sent into the spinning vortex that is reunion.  And I had a lot of free time on my hands.  So I got a Wii Fit.  And I started working out everyday.  And then I started to feel better about myself.  I didn't think I could get in shape using a Wii Fit but it was perfect for me and what I was trying to do.  I actually noticed a difference.  And then the summer hit and I gave it up until I could go back to school.  When I went back, I had a job.  Between my nearly full time job and more than full time graduate program, I didn't have time to sleep, let alone exercise.  So out of shape I fell again.

Now that I'm just working full time (no more school!) I've been trying to think of ways to be more healthy.  I tried the Yoga thing and did OK with it, but it wasn't enough exercise for me to get all my pent up energy out.  I'm taking a dance class which is really intense (an hour of tap dancing - trust me it's not easy!) but that's only one day a week, and it's not enough.

So I decided that I'm going to start running.  Before this turns into yet another thing I start but don't finish, I did my homework.  I figured out the best way to start training (running for 30 seconds to a minute, and then walking for two minutes for about a half hour).  If I run three days a week (totally doable with our treadmill in the basement) I think I can be in decent running shape in about three weeks, as in I should be able to run for about ten minutes.  Once I get to that point, I can start working towards my new goal, to run a 5K.  There's a 5K in May that I have my eye set on.  It's two towns over and the registration fee isn't bad at all.  I think I can do it.  I'm going to give it my best shot anyway.

I'm hoping that running will become fun the way that it used to be.  It's not fun for me when I start out.  I don't like trying to get into shape.  But once I'm there, it becomes so much fun that I look forward to it.  Or so I remember.  So I want to get to that point.  I'm going to give it my best effort.  We'll see how this one goes...