The hard truth is running when your out of shape SUCKS! It hurts and you are way to aware of every part of your body not cooperating or going along for the trip. I used to jog regularly and it used to be ‘easy’. But over half a decade of couch lounging and maybe going to a Zumba class once a month left me basically no endurance.
I am not a fitness enthusiast, nor do I even know how to properly lift a weight (Seriously I am open to advice!) but I have learned nothing gets better unless you a take a step in the right direction, literally. I set out to start jogging, and without a specific goal in mind I just wanted to get a bit healthier and get going!
I ended up picking up a very, very well-loved treadmill in decent shape from a kind older couple who had upgraded their equipment, I cleaned her up and decided to start jogging. Well actually it sat in the living room for almost a year and I spent more time dusting it than using it, but NOW, now I have decided to use it and that’s the real point here! I started with 15 minutes 2 nights a week. After that failed (Hey I’m being honest!) I dialed it back to once a week and did 20 minutes. That 20 minutes included a walking warm up for 5-6 mins and a cool down for the same… you do the math there wasn’t a lot of ‘jogging’ happening.
That’s the beauty of it though! I started, that was the accomplishment. I definitely felt proud too. I was excited to share the win of getting started at a pace I could keep up for a few weeks. After a few weeks of that I decided to try to do it a few nights a week. Then I could start doing 30 minutes, including warmup and cool down. Its been 3 months now and I can almost hit 60 minutes, I’m not winning any races anytime soon but I am so proud of myself for continuing to push and give myself the time to try and fail. I’m glad I decided to pick something and give it a go. I have to say the more you get into in it sucks way less. I’m at the point after several months that I am starting to enjoy the run and have even made a playlist for the 45 minutes of steady jog! Let’s see what happens in another few months?!
