The Quest for a Mile

All right, let me say first and foremost that I created this blog to give me a sense of accountability, so even if you are just a casual reader checking out this site, please leave me a comment just so that I know that there are people watching and that I can't slack up this time. Thank you.

Okay, now to introduce myself. I'm Jogging Auburn ... or, at least, I will be. I am a 25-year-old artist-turned-special education teacher. I have a wonderful husband who is the pinnacle of athletic perfection without even trying, haha. And as for me ... well, I have a whole bunch of excellent excuses:

1) I'm often exhausted from my job. Waking up at 4:45 or 5:00 every school day to get to class by 6:45 is pretty tiring. When I get home, I just want to sit, not exercise.
2) When I was about 19 or 20, I developed exercised-induced asthma just out of the clear blue sky, so it's hard for me to breathe if I push myself too hard.
3) When I was on the tennis team in college, I tore the muscles in my back while doing Olympic-style weightlifting, so I'm limited with exercising because my back can lock up.
4) I've got so far to go, it's kind of overwhelming. Since my good ole college tennis days, I have managed to put on about 80 pounds. I am not proud of this, and it's kind of like I woke up one day and was like, "Well, gee, I can't wear any of my clothes anymore. How did that happen??" Once you realize that you're fat, there is a shame element to working out. You know what I mean?

However, despite all these excuses, I have come to realize that excuses are truly what they are. I can spin excuses all day long, but that doesn't mean that they are going to go away (well, except for possibly number 4). This is the hand I have been dealt, and there are people out there who have even more. The truth is, I want to be fit for myself. I want to be proud of myself and look at myself in the mirror and smile at what's there instead of judging what I see ... or worse, IGNORING what I see. I want to get in shape so that when I am ready to have kids in a couple of years, I can be that fun mom who runs around and plays with them, instead of panting on the side, waving my hand, and saying, "You kids run on and let Mommy rest a minute."

So I got a treadmill.

And I'm scared to death to use it.

I mean, a mile is scary when you're reeeeally out of shape. It almost seems insurmountable. I mean, have you ever tried exercising for something, and you try on the so-called "Beginner" level, and it totally wears you out to the point that you are sweating like a stuck hog and feel like a bloated manatee, and the next day comes and you're like, "Man, that was hard! I think I'll just sit down and watch me some Dr. Phil instead." You might laugh, but it's only because you know it's true! And I also really hate the exercise videos that claim to be easy to follow, so you pop it in all ready to go, and there is a perky, slender woman who says she's gonna get you into shape, and as soon as the music starts, she begins doing a ton of complicated moves without warning, spasing out all over the screen in an upbeat whirlwind of aerobics, and I might try to flail around with her for a few minutes, but I find that I mostly end up staring at the screen in a trance, trying to figure out how she is even getting her body to DO those moves, much less copy them for myself.

Anyway, I've got a plan to get myself to run a mile. See what you think. I have attempted to begin this routine before, but after about three days I stop because I know no one cares but me, and Dr. Phil calleth. I know I can jog on a speed setting of 4, and mathematically, if I jog on that speed, it will take 15 minutes to jog a mile. No way can I jog for 15 minutes (at least now, anyway), so I'm gonna build up my tolerance. I plan to begin by jogging for 1 minute and then walking for two minutes, until I jog my whole 15 minutes. Next day I can jog for 1 minute, 5 seconds, and walk for two minutes. We'll see how that goes. As I said before, there is a shame element to exercising when you're in the hole as much as I am (even now I'm sitting here thinking, "Dang, you can ONLY jog for one minute?!" and another part of me says, "At least, I HOPE I can jog for one minute!" It's the Couch Potato Remorse talking.)

So, here is to new beginnings, and pursuing that Quest for One Mile. Who's with me?? I think I might even try to do my first session this afternoon ... oh geez!! What have I gotten myself into?!?

Posted in: exercise, jogging on Monday, July 20, 2009 at at 11:24 AM