For the Love of Running...

The title of this blog post is VERY decieving because you see, I HATE running. I always have. Other sports and exercise I really like. Take swimming for example, I could swim for hours and not miss a beat but ask me to run just a few minutes and I will begin coming up with a million excuses as to why I can't do that right now. Can anyone relate? Well, lately I have been trying to figure out a way to get in shape. For much of my life I have been pursuing this quest. Lately, I have been trying to find a plan that I can follow, one that is challenging yet DOABLE, with attainable goals and measurable ways to know that I am accomplishing the task. I came across this amazing program called "couch25k" www.c25k.com Basically, it takes people like myself who are not runners by nature (or habit, or skill) and turns us into people who are able to run a 5k (or 30 minutes straight) at the end of 9 weeks. The commitment is simply 25-30 minutes 3 times per week. Week 1, you begin with a warm-up walk of 5 minutes and then walking for 90 seconds and then jogging for 60 seconds and then repeating that for 20 minutes (for a total of 25 minutes). Each week you drop more of the walking parts until you are running for the entire time. Today was my second day. I am LOVING this. I have never enjoyed jogging so much in my life and I think it would be prety amazing if I could actually run for 30 minutes at the end of this. Fortunately, at the hotel by my house there is an awesome jogging path that I do this on. For those of you who live in America or another developed place you could easily do this in your neighborhood or local gym. For those of you who live on this side of the world, finding a place to do this may be more difficult. I would suggest that you try and find a hotel with a gym. If that isn't possbile (which I realize for many of you it isn't), I would simply encourage you to find something you can do to be active and exercising. There are workout videos family can send from America, you could run up and down the stairs in your apartment building (ok maybe not but it's an idea), or simply walking a little faster when you go to the market or to visit a friend. I am learning that just a few small changes can make a big difference in the way we feel and even look. I tend to try to go all out, to do too much and then I burn out and don't finish what I have started. I am praying that I will keep this up for 9 weeks to finish the program but more than that, I am hoping that at the end of the 9 weeks my "hate" for running will turn into a "love". And now that I have posted it on my blog for the world to see, maybe that will be motivation enough to finish!

What things do you do to stay in shape, get in shape or exercise? I would love to hear your ways and ideas!