My opinion about exercise is this: if you don’t enjoy it, you won’t do it. That’s not to say that I’ve always got a huge smile on my face when I’m huffing and puffing through my run, or that it’s always hearts and flowers. What I mean is that in order to have an exercise routine that becomes a lifestyle, you have to find something that you actually enjoy doing for most of the time.
For me, my exercise routine is all about running. I started running when I was in high school. For awhile there, I wasn’t allowed to run on the roads by my home. My parents, being the reasonable, responsible people that they are, didn’t think it was a great idea to let a skinny blonde go running on deserted country roads surrounded by cornfields all by herself. Thank goodness.
Eventually, I was considered grown-up enough to fend off any attackers go running on my own. I loved running in the country, and I still say there’s nothing like it. It’s relaxing to look around and see nothing but fields with the occasional cow or barn or tractor. A car will go by every now and then, but mostly it’s just you.
I kept up my running during undergrad. I must have had a death wish, though, because during freshman year I thought it was a good idea to go running in the evening when it was dark. My big brother found out and quickly put an end to that, so I switched to being an early-morning riser. Suburban running was strange to me. All those sidewalks and streets and cars! I didn’t particularly care for it, but it beat trying to hack my way through the masses in the student gym. I expanded my running routes and added in some hills and trails, but I never had any desire to run competitively. I did the rare 5K with my sister, but that was it. Running just for the sake of running and staying healthy was my reward.
And then I got married. Funny how having a 2 hour round-trip commute can put a cramp in your running style. We lived halfway between my grad school and halfway between Chris’ grad school, and it was quite a drive for both of us. I was also working on campus for 20 hours a week on top of a full class load. I tried to continue my running, but the small town we’d moved to wasn’t very inspiring: piles of garbage, rusty fences, cavernous pot-holes, and a creeper who always seemed to be on his porch whenever I ran by. Eventually I said, “Forget it!” and threw in the towel.
This was not a good decision. I was up to my eyeballs in stress – working, studying, moving, making career changes - and wasn’t doing anything healthy to deal with it. I pretty much stopped exercising completely for about 2 years. Net result: I gained weight. Shocker, I know!
When we moved to Massachusetts, I was upset with myself for being so out of shape. I started using the complex’s gym a few days a week, but I’ve never liked exercising with a bunch of other people. I did some research and found a treadmill on Craigslist that was reasonably priced and within driving distance. I promised Chris that if I bought it, I’d use it faithfully.
And I did. I loved that treadmill. I jogged 5 days a week in my own home. It was different from running on the roads, but we lived in a pretty traffic-heavy part of town with no sidewalks. It was very pedestrian unfriendly. I also started to add the 30 Day Shred DVD, again, keeping the mindset that exercise was something to be enjoyed, not dreaded. I didn’t do the DVD 30 days in a row as suggested, but worked at my own pace on top of my running. Net result: I lost weight! I kept up with the treadmill once we moved to South Bend, but backed off on the DVDs and basically maintained my weight {I did lose a few more pounds}.
We sold the treadmill before moving to New Zealand and bought a new one once we were over here. I’ve gotten some good-natured teasing about my treadmill from some road-warrior family members and a few of my blogging friends :-) I know where you’re coming from – I used to be like you and swore that I’d never run on a treadmill. But now, I’m really thankful for it. I love that I can go for a run whenever I want to. I love that I don’t have to pay a gym fee. I like that I’m not running on the sidewalks of downtown Auckland. And I really enjoy it. I may never be a marathon runner or do triathlons, but I feel good about my running and it makes me happy. I’d like to be in better shape than I am, and sometimes I read about you wonder-women out there who do all of these races and training and competitions and think, “Wow! That’s awesome!” But for now, I’m thankful for what I have and where I’m at :-)
