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 🙂