Taking a Walk That Becomes a Jog

When my husband and I got married, I went into the marriage knowing full well that my husband is in much better shape than I am.

I am very happy that I am a good shape but I wouldn't exactly say that I am in good shape.  I'm very happy with my body overall, and I am pleased with my narrow waist and dissatisfied with my sturdy ankles, but you know, on the whole, I feel pretty good about myself.

Still, my cardio health is not totally amazing, and I know I could work harder to maintain myself physically.

Meanwhile, my husband will drop to the floor mid-conversation to do, oh 20 push ups or whatever, and then just act like that's normal.  We have a pull-up bar in our door way (which is a terrible idea, by the way; it's ruining my trim), and he'll rack up as many as 125 pull ups over the course of the day.

One hundred and twenty five.  Pull ups, no less.  It's amazing and I love it, but it's also a high standard to live with.

Now, to be clear, he is wildly supportive of whatever I do or want to do.  He loves the crap out of me, and likes me the way I am, and all the best and most gooey marital love stuff.  (BTW, my husband is very amazing in nearly every conceivable way, just so you know.  He's also taken, so don't accidentally fall in love with him while you read my blog.)

Anyway, one of the things we are trying to do together is go for a run around the neighborhood regularly.

Now, remember, I hate running.

I have long insisted that my body was not built for running.  My greatest asset is between my ears, and running is just unnecessary body flopping down the road.  It's just bad.

But then I read Born to Run.  The author also didn't think he was built to run.

And through the arduous task of trying to learn to run, and hurting himself repeatedly, he went on a quest to find a better way to run.  It's a great book, a veritable international book of mystery to boot, and it got me off my duff and willing to go for a run for the first time in my life.

Very soon after we got married and I committed to this new exercise activity, I was relieved of the responsibility of running by the weather.  Thank God for night rains!  I successfully completed probably three runs, and was saved by drizzle.

Even Chris had to agree that running in the rain when you are new sucks, so he didn't make me go.

Then we had a very bitterly cold winter.  Spared the harsh reality of pounding the pavement for another two months.

We did take walks, however.

Chris says that two years ago, he could hardly do three pull ups in a row.  Now he does hundreds by the end of every week.  How did he get here?  Well, he decided to do a few a day, every day, until he could do a few more.  Then he would do a few more every day whenever he had the chance, and pretty soon, he was doing dozens of push ups, pull ups, and all manner of other body-weight gym exercises throughout every day.

And, as his wife, let me just say, he looks awesome.

Yes, this is my crazy husband on New Years' Eve, jumping in a lake in 20 degree weather.

He jumped in.  Twice.

Like a crazy person.

So anyway.  He assured me that even if all we did was go for a walk regularly, by the time we started running again, I would have improved.  Just moving my body regularly would keep me making progress, and when I took off for that first run again, it would be easier than it was in September.

And damn it if that man wasn't right.  We started to go for a walk today, and I voluntarily broke into a jog, and only stopped once to breathe.  Pardon the running joke, but those are huge strides for me!

I've lost a little weight in the last 3 months, and I am pleasantly surprised with the changes.  It helps that I make dinner most every night, to be sure.  But the point is, I feel amazing.

And I feel balanced.  I work all day in my home, so I am sitting and milling most of the day, and going for a run in the evening with my husband is a nice change of pace.

His advice is great, and should not be undersold.  Work a little all the time, and soon you'll have a habit.  And that habit will grow, and at the end, you'll be surprised at the distance you've gone in such a short time.

That's smart business advice, smart exercise advice, and smart life advice.  Getting bogged down in only the tasks you complete today, or only the goals you're accomplishing right now, neglects all the tasks you've completed so far and all the goals you've already accomplished.

So keep walking.  Because one day, you won't even notice that you started to run.