If anyone would have told me I would some day be hooked on exercise, I would have thought they were nuts! I’ve understood the importance of exercise for as long as I can remember. And I’ve made the effort to get at least a little exercise a few times a week. But as often as not, when times were busy, the exercise was the first to go.
Now I feel my day is missing something if I have not exercised. Not only do I WANT to exercise but I feel best when it is vigorous exercise. What changed? Might it be possible for you also?
I’ve been a walker for as long as I can remember. But not a consistent walker. I had actually been a jogger in my early 20′s. Then a well-meaning but misinformed doctor advised me to stop joggging. I reluctantly followed that advice and gave it up for more than 20 years. And so I became a walker instead.
One day when my daughter was in Middle School I stood on the sidelines watching while she and a friend practiced running a mile at a University track. Other than the banter between my daughter and her friend, it was quiet. I realized we were the only ones at the track. With no one there to watch, I was tempted to see if I could still jog a mile .
I was in my mid-forties and I felt healthy enough to give it a try. A mile at this particular track was 12 laps. I thought I could manage that… I could only jog three laps with quite some effort! Only three or less than a quarter of a mile! That got my attention!
At that moment I decided I WOULD JOG whether it was advised or not. I no longer cared to have someone stop me. I decided I would start with jogging just three laps 3-4 times a week. Each week I would add one more lap. Within just a few months, I was jogging over a mile. In a few more months, I could go a mile and a half. I was feeling better, much better. I had more energy, more stamina, and fewer problems with my advance into the unknown of perimenopause.
That was in the months before 9/11…
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