Zero

It all started with a plate of Christmas Dinner, 2009. As I sat staring at the bits of mashed potatoes and cranberry left on my plate, like remnants of a battle, I decided then and there that my lifetime of procrastination would come to an end. I pushed back from the table, which felt more like a barge shoving off from the dock at that moment, and decided I would don a pair of running shoes the next day and see what happens....

They weren't the right shoes, simply my cross trainers that I bought because they were "cute". I didn't have a playlist on my Ipod (Truth be told, prior to my little running hobby, I had never really created one....shhhh). I had on one of John's T-Shirts and a pair of old shorts I found in a drawer, probably from high school.

Despite all of this, I took off out the front door of my folks house and fumbled around the 1/2 mile loop, looking less like a runner and more like a refugee fleeing some war-torn country, gasping and pleaing for water. All of this in the first 100 yards! But guess what? I did it. I put one foot in front of the other and I did it. And then I did it again, and again. Like many of you, I had started exerise routines, made resolutions, set goals and QUIT. That is a vicious cycle of defeat and had to be broken. The thing about resolutions, especially New Year's ones, is to start them a few days ahead of everyone else. The odds of keeping them are much greater without all of the added pressure of a lifetime of failed ones!!

Still, I made yet another promise to myself that if I kept this up for 2 straight weeks, I would get to go shopping for new shoes. Well, apparently I found my own catalyst for exercise: the promise of a trip to the mall! 2 weeks past and I headed proudly into Fit 2 Run to buy my first pair of real running shoes, a pair of Brooks Glycerines. And like anyone trying to fit in to an awkward situation, I pretended to know all about pronations and gaits, then quickly googled them when I got home. (in case you were wondering, I over-pronate and have a heavy heel strike...)

But the moral of this story is just START. Put one foot in front of the other, over and over and over. You'll be amazed at what you will do!