I can hardly believe it, but I just RAN on my treadmill!

I have always been intrigued with running. I remember trying to take up jogging as a teenager (I was overweight then, too) and it just never worked out for me. I admired people who were runners--to me, that was the ultimate sign of fitness. I was embarassed that I couldn't do it--always the last one across the finish line in gym class, limping the last leg of the track with legs and lungs burning and a stitch in my side. I had pretty much given up on the idea a long time ago.

But this week, I decided to try again. Two days ago, I nudged the speed up on my treadmill when I was walking, just a little faster than I could walk comfortably. I walked/jogged for just a couple minutes at first and fell in love with how it felt. Tonight, with my teadmill at a level 2 incline, I jogged at almost 4 miles per hour for nearly 10 minutes. I actually felt like I could do more, but I was short on time. This probably seems like baby stuff to the hard core runners out there, but I feel so good I am positively beaming. I am so excited to continue increasing my fitness. I hope someday to build up to be able to run a 5K. I know for sure I could have never done this before losing weight--in fact, I wouldn't have even tried, for fear of killing myself in the process. Even though I am still at 211 pounds, I am continuing to reclaim my life one pound at a time. It amazes me how much I was missing out on and didn't even realize it!

If there's something you were afraid to do when you were heavier, maybe it's time to challenge yourself to at least try. You might find out that you've come farther than you realize and you might just succeed!