I’ve never considered myself to be especially unhealthy or not fit. There was a period in time in which I rarely went outside around early elementary school days, but besides that I was actively going out to play. I never preferred to stay in if I had to option of going out to play tag, bike, and so on. In middle school I started playing more sports but with a big focus on handball. I would go to school early just to play and on weekends you would find me on a handball court for hours. Some would say it’s not a real sport, but it’s undeniable the amount of physical fatigue one experiences while playing it. Roll into high school.

Entering freshman gym, I was kind of taken back. I’ve heard rumors but I didn’t think I’d suddenly find myself running a mile on the first day. I was able to finish in about 9 minutes and without any stopping. Although it wasn’t a great time I was quite satisfied that I finished without any stops! As freshman year progressed, my times got better and I felt very fit and in shape, more so than I had ever been. Sure, it was grueling but I’d say if I had the choice to go back and choose a different teacher I would not. This isn’t to say that I did not have a hard time. My asthma would sometimes make me want to drop down and just go into fetal position and not move. But I pushed on despite that (more on this in the future).

After freshman year, I decided to give track a try. It started with indoor track and from there it quickly spiraled out of control. I soon found myself in junior year running cross country - the one thing I told myself I would not run. I’d say this was my peak fitness as I was able to hit around a 21 minute 5k and I put a lot of energy into the track workouts and the gym afterwards so that I could do better in my events. However, with barely an improvement I definitely just kind of left it at that and just stayed on the team for the fitness during senior year.

After high school I must have run at most four times in the summer and school year that followed. Basically my life became one of just sitting, walking, and not much other physical activity (besides the occasional biking with my friend). I had become the antithesis to what I had been in high school, it bothered me but school and work was much too draining or so I liked to tell myself. In retrospect it was definitely just an excuse and if I had really thought to do so I could have easily carved out some time to go running as I was rarely ever that worn out to do so. Which all leads me to my current summer. I ran Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for a week or two but I fell out of habit because I couldn’t wake up and then I got sick. I realized consistency is one thing that humans are good at - I needed to fall into the habit of actually running, so I decided I’d do just that and decided to run everyday at least a little.

I’ve got to stop saying, stop making excuses and just make it a part of my day like eating or listening to music on my commute might be. Something I don’t think about too much and would only miss out on in extraordinary circumstances. I started this in the summer in the hopes that it would be ingrained in me and thus I would be able to do this into the school year, although I suppose the winter may be a problem. On top of that I decided to do some body weight exercises to get some strength in as well. Which in the end is to combat this unfit feeling I have from gorging on food and not doing anything physical. It’s kind of funny how adverse people are to things that are good for them. Anyways, back into running starting tomorrow and I will run daily, controlling distance and speed as I go.