5 Miles

The second I start writing about my fitness progress is usually the second I start to slack off from working out regularly. This time is different. I have reached an all-time first for me. Last night I decided to skip the treadmill like I have been using for the past three weeks and chose to jog on the indoor track instead.

Before I continue, I'd like to recap the past several months. I started exercising consistently sometime in February, and I worked my way up to jogging 3 miles. I ran in a 5k in April for the first time ever. I had never been in such good shape. Unfortunately though, over the summer I became somewhat lazy and backed off from all that progress. I didn't exercise for at least two and a half months. I don't know if it was the summer heat or what, but I had no motivation whatsoever.

Something sparked me to work out again in late August/early September. I've been recording the food I eat and the work outs I've completed. To be honest, my main goal this time wasn't to be healthy. I knew I had exactly two months before the Marine Ball, and I wanted to look good! Along the way though, my drive to be healthy and to exercise has only increased. For the past three weeks or so, I've been walking on the treadmill for about an hour three to four times a week. The treadmills at UTM have TVs on them, so you better believe I've been catching up on all kinds of Food Network shows! The Food Network has helped me to be motivated to get off the couch and in the gym. More recently, I've started to add little jogs into my long walks. James asked me earlier this week if I have been able to jog two miles consistently again. As far as I knew, I had not reached that point yet. On the treadmill, I have been able to jog about a mile or so before my calves started "screaming" at me, so I'd stop jogging and walk for the rest of the time.

Back to my original story: I started jogging on the track around 7:55pm last night and did not stop until 8:45pm. I kept thinking "one more half mile" . . . "one more half mile". The next thing I knew, I had jogged five miles! And it felt so good too! It really is a great feeling to push so hard and achieve more than I ever thought possible.