I'm Supposed to Walk

Ok, so I hate exercising. It's no secret. Partly because it's really hard for me. Like super hard. I mean, walking up the tiny ramp to from the parking lot to my classroom leaves me winded, so you can see how the idea of purposely making myself winded and sweaty doesn't really get me excited. I know that it gets easier as you do it, so I'm giving it a whirl. again.

I despise walking on a treadmill. We actually own a really nice one, so that's kind of a bummer. I don't mind the elliptical machine really, but this house has kind of low ceilings so because I didn't want to be winded and have a permanent dent in the top of my head, we opted for the treadmill. Not a total loss, my husband actually uses it a lot.

When you feel really self conscious exercising in front of other people, the gym isn't so appealing. Even walking outside in my neighborhood feels kind of embarrassing. So over the past week or so, I've been walking at home with Leslie. I've used her videos before and recently found new versions on YouTube.

I started with this one. It's about 15 minutes and even I got through it pretty easily.



Then I quickly graduated to this one, which is two miles and about 30 minutes. It started to get really hard for me when the timer showed 13 minutes to go, but I just powered through and by the time it gets to 9 minutes, it starts to slow down a bit.



I was doing the videos by myself and my husband would go for a walk outside.  But Florida in the summer either means humidity so thick you can actually see it or monster thunderstorms. So he tried a video with me one day and he's been doing with me for a few days now. Can I just say that I love doing it with him. The video, people! When I find myself feeling like I want to stop, I push through because he's there. And if he can do it I can do it. Plus he's pretty motivating. I like the feeling of being in it together. We did the 2 mile walk for a few days and then he suggested trying the 3 mile walk. I wasn't sure I was ready, but I did it! The time seemed to go faster for some reason. So me, She-Who-Hates-Exercise, is actually exercising!



Now I'm really going to blow your mind. Not only have we been doing these videos every day, we have also been going for another walk outside at night! Can you even believe? And the weirdest part? I've actually started to look forward to the night walks. It's usually a little cooler after the sun goes down and it's dark and quiet. I put together a good playlist which is essential and we plug in and go! Here's what I'm listening to currently:

It's always hard at first, but the music takes my mind off of it and somewhere around Joss Stone, I find my groove and then I feel like I could walk for miles. My hubby walks a lot faster than me, so he usually takes off and then we meet up again when he's on his way back.  Last night when he was significantly ahead of me, I started to wonder if I could run to him if I needed to. Like if a bear darted out of the bushes or a rogue alligator started chasing me. So, I looked around and when I knew I was totally alone except for the random car driving by, I tried it. I'm sure it wasn't pretty, but I ran for about 8 steps. I really was kind of in amazement that I even did it at all, so then I decided to try it for a minute. And I did it! I ran for a minute. Now to many fit people, that's a total joke, but for me? MAJOR VICTORY! Now, I'm not sure I could outrun a bear or alligator, but I can run dammit. For a minute anyway. Was I totally winded after that minute, uh yeah. Majorly winded. but I walked it off.

I don't think running is really in my future. I have serious plantar fasciitis and a creaky knee and I'm killing both already with all this walking, but I might sneak a minute or two in here and there. You know why? Just because I can. I can dammit!