If you were to ask me a year ago what I planned on for the future, I wouldn’t have said anything about running. I would have never considered the idea of not smoking or even putting on a pair of Nike’s and pulling a Forrest Gump. Here I am though. It is a new year and with a new year, comes resolutions. We all make them. We all say we’ll do this and do that. But how often do people actually stick with it? I know I never have. I know I have said plenty of times that I would try this and try that but after a week of being a person that I am not, I drop that silly resolution and go back to being the normal, immature person that I am.

I have a few resolutions this year I want to complete. There are times when I feel life dealt me a shitty hand and I have no more chips to even try to get myself out of the rut. But lately, life seems to be giving me a break. Maybe it’s me. Maybe I am the reason for this sudden change in life and the content I feel. I am not trying to make this a sappy post about my life and how I feel like life is going great. While life is going good, this isn’t about life. It’s about me. It’s about my sudden urge to run. I am not a runner. I haven’t ran since Freshman year in high school. That was a very long time ago. Take years of zero exercise and add in another 12 or so years of smoking. These two things took a toll and basically stopped me from ever trying to be some sort of active member of society.

I will not lie to you. I am a sloth. I am a lazy person who has never had any desire to exercise or run. It is a waste of my time. I am not fit. I don’t have a six pack and don’t think I even know what a muscle looks like. I rather not waste my time with something so stupid as running and what people think of as, ‘getting in shape’. I don’t have time for that. I have things to do.

That was me two weeks ago. I quit smoking. I can cross that off my list. I said I wanted to be healthy and what better way to do that then run. I say that but will I actually do it I could have done so many other things to try to be healthy but I would have never put on a pair of running shoes and gone out and run for no reason. But I am. I am running. I am not a runner. I am not a marathon junkie or someone who needs to run to lose those pounds they gained over the holiday. I am none of things. I am just a guy who likes to run.I run. It’s a funny thing to say that. I never thought I would actually take up something so hard. But I did. I put on my shoes, wrapped those headphones around me and hit the park for a quick run.

I started running on 01/26/2012. I have ran everyday since then. There have been a few days that I think of skipping a day but I know doing that will ruin it and I will give up entirely on this new life event of mine. I don’t want to make what I am doing to be better than other runners. I know there are plenty of people who run miles every morning. I don’t . I run just a single mile. I am slowly working on going for two and soon, I’ll hit 3 miles. For now, I stick to one. I want to hit my goal of 8 minutes or under before I go for 2 or 3 miles. Have I hit it yet? No but I am close. I get closer after each run.

Each morning when I get up, I do the same thing. I make a cup of coffee. I will sit and read news on the web while I drink my morning cup of joe. After the coffee is gone, I suit up and stretch. I have noticed that my right foot will stay straight up but my left foot tends to bend to the left and it takes some serious adjusting to get it to point upwards. Painful it is. Makes me wonder why it does that. Could get it checked out but I don’t like doctors and things never go well for me when I do go.

After my stretch, I head to a nearby park. I park my car is the same spot (or at least around it). I will cue up RunKeeper and hit, ‘start activity’. From there, I run. The running is pure bliss. It’s my time to relax and reflect on things that I worry about. Running is getting me in shape and it’s also bringing a sense of peace to me.

I like the course I am running. It’s empty and close to home. I haven’t changed my course yet. I want to get comfortable in this area before I start trying new routes and aim for a faster run with a better time and pace. For now, I stick to what I know and force myself to go a little further every time. Have I gone further?

Yes. Not by much but I am. When I first started, I barely went .30 miles before I was winded and had to walk a good length before I had enough energy to run again. The next day, I pushed myself a bit more. The next time, a little more and so and on and so forth. Every day I reach a little further on the path than I did the day before. It’s exciting and gives me a sense of fulfillment that I am improving a little each day. Again, I want to make this clear. I am not trying to make it sound like I am the greatest runner alive or that I am improving beyond belief. I am just wanting to share with my readers that I am trying to improve myself with running and for someone who hasn’t run for almost 18 years, it’s improvement nonetheless.

I am going to keep running. I am going to GOFAR. My goal is 8 minutes. I will hit that. I am determined. I am thinking of going for 2 miles next week. Not all the time but here and there. Just a little something to push myself more. If you do run, check out Anywhere5k.com. It’s an awesome site for all runners alike. While I haven’t ran my own 5k, I will. You never know, maybe I might be running 10k’s by next year. Little by little, I improve. I would love to talk to you more but I need to get to sleep soon. I need to be up early to run.