Runner's Watch Out

I'm excited about a new adventure I'm about to embark on. It's called exercise and I've never really tried it before. Back in my single days when I had SO MUCH MORE TIME I had a gym membership and went with a co-worker occasionally but even then I would hardly break a sweat. Now that I have two children I feel like my activity level is equal to running a marathon so I have not felt much need for the big E word. I definitely still have a few pounds to shed from my last pregnancy and since Emmie is now 6 months old I'm thinking a few changes might need to take place. There has been a few other subtle clues that have lead me in this direction.

My husband has been putting into practice this principle from Henry Cloud that says to get rid of clutter you should throw away or re-organize your house for 10 mins. everyday. The result of this cleaning has made our treadmill in our room no longer a closet for our clothes but actually a machine that one could use to move on.

Rhett is in pre-school two days a week for 3 hours at a time. I have no problem filling those time gaps with endless tasks that need to be done and books that need to be read and now blogs that need to be written but maybe just maybe I could also squeeze some exercise in there as well.

A close friend of mine ususally watches Rhett for me for a few hours every week. I'm not sure why she does this since I don't really need her to. I think part of it is because I watch her kids and she wants to payback the favor. I think the main reason is she is a loving friend who cares about me and wants me to have some personal time. I guess it's just a coincidence this same friend is in such good shape she often calls me from her cell phone while she is running to carry on a long conversation. I think God might be using her to inspire me.

My last clue is that I just kind of stumbled on this great website called www.coolrunning.com. Some friends of ours told Rod about it but clearly it was meant for me since he has worked out everyday no matter what for the past jillion years. Do I sound inspired with a tad bit of bitterness. My husbands discipline does inspire me and I just realized while typing this that another benefit to tackling the E thing would be giving us something else to share together.

So here is the plan. Once my cold clears up I will be doing "the couch-5K running plan" found on the coolrunning website. It actually looks like something I can handle. I'm planning on running three days a week when Rhett's gone. I'll either run outside in the fresh air with Emmie in her stroller or on our clutter free treadmill. If you think of it say a prayer for me. I'll keep you posted. If all else fails I could rent Cool Runnings the movie and live vicariously through a bobsled team.