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“Ugh. I just feel so old.”
 
My husband and I say that to each other on a regular basis. Creaking our way out of bed in the morning or out of breath after a quick game of chase with the kids, we just feel old. Much older than we should.
 
I’m smart enough to know the formula for feeling better: put good food in your body and get your body moving. I am fully aware that the amount of muffins and pasta and Malbec I’m putting in my body is not good for me. The pristine condition of my workout shoes is a bright yellow reminder that no one – neither my shoes nor my body - is getting a workout.
 
My husband recently went for a routine physical and shared his woes with the doctor. “You have to get some aerobic exercise,” said the doc. “It’s as simple as that.”
 
So we set out to make an exercise plan. How would we balance our schedules to fit in a workout without being away from home/the kids too much? We both had a million excuses and my yellow shoes are still staring at me from the shoe rack.
 
We both belong to the Y. It’s open before the sun comes up and closes well after the kids go to bed. Seven days a week. They have babysitting for the kids and more cardio machines and exercise classes than we could possibly use. So what are we waiting for? Why is it so hard to get started?
 
As fate would have it, fellow Y blogger, Jessica, mentioned to a few friends that she was going to try the Run Like a Mother 5K (info here) and wondered if a few of us would join her. She, like me, hates running and admits that she isn’t very good.
 
For those who run a 5K as a warm up…good for you. That’s awesome. But I have never liked running and always feel like I’m about to trip with every step. My inner dialogue goes something like this, “Am I going too fast? Too slow? Do I look weird? Why I am getting this cramp in my side? Are my cheeks really flushed? Because I feel like a tomato.”
 
I knew, though, that this was the perfect motivation to get me off of the proverbial couch and doing SOMETHING. It’s on Mother’s Day; it’s all about women and families; and there’s a training program involved. And the fact that Jessica and others will be there struggling together and supporting each other made it very appealing to me.
 
I started to get really excited about the idea that I would run a 5K (again – a BIG deal for me) before I turn 40 this fall. Have I donned my workout shoes yet? Not quite. Will I? Yes. I’ll fight it every sluggish step of the way, but I’m excited to get started and see what kind of progress this old body will make.