Wednesday morning I was too lazy to get up at 6am and fit my walk in before everyone was out of bed.  My “punishment” was doing it with the twins in-tow.  I’m not really good with numbers but, by my calculations, a double stroller, two 3 1/2 year-olds, two drink boxes, a bag of snacks and a bottle of water weighs approximately…hmmm…500 lbs?  Give or take a pound.  (I have a flare for the dramatic.)  What you are witnessing in the picture above is my first…wait…second running selfie.  (It’s telling me I spelled selfie wrong…like they are TOTALLY behind the times, right?  I mean, right?  And you know a 37-year-old always knows what’s up.)

I think the one of me is fuzzy because of the humidity…I’m not really sure, but it looks like I added the “soft and dreamy” editing.  I took it fast because I was in public and, honestly, a little embarrassed to be taking a selfie (I’m not the right generation for a high selfie-to-comfort threshold.)

This week I should be walking 50 minutes x at least 3 days.  So far I’ve walked twice:

Monday – 30 minutes/1.92 miles

Wednesday – 57 minutes/3.65 miles

It was suppose to be the big 60 minute walk, but my Map My Run time disappeared on my screen and so I just had to guess I had reached it.  I was off by 3 minutes.  So the plan is to walk Friday morning for 40-50 mins and then, hopefully do another 60 minute walk this weekend and I should be ahead of schedule.

It has been harder than I thought to continue walking.  When I do go out and walk I really have to fight the urge to jog.  I feel sooo slllowww walking.  But I am learning patience.  Something I know I lack in this arena.  How my brain works is, if I want to get fit, I should be able to attend one class and be done.  If I eat one healthy meal, I jump on the scale to see if it made a difference (slight exaggeration, but you know what I mean).  After all, I’m pretty sure eating one “indulgent” meal puts on at least five pounds.  Apparently it’s not true in reverse.  However, I’ve been injured in the past (shin splits and fractured foot) and I’ve given up before.  I was impatient with the process, the journey.

I wanted to get it over with, like pulling off a band-aid, because I knew it was going to hurt to change and the fear and apathy kept me stagnant.  I don’t think fear and apathy are only enemies to fitness goals.  They’re part of what keep most of us from seeing our goals through. I sold myself my own version of the magic pill infomercial.  True change, however, is Father Time’s close companion and only the passage of it and strength during it creates the change.  Honestly, it’s the challenges and struggles we overcome during change that provide us the solid foundation on which we can continue to build and grow.

So, walking it is.  Boring, unexciting, but effective walking.  At least during Florida summers I will break a sweat just walking down the driveway – makes me look efficient.