Let’s try this again.

Today I went to the gym and ran a little over 1/2 of a mile, and shaved 10 seconds off of my stationary bike time. I hurt all over and am still a little shaky, but I feel fantastic. It is hard to replicate the way your body feels and the induced high you get after you work out.

Recently, Saturday Jane posted a great debate between her many selves about excersize and working out, and her own experiences with it. This has made me reflect on my thoughts working out and what keeps me going during my sessions, and I’ve figured out what it is:

The Shower Afterwards.

Seriously. It’s the best part. I love the burn, and getting past my goals, and if I hadn’t been completely exhausted by the final push in my biking to beat my previous time, I’d have danced across the gym, regardless of any stares that might induce.

But the best part is when you can relax your weary muscles in a steady stream of hot water, and slough off the sweat and dirt and grime and stress that comes along with exersize and life.

It is the best, and I look forward to it during ever minute of every step of every lap I run every day. It’s a nice motivation. Not to mention the proud feeling afterwards, knowing I actually followed through with my goals.

My current goal is to get to the point where I can do my cycling in 4 minutes and thirty seconds (as of today, I’m six minutes and thirty seconds), and run an entire mile without bursting into tears, like I would in elementary-school PE.

What are your goals?

I’ve been going running, walking, or biking for 30 minutes every day for about two weeks now. I don’t actually run or bike the entirety of those 30 minutes… But every day I try to go a little bit farther.

I can’t look at myself and see any physical results, but I sure can feel them. I stand up a little bit straighter, my lungs feel awesome after the burn of excersize, I’m a little bit more flexible, the list goes on! A few people have commented that I look like I’m in better shape, but I seriously doubt two weeks would make a visible difference. My goal is just to become in the habit of excersizing, and to push myself a little more each day.

Many of my friends ask me “How far do you run?” and I couldn’t say until yesterday when a friend posted the handy gmaps pedometer. This website is awesome for figuring out your distance! I learned that I can run (with walking spurts) for about .8 of a mile. As someone who has never been in peak physical condition (I was always the last runner during the elementary school torture known as “Running The Mile”) this is pretty freakin’ exciting.

I think I’m also enjoying the sheer pleasure of just being outside in the sunshine, even though side effects include scratching your upper arm two hours later and discovering a GIANT SPIDER IN YOUR HAND OHMIGOSH-

Yeah, I’m still recovering from that. But I’m still going out every morning, fear of spiders nonwithstanding.