Some of us are made to run. Not me. Earlier this week Shane had a strange notion to go for a run. After three days of trying to get up early enough to exercise, he finally made it out of bed and across the street to the park to run one mile. He came back glowing with pride and sweat. "9 minutes, 31 seconds". That is when I began to wonder how fast I could run one mile. Back in the day, I remember an eight minute mile. Back in college, I trained for a 5K. It took me four months to prepare. I finished in about 34 minutes if I remember correctly. The goal was just to finish, so I was pretty proud of myself. The more I thought about it, the more I felt the need to run a mile. After all, I've seen morbidly obese people run a marathon on Biggest Loser. Surely I can run a mile! The evening after Shane ran, I laced up my shoes and headed across the street. He and Elsie came to watch for moral support.

My motivation? Obese people running on TV, Third Day on my mp3, not wanting to collapse in a public area, showing my husband I could run a mile, knowing running burns calories.

I started off on the gravel path. Here are the obstacles I came across:

1. My Third Day selection was not fast enough.

2. When I tried to mess with my mp3 player to find better running music, I accidently turned it off. This left me with several seconds of silence as I desperately tried to turn it back on while continuing to gasp for air at the same time.

3. The pollen count is "off the charts", which really doesn't make breathing while running any easier.

4. I hate running.

5. Part of the path is up hill. In fact, there are three hills. Yes, they are slight by sight. Tell that to my legs.

I'm proud to say I ran the entire mile in 12:16! Yes, I was gasping for air and thinking "I must have asthma!". Yes, my legs immediately spasmed up despite desperate stretching afterward (guess I shoulda warmed up and stretched first). Yes, my face was red for about 20 minutes. Yes, my legs were very sore the next day. But I did it and it was worth it. Two days later, I ran it again! This time I pushed Elsie in the jogging stroller. I'm not promising more running in the future, but I'll say it was a nice change from my usual exercise program.