I’ve been being an exercise wimp. I’ve been running intervals because my brain is convinced that I can’t run for longer periods. As soon as I start breathing a bit hard my brain screams, “Stop!”

So today I decided that I was going to fix that. I went out to the trail with no music, no dog, and no watch. I was going to run the one mile loop. I was not going to stop. I could run as slow as I wanted. I could run so slow that it would be faster for me to walk. I could run in place if I needed to catch my breath on this very hilly trail. But I was not allowed to stop running.

I did it! On the hills my breathing sounded like a freight train. I went really slow. But now my brain knows that my body has no problems running a mile. Next time maybe I’ll aim for 1.5. When I get to 3.1 then I’ll work on speed.