Meet my $400 dust catcher...

About a year ago, I announced to Tom it was time we got in shape. We had the space for a treadmill, and my reasoning was that if we had it easily accessible, there would be no excuses. So, with this mentality, I convinced him we did indeed need to buy a treadmill. We searched Craigs List and found a nice quality treadmill for $400. It was a lot of money, but as I told Tom, "There is no price you can put on good health."

We brought the treadmill home and put it to good use for about 6 weeks. We were on a roll! Then, one day no one got on the treadmill. One day passed into a week, which morphed into months, until now it is one year later. There were a few sporadic jogs and walks here and there, but we quickly fell out of a good routine. I kept saying that I would get right back 'in the saddle again', or on the treadmill as the case would be.

As I tend to do though, I found more excuses not to get on the treadmill...it was too cold in the basement...the beds needed to be made... I think I need to go to the grocery store...I'll excercise as soon as I am done taking the kids to this or that...I better make that phone call first. You get the idea. After awhile I stopped with the excuses and just didn't exercise, period.

The shoes sat, and so did I.

Fast forward an entire year...the treadmill is collecting dust, no one is using it, and I have been regretting the $400 purchase. Here she sits...lonely, empty, and ready to run...

The other day, I realized that I could keep making excuses, or adopt Nike's slogan and "Just Do It!" Excuses surely aren't going to get me moving. So a few days ago I told myself that I would get up at 5 a.m. and exercise for an hour. There are no excuses at 5 a.m. No phones ringing, no activities to drive children to, no beds to make because everyone is still in them, no meals to prepare, etc...

So for the past 3 days, I have been on the treadmill at 5 a.m. and it wasn't pretty...I was slow, and tired, and broke a sweat with a fast walk. Today though, I felt good. I jogged more than I walked, and felt energized when I was done. Early in the morning, there is time for squats and lunges, sit ups, and push ups, and lots of stretching. There is no rushing that early, only a dark sky and lots of time.

Finally, the old dust collecting treadmill is coming back to life, and so am I.