I remember years ago when I was at my heaviest and I would hear people say stuff like “you have to find a workout that is fun” or “you have to find a workout that you enjoy”. I remember thinking man these people are completely crazy, how is anything at the gym or anything that is hard also fun? The very definition of fun is “enjoyment, amusement, or lighthearted pleasure” I could not picture anything as awful as going to the gym or God forbid RUNNING being full of enjoyment and lighthearted fun and there sure was nothing amusing about the way even the thought of working out made me feel. I was not excited about it at all. In the beginning of a lifestyle change, or even restarting (again) there is NOTHING at all fun about working out. It is hard. It is intimidating. It downright stinks. It sucks more than a race lottery. It is awful. Then one day and I am not really sure when, but it does not suck as much. I think it is the day you realize you did not have dread in your stomach pulling into the parking lot. It might be the day that you do your first real not modified push up ever. It might be the day that you run a mile with no walking for the first time in your life. It might be the day that you…… there are so many this could go on and on. It is a day you are proud of yourself. I do not remember every run, but a run I will never forget is my first mile with no walk breaks. I was with my running Coach and he was pushing me and I kept saying I could not do it. I was begging for a walk break and he would not let me. Then suddenly we were back at the start and his phone said 1 mile and I RAN that mile. It was a slow mile but it was my everything. It was at that very moment that running became more something that I should do and more of something that I could do. It was fun. Every athlete in the world starts from nothing, it is up to you and me to push through the suck. We have to push through the not fun and eventually, that moment that you will never forget happens and you realize that you were born to be an athlete. It may take weeks or months for your fun to come, stick with it, try new things and it will eventually come. There are so many different types of workouts that there is no reason that you can not live up to the athlete that you were born to be.
