Getting Started With Fitness – Visiting An Old Friend

Considering how cold it has been recently, and the time of year, last Friday was a glorious day here at home.  We had snow on Monday, and by Friday, the temperature had soared to around 60-degrees Fahrenheit.  It’s not hard for me to envision that if I had tried getting started with fitness during cold weather, I would have failed miserably.  I’ve mentioned before how little I enjoy running in cold weather, so I couldn’t help but take advantage of the opportunity to get outside and sneak in some outdoor exercise.  Spring isn’t here yet, but we’re all anxious for it.  So, after work, I headed over to one of my favorite parks and hit the running trail.

Looking forward to exercise in spring

I hadn’t really thought about this subject much before this run, but it occurred to me that this is one of my favorite trees in Kereiakes Park.  It serves as a signpost for me when I run in this park – a notification that I’m past the halfway point and I need to steel myself for the uphill run.  I believe it’s a crabapple tree, and of course, right on the running path.  In the spring, the blossoms are beautiful.  They help motivate me as I start the uphill run, which you may be able to tell, is fairly steep, and it’s a hill that keeps on giving, so I need the encouragement.

As I said, the break in the weather made for a gorgeous day, and people were out in force to take advantage of it.  The tennis courts were full, frisbee golfers were out, and I only had a moment to take this photo because of all the walkers, runners, and dog walkers out on the trail.

Getting started with fitness

One of the hardest things about getting started with fitness is simply finding motivation.  There’s an inertia that has to be overcome.  After years of allowing myself to set up bad habits, that change was very hard.  When I started running, I found myself looking forward to coming up on this tree.  In the early days, it was a signpost of achievement, and a reward point.  When I made it to this tree, I could walk up that hill.  Now I’ve gotten past that (usually) but that tree and I have become old friends.  So with the cold spell we’ve had lately, I haven’t had the motivation to go visit.  I’m glad for the warm day.  It helped remind me why I like to run here.  It also provides me with more get out and exercise in spring.  I need to keep up the relationship.

On the subject of getting started with fitness, there’s a recently released study on the subject of helping people stay fit, where it was “discovered” that the people who believe they can be successful with exercise, and commit to the activity, are more likely to exercise.  Researchers touted this as a finding that will help develop programs to improve fitness levels.  It seems more like a “Mr. Obvious” conclusion to me.  Getting started with fitness still comes back to overcoming inertia.  If you’re having trouble finding motivation, search for something that you will enjoy, rather than what you consider drudgery.  My wife doesn’t enjoy running.  It tends to hurt her knees, and she finds it terribly boring.  There’s a high likelihood that she would not stick with running.  She enjoys “fitness classes” and yoga.  The converse is true for me.  Yet we have been equally successful at improving our weight and fitness.  The most important thing is that you find some activity that a) you enjoy, and b) burns calories.  Then do that. Whatever it may be.