Part 2 Great things never came from comfort zones

Boy did I feel out of place the first time I stepped on the treadmill at the gym. But I did not let that stop me. I got on, figured out the buttons, set my paper program in front of me and began chipping away.

First item, figure out my jog pace.
Check: 5.5 mph.

Second item, find a clock on the wall and somehow manage watching the time while reading the instructions on the paper program bouncing on the treadmill.
FAIL.

Third item, research programmable interval timer app so I can ditch the clock and paper program and concentrate on running!

It was imperfect, not every run was good, but I continued to show up, work hard, make adjustments and progress forward. A few weeks in, I had programmed the various HIIT (high intensity interval training) and endurance runs into an app on my phone that would signal an upcoming change in the workout and display the instructions for the next pace. I built some encouraging playlists and found a good post-run stretching routine. And then it happened. I fell in love with running. I began to look forward to the nights I could leave the house, crank up the music and pound out a hard run. It was exhilarating seeing how I could actually maintain the intervals on the treadmill when I had previously thought myself incapable of running. Add to that the fact that it helped relieve stress, boost my energy level and gave me much needed time by myself... it’s not hard to see why I fell so hard for running.

Part 3 coming.... “Fine-tuning: make small adjustments in order to achieve the best”