A little more than a year ago, I made a pretty big decision. I noticed that I would get up pretty early most mornings, but I didn’t really accomplish much.

In the time I had before I had to shower ad get ready for work, I would usually watch TV or goof off on the Internet.

Most times, I had good intentions of accomplishing something like doing some reading or writing, but I hardly ever followed through and pretty much just wasted my time until I had to get moving.

Even though I am a fan of the sloth, I thought things needed to change. So I decided to start exercising because, well, I could stand to get in better shape.

I started off by going for short walks. I knew I wouldn’t get back down to my fighting weight this way, but I thought I had to do something.

At first, I thought walking would bore me, but I ended up really liking it. I bought an MP3 player and discovered different routes around downtown. Everything looked so different in the early morning light.
Instead of music, I usually listened to podcasts. I learned a lot about pop culture and sports during my walks. If you saw a guy laughing or nodding in agreement to no one in particular as he walked through downtown over the past year in the morning, that was probably me.

I managed to keep going through the fall and winter. Since we had a pretty mild winter, I couldn’t use the weather as an excuse. Like I thought, the weight really didn’t come off since I was just walking, but I started to feel better. I could tell the difference when I missed a few days of walking.

I used a pedometer to track my mileage and kept a running tally. Between my 39th and 40th birthday, I walked more than 200 miles. That’s not the most incredible number, but I’m glad I really stuck with something.

The hard part was trying to decide what to do this year. Did I just see if I could top that number? Did I up the ante a little? Did I just pat myself on the back and go back to my lazy ways?

For now, I have decided to switch the focus from walking to running. I have pretty bad knees and ankles from my wrestling days, but want to see how long I can stave off that pain.

I have not had the greatest motivation at the start, but don’t want to give up right away. I know I can do it because I used to run all the time when I competed, but I also know how much I hate running so the temptation is to throw in the towel before I even get into the habit.

The hardest part is that I lost my MP3 player about a month ago and have been too lazy and cheap to buy a new one. I’m a baby that way. Entertainment will play a tremendous role in whether I feel motivated to get the exercise I so badly need.

So I guess I have to suck it up and go buy myself a new toy so I can feel like running in the morning. I hope I survive.