I really don't like running....don't really like exercising either, but I am doing it for a life change. I feel better once I've done it and actually some days, I actually feel better while I am doing it.

I signed up just for s*#t's and giggles to do this Mile. For Pete's sake, it's one mile but I feel like I have been training for a marathon or something. I just would like to be able to keep up with the group I'm doing it with...and finish...and not last!!!

Today I did a mile on the treadmill in 13:23 min. I felt like I ran/jogged the entire time, but in reality, I probably was walking FAST for about 4-5 minutes of it. It is getting easier every time I do it....but I still wonder....what is the fun in running? I still don't get it.

I have run/jogged outside a few times in my neighborhood but it has so many hills that I really need to do it along the river since that is where the Mile is going to be.

I like that...

When I started the thread, I wasn't sure what kind of response it would have...glad you like it.

That's impressive!!! I would love to get to that.

I guess I am sort of a runner then.

I know this is lame quoting myself but..... I did 11:15 min mile tonight and finally was able to run more than a mile straight. 1.13 to be exact.

thanks ladies! i will adjust my schedule accordingly!

How long have been running? That is exactly the way I felt about running when I first started. In fact, I think I felt worse about it. I positively loathed it and referred to it as my weekly "torture" sessions. I was miserable while I did it and didn't feel any better afterwards (if anything, I was tired and achy afterwards). But I stuck with it because, despite all of that, like you, I wanted to be healthier and to make a lifestyle change.

And now, going on four years later, I do enjoy running. It's one of my favorite forms of exercise. I get a charge and a feeling of well-being from it that I get from few other things in my life. It's almost like a drug. Swimming has the same effect, but I definitely don't get this effect from the elliptical, the stepmill, spinning, or strength training. There's something special about running. I can't say exactly when running went from being torture to being enjoyable, but it definitely didn't happen overnight. It had to be a least a year, maybe even longer. Running intervals made a big difference for me.

Then there's also the coolness factor of being able to call myself a "runner." I feel like I am part of an exclusive, very cool, "runners" club.

What I'm trying to say, is that if you stick with it, it may take a while, but eventually I think you will begin to enjoy it.

In high school (10 years ago): 20 minutes (asthma)
4 years ago when I began the fitness path: 12-13 minutes (run walk)
2 years ago at my "peak": 7:30 minutes
now: around 8 minutes if I am dead at the end

I have not kept up with cardio since I went back to university but I will work back up to it. I mean, being about to do less than 9 minutes is pretty darn good, especially from where I started at

I bet you'll at least like it a little more once you do it outside. I consider running on a treadmill torture -- I've done it a handful of times in the past, but I have trouble running in a straight line (yeah, I'm that person who falls off the treadmill, lol), I get SO BORED indoors, and I hate that dizzy feeling when you're done. But running outside, seeing bunnies and deer, hearing birds and bugs, feeling the breeze, saying hi to random neighbors, and sometimes going out just in time to see the sun set... I love that.