Sweat is good, sometimes.

One thing you should know about me is that I’m not an athletic person.

The only sport I participated in as a child was swimming. I liked it because the water is cold so you don’t get all hot and sweaty.

Being tall and fairly slender my whole life, strangers always assumed I played volleyball (or basketball, but that didn’t get suggested nearly as much because, let’s face it, I am extremely white). Whenever I would admit I didn’t really play any sports, people would usually sigh and shake their head a little, like it was such a shame that my height was being put to waste. These encounters got even more entertaining once I joined band in middle school, because then I could say, “I’m not in sports, but I play the flute!”

I was so anti-athletic that I took Spanish classes in 7^th grade because it would exempt me from PE.

I also have exercise-induced asthma, so that, combined with my rising obsession with music, pretty much nixed swimming by around the beginning of high school.

Anyway, I’m telling you all of this to say that today, something really monumental happened in my life: I went running.

It’s not like I’ve never worked out before. In fact, for a full 3 months last year, I did the elliptical for 30 minutes a day pretty faithfully. (You don’t have to tell me that half an hour on an elliptical barely counts as a workout, but it’s better than nothing, right?)

However, elliptical running does not in any way, shape or form equal real-life, outdoor running.

When I first left my house and got on the street, I felt pretty good. It was a nice morning and I had my cool new black athletics pants on (and new shoes!).

“This isn’t so bad! Look, cars that don’t know me, I’m running! I am being a healthy, contributing member of society!”

Fast forward to about a minute later…

I got a cramp in my side and could no longer breathe, soooo I decided to walk for a little bit.

This process continued: short stretch of running, then walk until my throat stopped feeling like someone took a cheese grater to it.

All in all, I “ran” about 2 miles, at a very embarrassingly slow pace. It also took me a full half hour of sitting to recover my breath.

But, I’m really proud of myself! I did something that was completely new to me, and I survived to write about it on the internet.

Maybe I’ll try again on Wednesday. :)

Also, I discovered that the 80's Pop workout station on Pandora is awesome! But I only found this out after I was done running. You Make My Dreams is now stuck in my head for the day.

Bye!