From There to Here….

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the guy who’ll decide where to go.” ~ Dr. Seuss

Photo: © Álvaro Germán Vilela

In case you’re wondering where I’ve been and how I got here, I’ll share just a bit. No doubt more will follow in the days and weeks to come, as we get to know each other…

I’ve always been interested in health and wellness. Until about the time I was 20, I wanted to become a doctor. Not just any doctor. I wanted to become a doctor in a free clinic. Unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out how I could work for free and pay for medical school. Around that same time, I met a man I married (and later, divorced), so I put away my dream.

Running

In 1980, I started running. I ran a few races, and I met lots of great people through my running. Running also provided a way to keep my weight under control. It was my only means of exercise for nearly 20 years. In the late 1990’s, I began to ride (mountain and road bikes) and train with weights. During the past decade — and especially during the past 7 years — I’ve run, rode bikes, and lifted weights sporadically. However, I’ve maintained a fair level of fitness through the years.

I spent last year (2011) getting myself into better physical condition with strength training and minimal cardiorespiratory training. I knew I’d made progress when almost everyone I came in contact with remarked about how fit and strong I looked. I also received a lot of comments about how young I look for my age (55).

In March of this year, I began to refocus on running. My first goal was to get back to the point where a 30-minute run felt fairly effortless. Once I achieved that goal, I realized again how much I truly still love running.

I eventually set a goal of running a local 10K race in October (next month). Balancing the running with my strength training has been a challenge.

Personal Training

While serving as the Executive Director of a charitable clinic for the uninsured, I realized that many people rely on medication for diseases that are curable with exercise. I resigned from that job in mid-2010 to focus on spending more time with my husband and working toward getting my ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) Personal Trainer certification.

I had many delays and restarts on the way to the CPT exam, but I finally took it last week — and I PASSED!

Now I need to figure out exactly what I want to do with my certification and how I can get there from here. Meanwhile, I enrolled in an online nutrition coaching course last week. I hope to add that certification to my toolbox by the end of this year.

Nutrition is KEY to getting results with whatever training people choose.

Blogging

My primary goal with this blog is to share my journey to getting and staying fit. I also hope to explore the roadblocks that are keeping you from being your healthy, best self.

I’m something of a paradox. My brain loves and craves order (I have a degree in Computer Science, which is basically putting processes in neat little black boxes!). The order and organization in my brain is definitely not visible in my surroundings or my use of time. Hopefully that will change during the coming months. For whatever reason, it is fairly easy for me to stick to an exercise plan. Sticking to a daily schedule? Not so much.

My Midlife Project

Bottom line: I intend to remodel my physical body and other areas of my life. This “midlife project” I’ve started should be an adventure…

In what areas of your life do you struggle with discipline? Are you organized in some areas and not others? Are you organized in ANY area?