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14 A Woman's Step-By-Step Guide to Running

goals both for my family and for myself. Surround yourself with people who will encour-
age you and hold you accountable. You may find that it is tough to change your habits at
first, but after a week or two it will start to feel more normal, and, after a month you will
have established a new pattern.
Even after you have been running for months, there will always be days that you skip
a run for a multitude of reasons (you were too tired, busy, sick, the weather was bad, you
didn’t have clean socks, etc, etc.). Don’t beat yourself up over this. It’s all right to miss a
day occasionally. The trick is to get back to your routine as quickly as possible—prefera-
bly while it is still part of your routine. I know from experience. It is much, much harder
to start a new workout routine than it is to maintain one you already having going. Even
if you are busy, tired, or don’t have
clean socks, I encourage you to
get up and do something exercise
related every day. Maybe you are
supposed to run thirty minutes
according to your workout plan
and you only run five minutes and
walk for twenty-five minutes, it is
still better than doing nothing at
all. Many of us tend to logic our
way out of exercise with thoughts
like, “I just don’t have time for an
hour of exercise now, so I’m not
going to workout today.” Instead
of thinking about what you can’t
do, try to focus on what you can
do. Even if it isn’t as much as you
hoped or planned, be proud of
yourself for doing something.
One of my personal mottos when
it comes to working out is “some-