Getting in shape

Although I love learning about nutrition and healthy living, and I'm generally quite good about maintaining a healthy diet, I haven't really developed good exercise habits. I know that regular exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, and I want to develop good habits now that I can maintain (and enjoy!) as I get older. For the past couple years, the only regular exercise I have been doing is Vinyasa yoga. I have been practicing since the fall of 2009, and try to attend a class twice a week. The class is fairly intense, and is great for muscle building, stretching, and mental stability, but doesn't really get my heart pumping. My main challenge with exercise really is cardio. So a few weeks ago I decided to start running 2-3 times a week, and see if I could make this a truly enjoyable part of my schedule. I've gone through phases of running in the past, but I usually do too much too soon and then burn out or get frustrated and decide that I don't like running after all. So this time I decided to slow down and increase mileage very gradually, so that I can develop a running routine that is sustainable. To motivate myself, I decided to run a 5k (my first!) in October. I want to document my goals and progress here to stay motivated and hold myself accountable for the goals I set.