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NOT YOUR AVERAGE FITNESS PLAN

I’ve never been much of a gym rat and most of you already knew that. I’ve also never been very buff or muscular, but I’ve always loved to run and run outdoors no matter the season. Back when I realized the impact of my generalized anxiety disorder, running long distances became quite a bit more difficult. If you suffer from GAD, you know that the way you breathe and the pace of your breaths can be impaired, or in my case, much different than normal. Over the past few years, I’ve needed to re-train my body to run long distances, and I haven’t.

When I moved to New York I found that I only had time to walk… to an from work that is. There just wasn’t enough time (I also don’t wake up early) to do much more than work, and walk to work. My NYC roommate ironically was a personal trainer and a former collegiate athlete who always motivated me to find the time to do more. Before I moved to Nashville, I found myself taking her classes at one of the best gyms in the country. One class was ranked the toughest workout in the city by several acclaimed magazines. I survived, but barely that is. With her influence (thanks CeCe) and the fact that I have a wedding in less than a year, I realized I needed to quit making excuses and get my butt in shape. Not because I need to lose weight, but because I need to be healthy.

Now in Nashville, I’ve been getting back in the gym and back to running. Being mentally tough is just as important as physically tough to me. Re-training myself to run long distance is a huge goal I’ve set for myself. Today I ran a mile and walked a mile. It’s nowhere near where I want to be, but it’s effort. Cece also taught me a “wedding arm” routine that I hope I can get her to share on the blog soon.

At any rate, we can all change the way we think about working out and we can give it a chance to change the way we live. I never thought I would be saying this, but boy is it true!

XO, Alex