Reasons we don't exercise

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Missy Foy

Gary Hall Jr.

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Adam Morrison

Am I too lazy and unmotivated to run?

It is easy to find reasons to avoid running. There is always something else to do. Running begins with a decision. Continuing to run involves sticking to that decision by finding fresh motivation. The hardest time is the first three weeks. Get through those, and regular running becomes enjoyable.

My pre-running story, and those of the middle-aged men around me, goes something like this:

I look back at how it was during my late teens and 20s. I was able to do everything to excess. There was never a price to pay. I had endless energy. I could run for miles, eat and drink all evening, sleep a few hours, then start all over again. And I was thin as a twig.

Running starts with a decision

At some point, around 40, I could still do some of those things. I was fitter than most. I cold kick a soccer ball with my son, I could down a six pack and demolish a pizza. But the bodily price was heavy and visible: an expanding gut, a thick neck, and a chest and arms that wobbled like jello.

I tried justifying it to myself: You deserve to slow down, you've earned your right to a beer gut. This is what happens to middle-aged guys who enjoy life. It's no tragedy.

I didn't pay much attention attention to the changes, didn't notice them happening until I looked at family photos and thought, Man, I've put on a lot of weight. I'm huge! How did it happen?

Of course, it happened by doing too much sitting, by not exercising, by eating too much, drinking too much, eating the wrong stuff, and using labor-saving devices at every opportunity.

That's when I started telling myself to do something about it. But the task seemed so monumental that I constantly postponed the day I was going to turn my life around.

It took 20 years to put on that excess 30 lbs. How many years would it take to lose them?

Then one day, halfway between 47 and 48, I made the decision I would never regret. I was going to weigh what I weighed at 30, and I was going to become a runner. And nothing was going to stop me getting there.

The decision created the motivation to keep going. As I became better and better at running, and lost more and more weight, it created more incentive to keep going.

I discovered I was a good runner, a fast runner, and I loved running. I was soon coming top 3 in my age group in most races I entered. After two years, I had lost 30 lbs. People complimented me on my new slim look. My kid's friends said, Your dad looks really young. That was all the motivation I needed.

You need to find the motivation that works for you. There'll be short term goals that work from day to day, week to week. Then there are long term objectives like running a sub-4 hour marathon, winning your age group in races, or losing 30 lbs, the kind of goal that takes a few years or more to achieve.

Everyone can become a runner. No one is condemned to being overweight and unmotivated. Start today!

READ MORE: Choose the right running shoes

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