Congratulations! You are officially recognized as being a committed gym rat and if there was ever a time where you had to run for your life, you'd probably survive. I applaud you for all that you do daily, and all the hours and time that you put into your craft. At times like today, I dread you, because I had my first attempt all summer at working out. Well, all I did was do a little more than a power walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes, but man oh man you couldn't tell me that wasn't a workout even if you wanted to.

I had to not only physically prepare myself for this workout, but the main thing I had to overcome was the mental piece of it. As I have said before I tend to be my own worst enemy. I literally am probably one of the laziest people on the planet. I'm basically a 19 year old in an old lady's body. I used to like to tell myself that I am still an athlete even though my volleyball days are long past done, but after today I can not deny it anymore, my student-athlete days are over.

The good thing is that I have at least gotten out of the denial phase and have addressed the problem. My problem is that I say to myself if I'm no longer an athlete and need to be conditioned, then why do I need to work out? But after today I realized that my theory is way off. No matter if you are an Olympian or the most unathletic person ever, working out should be a regular part of your routine. Now I'm not saying that it is going to be fun, in fact, in my opinion, no matter how many times I work out it still sucks just the same because no matter how conditioned I think I am my exercise-induced asthma always seems to get the best of me. But one thing I do know is that the more you work out, and the more consistently you do it, the easier it gets.

At the end of this past school year, I told myself that I was going to start working out again and get back into the groove of my routine so I will already be in the groove when the school year starts again. Well, obviously that didn't happen, but it's okay. It doesn't matter if the last time you worked out was a couple months ago or a couple years ago, you can always work out, you just have to set your mind to it and actually do it. Now I am nowhere from being the gym rat that I used to consider myself to be, but I know that I am young and I might as well try to get back into it while I don't have to worry about the physical aspect of it as much.

To me, the 30 minutes that I power walked on the treadmill felt like I had climbed a mountain, and that is the point that I am trying to make. For those of you out there that consider yourselves to be lazy souls like me, every little bit helps, work out at your own pace and on your own time, and sooner or later you might find yourself actually enjoying it. I doubt that will ever be the case for me but I do know that after I work out my head feels clearer, I can think better, and I feel a great sense of accomplishment unlike anything else. You are the only one who can make you work out, so just like Nike's motto, just do it!

So to all the gym rats, go ahead and run your marathons and push your sleds, I am no longer going to compare myself to you and be jealous and bitter of your indurance and stamina. I am going to be just as happy with my 30-minute power walk every day and determine success in my own eyes for a change. :)