By John Fierst

Ever since moving to Houston nearly 3 years ago, I have gone in and out of phases of exercising. I know it is something that I should do, but to be honest, I rarely feel like doing it. My personal motto has been to “do enough exercise to avoid dying prematurely of heart disease.” Admittedly, this is a vague and unhelpful goal, but it has at least gotten me out of my apartment to the gym on the first floor of my building and to Memorial Park’s exercise trail.

Years ago, I did run a 5K in my hometown in Indiana. Although it has been over 5 years since I did this, it does make me feel confident that I can get my fitness level to at least something acceptable. But while I work through what exactly those fitness goals might be, I thought it was an important moment to at least acknowledge that something is better than nothing. I do not have to be marathon-ready right now to still do something.

So my goals are two-fold: (1) do something for now and (2) set an actual concrete and specific fitness goal so that I have something to work towards. For the first one, I won’t feel bad about walking. I will jog as much as I can and walk the rest. And for the second one, I need to decide what that goal will be. Maybe it’s to run a 10K by the end of the year, or maybe it’s to finish a 5K in under 35 minutes next year. 

I will say that having a concrete, attainable goal is a good idea since it will help keep you on track. For me, I need to take some time to decide what that will be and how I will get there. I will be sure to keep you all updated on how I progress in the coming months, but for now, my message is simple: it’s okay to walk. If you can’t sprint, jog. And if you can’t jog, then walk. Just keep moving! And if you want a tougher workout, be sure to come to our Houston Millennials’ Health & Fitness Committee’s events that happen throughout the year. I’ll see you there!