"Wow. Now that's discipline, going for your walk even on Christmas," my neighbor observed.

That sounds like a compliment, but I honestly believed that I was running at the time...and to make matters worse, I'd just sped up for my "faster minute" as I passed his house.

It was one of those "Why bother?" moments that I sometimes have before, during or after a run. Another thing that makes me, paradoxically, question why I run is catching a glimpse of myself in a window or car mirror as I run by, or when I see my shadow and think thoughts like "Wow, after 2 1/2 years of this, I only almost have a waist." Fortunately those moments don't happen often, and I think I'd be really sad if I just gave up this activity. It's taken me a long time to even call what I do "running" without qualifying my word choice.

I'm disappointed that I'm still so slow. In a whole hour I can only go just a little over 5.5 miles. But I still don't want to train or set speed goals...my goal is to just not stop going out there.