Kime posted an article on creating habits a while back. It has been floating around in my head ever since.

According to the article, the first two principles of creating a new habit are:

1. Start with a 30 day conditioning period.

2. Do it daily.

I want to (re)become a habitual runner.

The time that I trained and ran the half-marathon was most definitely the best shape I’ve (ever?) been in. The routine of training was good for me and the personal challenges… 

just run for one more song

if I can log one more mile, I’ll get fro-yo on the way home

go for 10 more minutes and I’ll skip that cross-training day to sit on the couch and watch Jeopardy

…reignited a competitive side I hadn’t tapped into in a while.

I let all those things go because the race was over, my knees hurt for weeks after and “I just ran 13.1 miles, so I don’t have to do a damn thing.” I’m mad I let my accomplishments go so quickly, easily; that I have to re-build from scratch. 

But I am happy that I want them back and that I’m in the right frame of mind to go get ‘em.

Things that inspired this attitude adjustment: it’s (belatedly) a fresh start in the new year; the weather is (comparatively) warm; I have no travel or major event plans for the next 30 days; my love handles are alarmingly large; my after-school activities really ought to expand beyond eating cheese and watching Housewives re-runs.

And so with the goal of (re)creating a (previously positive) habit and (hopefully) cutting back on the cookie dough intake…

my goal is to run 1 (plus) mile every day for 30 days.

1 (plus) mile a day will take me only 10 (plus) minutes. Honestly, sometimes it takes me longer than that just to think about putting on a sports bra.

Maybe 30 (plus) miles is less than what I’d run if I followed a training schedule. But 30 (plus) miles is also 28 (plus) more miles than I’ve run in the last 30 days.

1 (plus) mile. 10 (plus) minutes. 3 (plus) songs.

1 day down. 29 to go…