I'm not going to exercise anymore

So, when you think of exercise, what comes to mind? Hours spent in the gym, pedaling away on one machine or pushing iron on another? Watching the readout to see how many calories you've burned? Doing whatever you can to break a sweat and get your heart rate up?

I've decided I'm done with all of that. It doesn't appeal to me.

I've had an epiphany.

I have suddenly realized that I am now one of those people that needs to run, swim or bike. I crave it. One of those annoying people for whom cardio is like a drug. One day, I'll even look like it. ;)

I think the moment I became one of those people was when I stopped exercising and started training. I don't run because it burns calories. Quite frankly, I don't trust the computers that tell me how many calories I burned anyways. I believe that you can be very successful losing weight without ever breaking a sweat. In fact, I even think it would be easier in many ways.

I train because I want to do something, accomplish something. And once I do it, I want to start doing it better, faster, further. That's why I need to run and do it at 5:00am. That's why I sacrifice sleep in the evening to swim laps. Because I keep finding myself capable of doing more then I ever thought possible.

There's no drug that can beat that feeling.

It's been 4 months and 10 days since I set myself a goal of doing a triathlon. Since then I have gone from being terrified of deep water to swimming over 20 laps without a break. I started out running 1 minute at a time and have now run as much as 8 km (5mi). In those 4 months I have become a new person.

The day I set that goal, I said "I am setting a goal that I don't know if I can complete. But, I do know one thing. This time I'm going to try. Actually try."

Today, my only regret is that triathlon season is over and I have to wait so long until I can do my first one. Today I would say:

I know that I can complete this goal. And I am going to tri. Actually tri.