The importance of staying in shape comes mainly from my vanity. I know, I know, it should be motivated by honoring the body that God created or taking good care of myself for my family, or keeping myself up for the betterment of work – but let’s be honest, that’s not totally why I want to get in shape.

 

I started walking years ago because it made me feel better. The pressure of living on a dairy farm and raising four kids was taking its toll on my sanity and the only way I could keep from going absolutely crazy some days was to boost those endorphins with a brisk walk down the dirt road (as if milking cows twice a day wasn’t endorphin-boosting enough).

But then as the years went by, my walking dwindled into a spotty two miles once every three weeks. So lately, I’ve been trying to get back into it by following the “Couch to 10K” app on my phone. It takes you from walking to supposedly running a 10K race in 15 weeks.

(It’s okay to laugh; I laughed, too.) I’m fine with the walking thing but, quite honestly, vanity kicks in again with the running part. I don’t want to be an ugly runner. Who does?

When I see people running out on the roads, they all seem to be wearing the “right” running clothes and bouncing along at a pretty good clip. They look like Olympic athletes. Me, not so much. I wear bulky sweats or my son’s old basketball shorts because I refuse to pay good money for clothes that will be covered in sweat.

I’m slow and no matter how much I try not to, I look down at the ground and I’m totally flatfooted as I plod along. I know I’m an ugly runner.

But I keep going because at the end of my run/walk/huffing and puffing, I feel better.

My daughter knows my struggle and recently she had the audacity to use it to manipulate me.

We were walking in the parking lot after a baseball game and I began to race my husband to the car. My daughter said, “Mom, just walk with me,” and I replied, telling her I had to beat her dad to the car.

Then she did it. She stopped me dead in my tracks: “Mom, you’re an ugly runner, stop running!” I immediately began to walk to regain my composure so I didn’t look like an ugly runner in front of all the other people walking to their cars.

I turned around and said, “Really? Am I really that ugly when I run?”

She replied, “No, but I knew that would make you stop running.” And we both were bent over with laughter. Vanity makes us do so many silly things.

But it shouldn’t make us stop trying to be healthy. And so, today, I’ll put on my son’s hand-me-down basketball shorts and old baseball T-shirt and go run/ walk, huff and puff, no matter how ugly it gets.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.