Eric Walker

Yep, I was the person outside in Minnesota on January 9 when it was -4 degrees running around the streets.

However, since then the weather has been mostly above 0 when I go out on my runs even though most of the time it is around 9:30 pm.  Honestly, I wish I had a better time to do it but I have tried to create a habit in 2016 of running and I tell myself that if night running is my only time, then night running it is.

###Some Background

Now, for fun here is a little background on my running, I used to be a runner back in High School (long ago) and loved running, still do, but I lost the actual urge to run as I fell into a busy trap.  I could find lots of excuses after college, heck even in college.  I ran off and on my Freshman and Sophomore year just as something to do as at that point I wasn’t too buried in the books.  However, I took it up a notch the summer before my Junior year as I conned my brother into running the Twin Cities Marathon with me in October.  I ran ever day all summer no matter what and sometimes 2x per day.  However, once school started up in the fall I never really found time to run as I made excuses.  Never fear, though, I was young and determined to still run the Marathon and I actually finished with very little walking.  However, since that day I have always made excuses and let the excuses win.  I would try from time to time but never keep the momentum.  In fact in spring, summer, and fall of 2015, I think I went on a couple weeks worth of running and then stopped.  Part of my problem I found was I wasn’t making the right choice or prioritizing my time correctly and my excuse was always that I could never find the right “time” to run.

###Starting over again

Fast forward to the start of 2016 and something clicked.  It might have been some of the changes in my life that occurred in 2015, or that I wouldn’t mind losing a couple pounds, or maybe I finally remembered that I love running and gives me time to think.  I am honest with myself in knowing that I will not run every day but I would like to run a couple times a week.

There is something great about running as it is just pure.  You can only move as fast as you can, as far as you can, and as long as you can.  However, it is all up to you to determine what you “can” do and what you get out of it.

For me right now I am not worried about the distance, or speed, or length as I just enjoy putting my shoes and going for a run, even if it is below 0.