"Run, Mom, Run!"

This journey we are beginning to get you moving mommy is going to take some change of thought and action. The nuggets I plan to give you are meant to become a part of you. Eventually without thought you will find yourself moving any way and every way you can.

One day my mom started to laugh at me as we made our way back to my van from a Wal-mart shopping spree. As was my custom, I had parked the van a good piece away from the door. I had just beat her to the van when she yelled out, "O.k. Edith Bunker." I didn't know what she meant at first cause if anyone has seen the show "All in the Family" you'd know that being called Edith Bunker isn't exactly a compliment.

When she made it to the van I asked her what she meant and she said, "You run everywhere. You've never noticed that? Don't you remember how Edith Bunker ran everywhere?"

I started to laugh and it made me start to take note. I truly do run everywhere. I run from the house to the van, from the van to the house. I run from the van to the store and I run from the store to the van. I run to the door of the schools and to the door of restaurants. If I forget something I run back into the house. I run up the stairs at home, I run down the stairs at home. Stairs - this is an incline which adds a boost to this activity. Running with high knees really burns the butt (we'll talk more about the real stairmaster in another post). But you get the point that I run everywhere.

Without thought, I break out into a sprint, light jog or trot depending on how the knees are doing that day. But, I very seldom walk any short distances.

I was a sprinter in high school and college. I've tried to run miles like people my age do, but I just don't have the endurance to get a long enough run in to make a difference. These short bursts act just like they did for me in track practice those years ago. It's like doing a 10x100's workout over the course of the day.

The time you spend walking all of these places, you could make into a short burst of calorie burning activity that adds up by the end of the day.

Today, for instance, I ran to my sons' busstop with my little yappy dog in tow. I always send them out ahead of me while I put on my shoes so that I have to run to catch up to them.

While waiting for the bus I gave my dog to one of my sons and began to run back and forth down the street where we were standing. By the time the bus came I had gotten in a quick 10-minute workout for the morning.

So, my peeps, the lesson today is don't walk, somber, lob or shuffle to your destination.

"Run mom run!"