I'm running as fast as I can

For me,  no athletic activity inspires as much dread and fear as running.

Here's why: When I was in high school we had a once-a-year fitness test. It was usually held on the first warm spring day and we were required to run four times around the track, a distance of one mile.

Our gym teacher stood at the finish line holding a clipboard, a stopwatch, and a megaphone. If you stopped running before you completed the mile she would pick up the megaphone and yell something like, "Pick up the pace," or "Is that how you'd run if your house were on fire?"

I was a chubby kid. Even worse, I was short which meant I had to move my legs that much faster to keep up with everyone else. Worst of all, outside of gym class I did no physical activity at all making my annual mandatory mile run that much more painful.

Usually, time I completed the first lap, I had a stitch in my side. By time I completed the second, I was gasping for air. During the third time around the track, my knees and ankles were throbbing. As I made it into the final lap, I was often the only one left on the track. The others had already made it back into the locker room and were changing out of the navy and gold polyester gym shorts we were required to wear.

The gym teacher would roll her eyes and click her tongue when I finally crossed the finish line, noting my time in bright red ink.

So, my heart skipped a beat yesterday during Fit Camp when we were ushered into into the group exercise room where a series of rubber domes had been set up. We were split into two teams and told that each person had to run eight laps along the domes in a figure-eight pattern before passing the baton to the next person in line.

I was the second person to run for my team and I felt like I was in one of those horror movies where everything seems to be happening in slow motion. I ran my fastest — which isn't very fast — while my teammates cheered me on.

I was flushed with relief when I finished my final lap. But, there was still more running to do. Our independent assignment was to run/jog/walk three miles or for 30 minutes, whichever came first.

I approached the treadmill with the trepidation usually reserved for cowboys approaching a mechanical bull. But once I started moving some of my fear lifted and during the next half hour  found myself constantly increasing the miles-per-hour setting as I eased from a brisk walk to a light jog.

Tomorrow, more challenges await. Our assignment is to walk/jog/run for 40 minutes at a good pace. I'm actually looking forward to improving my speed.

One of the best thing about Fit Camp is that it forces you to do things that you didn't think you could do, or that you were afraid to do, or that you had absolutely no desire to do. Chances are I'll never run a marathon, but maybe I'll eventually be able to run a mile easily on the treadmill and that will be quite a personal accomplishment.