When I was 24, I decided to try to get in shape by jogging. There was a 7K road race coming up in Louisville, Kentucky, where I was living at the time, so my friend Kirk and I decided we’d set ourselves the goal of getting in shape for the run. Kirk was a pharmaceutical sales rep — which is to say, persuasive and relentless. Which turned out to be a good thing, because for all my good intentions, sticking to a training schedule proved really tough.
I wanted to be in shape, of course, but getting there was a chore involving monotonous pounding of feet on pavement, mile after mile after mile. None of which sounded all that appealing after a long workday and commute. And the shining end goal was still far enough off in the distance to be of little comfort.
