I write a lot about exercise, but if you think I'm an athlete you couldn't be more wrong. I was never any good at team sports as a child. You think I'm exaggerating? When we chose up sides for games at recess Paulette and I were always the last two chosen. PE was my least favorite subject in junior high. I loved music and reading. It was a wonderful day when I found out I could get PE credit for marching band in high school.

I would have been very happy never to exercise, but I married my husband. His family was friends with aerobics guru Dr. Ken Cooper. My husband jogged several times a week and was convinced that his new bride should jog too. When I told him I had never run a quarter of a mile he didn't believe me. He marked off a 1 mile course near our little house, and was shocked when I could not make it to the ¼ mile point.

But being newlyweds, I wanted to please him, so I tried to run. Eventually I made it ¼ mile, then ½ mile, and finally a full mile without stopping. A funny thing happened at a mile. I began to like running. About the time I thought I was too tired to take another step there was a rush. There was also a wonderful sense of accomplishment.

We began to run together at a track. He was in better condition and has much longer legs, so he could always run faster than me. But it turned out he didn't really enjoy running, he just did it because he thought he should (remember he is Type A all the way). So he would run a mile and stop. I would run a mile, plus an extra quarter or two.

One day we went on a picnic with a big group of friends. Our picnic site was by a trail that made a three-mile loop through a beautiful park. Jogging was very popular in the late 70s so a group of us started off on the trail. I wasn't very fast, so I quickly fell to the back of the pack. But I kept going, and I began to pass the other women as they were walking. I began to pass the men. I passed my husband. I ran the whole three miles. In fact I was the only one in our group who ran the whole course without stopping to walk. I cannot tell you how good I felt, physically and emotionally.

My husband and I continued to run together until the year that I was pregnant with our first child. He hurt his back that year and had surgery. Running was over for him. After the baby was born we began to walk together in the evenings. It looked like running was over for me too. Then I started the Blood Type Diet and decided to see if I could run again at 50 years old. I've already blogged that story.

This blog is too long - tomorrow I will tell you how a non-athlete learns to swim.