Don’t make excuses. Just keep running.

The other day, I put on a sports bra, a long-sleeve shirt, a short-sleeve shirt, a thin jacket and a thick  jacket. Then, I put on my beanie, zipped up my jacket, put up my hoodie and put on my gloves.

No, I wasn't going to Antarctica. I was simply going for a run in 36 degree weather. But it might as well be Antarctica for all I care.

Yes, maybe it's not that cold. But ask yourself, would you be going for a run in that weather? Would you even be going on a run?

Nine months ago, I decided I was going to begin running, and I have run every week since then. I would say my speed is best described as the poky little puppy. Only, I'm not as cute as a puppy. I'm a grown woman. I decided to start running for no real reason other than weight loss.

Fast forward nine months, and I have not lost any weight. Such is life, or my life at any rate. However, I have competed in three 5k races, one 5k relay, one four-mile race, a 10k race, and most recently, a 10-mile race.

At the end of the month, I will be running my first half marathon very slowly. Stay tuned to next month's column to see if I survive.

To be honest, I don't so much run as I do "rawk". That is to say, I do running/walking intervals which I highly recommended to newbies such as myself.

Olympian Jeff Galloway is a huge proponent of this method and has numerous suggestions on this method as does John "The Penguin" Bingham. I know a lot of people want to be fast, and it's not that I don't want to be fast, but my main motivation is to finish.

Is it so important that I, in particular, am running? Probably not. But is it important that I am running in this gawd-awful cold? Without a doubt.

More than my fear of not being able to run is my fear of the cold. But, I suit up and get out there, dragging my feet the whole way.

And if it's not cold, there are other obstacles to running, such as lacking time, being tired, not feeling well, work commitments, and so on.

Don't let the cold stop you, whether it's money, time, energy or lack of faith in your abilities, there will always be something. Run regardless.