When I was a little kid, I was a sprinter. I was the fastest girl in my class, and I loved to race. However, time, puberty, and vegetarianism apparently caught up with me, because as I got older, I got slower. By the time I reached high school I could barely run at all. I had knee problems and lacked endurance; my first year of college I was diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma. Rather than trying to prove to myself that I could run again if I wanted to, I accepted my troubles and became a dedicated walker, and as I walked, my mile time actually got slower, until my average became a 20-minute mile. On energetic days I sometimes muster up an 18-minute mile.

A few weeks ago I read this post on RawBeets about Lisa Paris’s Chubby Kid Challenge. Like me, Lisa had convinced herself over the years that she wasn’t a runner, until one day she decided to change things. She challenged herself to run a mile every day, and by the end cut her time nearly in half. Inspired, I decided to do the same. Today, October 19, is my first day. My 30th birthday is November 17, so I’m actually giving myself just less than a month to see if I can improve my time, stamina and running skills by the end of my 20s. We’ll see what happens.

Today’s time: 15:50. Not great, but the fastest I’ve done it in years! Stay tuned for updates!