Fitness is a life-long journey. Once you learn how to ride a bike, you don’t forget, but if you go years without riding, as soon as you get on one it’s a little rough getting started again. The same holds true for fitness of any type—running or walking. You know you can do it, but your joints are tight and you feel every step the next day.

Two of the major factors in your fitness journey are determination and consistency. The best thing you can do is select one event each month and use as your target achievement. This helps maintain your motivation, determination, and exercise consistency. Adding in a friend will make it easier. Some of the best runs are with friends.

My target race is the American Odyssey Relay, which is a 200-mile road relay from Gettysburg to Washington, D.C. (May 1-2, 2015). A month ago I knew I couldn’t get away with running 11 minutes per mile. I had to decide that I wasn’t going to settle for that pace, so I set a target of a 9-minute pace. It sounds so easy to drop 2 minutes per mile over a training distance of 3 miles.

Ha! Piece of cake…not.

Using a treadmill, I planned to walk for ¼ mile to warm up, then start at 11-minute pace for ¼ mile, then drop to 10:30 and hold it for 2.5 miles. I maintained that for three days until I felt my body grow comfortable at doing the 10:30.

One thing you will discover is that your body will remember your training routine. The key is to make gradual changes.

After three days, I kept the same drill of warming up for the ¼ mile, but then dropped the pace to 10:00 and 2.75 miles. It was not easy for the first ¼ mile, but with a little focus my body settled down and I was off and running. I also did this for a few days.

I tried to go to 9:30, but I met some resistance and had to go back to 10:00.

The mental battle was too much; I told myself I wasn’t ready and suffered for it.

A few days later, I was ready for the 9:30, which became my new baseline. The comfortable 11 minutes was a thing of the past. Yes, I feel a better, and it was a small milestone.

It only proves you can do what you set out to do, but you must want it bad enough.

It’s time for your journey to begin! What are you waiting for?

Get the calendar and plan out what lies ahead for the remainder of the year.