A few days after being discharged, I bought jogging shoes and went outside.

It was the first day in my life I’d ever gone outside with the sole purpose of running.

100 Meters That Looked Like It Was Dozens of Kilometers Away

I stepped out onto the road near my house and started to run.

My goal: 100 meters. Just 100 meters. But for a body over 80 kilograms, those 100 meters looked like they were dozens of kilometers away.

My pace was somewhere between speed-walking and actually walking. I doubt anyone watching from the side would even have been sure I was jogging. But that was my full effort.

I finished 100 meters and stopped. I was gasping. My legs were heavy. “So this is my reality right now,” I thought.

It wasn’t embarrassing so much as honest. That was just the true state of my body in that moment.

I Focused Only on Keeping Going Every Day

I didn’t aim for distance or speed from the start.

I decided to simply stack up the small fact of “I ran 100 meters today.” However slow, however short — any day I went outside and moved my body counted as a success.

It’s the same as fermented foods, I can see now looking back. Don’t aim for big change right away. Think only of continuing, day by day.

That accumulation eventually becomes something big.

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Next time: I injured my ankle one month in. I still didn’t stop.

※ This article is based on personal experience and publicly available information. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease. If you have health concerns, please consult a doctor or registered dietitian. See our Disclaimer.