Finally succeeding in cardio and so proud of myself!

I've always HATED cardio, always preferred weight lifting. I've always tried to start jogging but after a week or two I realize how much I hate it and how much it makes my joints hurt and I've given up.

A few months ago I decided to join Army ROTC while doing graduate school and I realized that there are 3 PT sessions a week (jogging intensive) and the PT test is a 2 mile run. Finally I forced myself to get going. Let me remind you I have NEVER jogged a full mile in my life, I've always walked part of the way.

The first three weeks were tough, my joints hurt (my legs never did, I have very strong legs from horseback riding) and my lungs burned, so every week I upped my jog sets by 15 seconds until I was jogging 1.5 minutes and walking 1.5 minutes (for a total of 2.8 miles). This went on for about 4 weeks and I hated every minute of it.

Finally, last week I realized I only have 7 weeks left before the PT test and I thought "why not try a 1/4 a mile?" sure...that's a whole extra minute than I'm used to, but let's just see. Well for two days I managed 1/4 mile with 1.5 minute breaks repeated 8 times! I was feeling so darn proud of myself I decided to increase my distance to 1/2 a mile....and I repeated it 3 times!!!

I feel so shameless for posting this on here, but I just am soooo proud of myself. I never thought I was capable of jogging 1.5 miles with only 2 breaks! If I did this in four weeks, I can't wait to see what I can accomplish in 6 more weeks! And after today's 'jog' I didn't feel like I was choking on slobber or was going to throw up (part of the reason I hated cardio..I always felt disgusting after). I feel energized and glowing with pride! With that being said, I still hated the actual process of jogging, but this after-effect is so worth it!

It's amazing how the human body is capable of so much more than we ever think, if you just push through it!

Sorry again for this shameless post, I just couldn't contain myself! If anyone has any tips on how to comfortably get from the 1/2 mile to 2+ miles I'd greatly appreciate it...I'm a complete novice and could always use advice as well.