One of the things I did this winter while there was 812 feet of snow on the ground was watch a lot of the Winter Olympics. (Another thing I did was bake myself into a diabetic coma; more on that later.) And while watching the Olympics, I saw an interview with superstar speed skater Apolo Ohno. He talked about his training program, how much time he spends at the gym, his diet, his meditation. He takes himself incredibly seriously as an athlete.

And it hit home for me—the best athletes in the world don’t just rely on their sport for their physical and mental training. They go outside their field to complete their training. And me? I don’t.

I had a really ridiculous month of May—stress, drama, chaos above and beyond the norm of running a barn. One day about three weeks ago, I said, “Screw this, I’m going for a walk.”

I live on a dead-end road with very little traffic, and it’s very pretty and hilly, so the road is a nice path to cruise. And I walked. And it felt good. And at some point, I said, “Huh, I think I’m going to try running a little.” And it felt good, too.

Next day, I did not feel so good. But I went for another walk/run anyway. And two days later, I did it again. And wow: I like running.

This has not always been the case. I broke my femur as a kid (football + 9-year-old boys = bad) and spent a month in the hospital, three months in a body cast, and years of physical therapy. It left me a physical mess, and I still walk with a little limp if I’m not thinking about it. Add to that the facts that I am, shall we say, an easy keeper, and running was torture in middle and high-school gym class.

But I’m keeping it up. I went to the aptly-named Running Store in nearby Gainesville, Va., where they took slow-mo video of me running and determined that I pronate (which, I believe, is a Latin word meaning “runs like a moron”), and set me up with some fancy-schmancy shoes to correct it. I still get a little sore, but it feels, strangely, good.

I’m up to 1.2 miles now. I’m wicked slow, and I sweat like Rod Blagojevich before a congressional ethics review board. But the clarity of mind I get when I run! It’s amazing. The stress melts away. I’ve lost a little weight (yay!). And the running means I have to do more stretching, something I’ve always been a little lazy about; in just three weeks, I’m amazed at the difference I’ve seen in my flexibility.

I’m not quite there yet on the rest of the Apolo Ohno Guide To Olympic Stardom. I’ve tried meditation, and I get twitchy about 10 minutes in and start thinking about my grocery list, or what needs to be done in the barn. And as far as eating… well, I just read an article about healthy eating on the road, and I’m not baking any more, so that’s a start.

But I have three beautiful reminders in my stable of why it’s important to be the best athlete I can be, before I can expect the same of them. So I’m hitting the road!