I used to consider myself "a runner". It took me a long time to get to that belief, because prior to that, I would NEVER have thought I would have the where-with-all to jog consistently. Over the COVID shut down and in the months to follow, I started doing a virtual 5K each month. Prior to this, I would do some jogs with my sisters-in-law, my girls, and a few friends...but I never had a plan for interval running or building my endurance. I never really trained or took the time to be intentional with what I was putting into my body to fuel it in a healthy way. Instead, I just showed up to the races with my crew and walk/jogged (I call this "wogging") the entire thing. As part of my "before 40 bucket list" though, I want to be able to jog a 10K without stopping. According to my "couch to 10K" plan, if I start today, this should happen around September 16th. So on that date or maybe September 23rd, I'm planning to run my 10K. I haven't decided if I'll do this here in my hometown or make it a real "event" and go find an actual race in a neighboring town. There are several that time of year, including one in St. Joseph, Missouri, one at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, and the Kansas City Zoo Run -- which I did several years ago and really enjoyed (until I injured my hip at the very, very end). Here is the Week 1 expectations for the Couch to 10K plan I am using this round. Because I'm also participating in 75 medium, I need to build in some sort of physical activity for 45 minutes each day. Therefore, I'll use this plan as three of my days, but my "rest days" might be taking a walk, doing some strength-training, or repeating one of these training sessions. Here is what I'm thinking my week will look like: I'll start today (Monday) with some interval training as my "Run 1". Tomorrow (Tuesday), I'll probably do some sort of strength-training for 45 minutes. Wednesday, I'll move on to "Run 2". Thursday, strength-training. Friday, Run 3. I will definitely be doing Run 3 on Friday because I'll be near Warsaw and their nice paved trail by the lake is my very favorite place to run. I'll share a few photos below that I've taken through the years as I am running there.
Guess I'd better head out for "Run 1" on this beautiful Monday morning.
Lacing up my shoes here at the farmhouse, Hannah ❤️🏡❤️
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"I'm not a runner." "I'd rather sit on my couch." "Ha! The gym? Me? Riiiight..." This used to be how I talked about exercise. I used to joke about the fact that if people saw me running, they might want to run too because I was likely being chased by something scary. And then one day, with the encouragement of my sisters-in-law, I decided I might try it. I used the app "Couch to 5K" and I got to where I was able to jog a whole mile. It wasn't a fast mile, but it was more than I had ever been able to jog without stopping in my entire life. This was a huge accomplishment for me. Shortly after I built up this endurance, we found out we were expecting our third daughter. I was pretty sick for a little while and ended up giving up the running dream until after she was born. I was shocked at how much I missed running in those last few months of pregnancy. After I was fully-recovered from my caesarean section and able to leave her for a little while, I started jogging again. Between 2015 and 2018, I would run for a little while, then fall off the wagon. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. My running commitment wasn't really a commitment, but more like a hobby that I would pick up every so often. Finally, in the summer of 2019, I really got serious about it and started doing a 5K each month. During the "Run for the Tree Kangaroos" race at the Kansas City Zoo in September, I injured my hip and had to take a pretty significant break. In March of 2020, just as COVID-19 was starting to make its rounds, I started taking daily walks to clear my mind after school. Being in school administration during a global pandemic is something that takes up a lot of headspace. These walks were mentally and emotionally healthy, but also started to bring back the positive feelings that I had associated with running in the past.
I love looking at the homemade medal hanger almost as much as I enjoy sifting through all of the medals for the races I did in 2020.
I've set a goal for myself of 20 5Ks in 2021, along with four 10Ks. Who knows? Maybe I'll work up to that half-marathon I've been dreaming about for the last few years. We'll see about the half-marathon, but either way -- today I can say with confidence, "I am a runner." Taking life one jog at a time here at the farmhouse, Hannah ♥️🏡♥️ |
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