Holy Moly. Did I just do that?

So... I took up running.
Yeah, for those of you who've known me for a while, I know what you're thinking.

First Walk/Jog Home from Work

August 28th, 2012 I started an initiative to get healthy. I call it "#LetsGetPhysical".



My goal is to exercise 4-5 times a week for at least 30 minutes each time. I've also changed what I eat... but that's for another time.
I started by going for walks and lifting some weights at home. The walks became more frequent and after a while, I found myself doing a mixture of jogging and walking.

Probably the best thing to happen to me was that my car broke down in September, and the weather was nice. So I looked it up and it was around the same distance from work to home as my walks were. So I decided to walk/jog home. The first day, I walk jogged home I was SUPER excited that it took me less than 30 minutes! I mean... LOOK at that face!

Then there was the time I jogged THE WHOLE WAY HOME. This felt like a hugely momentous occasion. It's the small things that we have to appreciate.

First Time Jogging the WHOLE way

 From there, things have just snowballed. I don't know what has come over me.

I have my car back now, and I was not too much of a fan jogging home with a duffel bag on my back full of work clothes/shoes, purse, lunch containers...etc. so I made myself a deal. I'd start driving myself to work again ONLY if I got up at the same time as when I was taking the bus and I'd go for a jog.
Yeah, I've gone clinically insane FOR SURE. So I've been doing this. Rain or shine.

1st 5km jog

The first time I jogged 5km I was OVER THE MOON! It was October 10th, 2012 and it took me 42mins. That day I looked up what would be an "average/non-embarrassing time" to finish a 5km run. As it turns out, runners are stereotypically REALLY POSITIVE people. I've heard it several times over in several different ways: "There is no non-embarrassing time. You just aim to finish."

Well, I made a goal anyway! I wanted to be able to jog a 35 minute 5km by next spring. Why 35 minutes? Because it seemed to be attainable... and far away. LOL

Well guess what ladies and gentlemen? I DID IT TODAY. Not 1 month after jogging my first 5kms in a row, I did a 7min/km average. And I'm DAMNED PROUD of myself. It was hard. It wasn't pretty. I went too fast out of the gate and actually considered stopping around the 2.7km mark.  I talked out loud to myself saying "You got this." and "C'mon Nikki!" Because I'm not ashamed to say it: I was REALLY struggling.

7min per KM Average!

My newest goal is for 3 of my 4-5 workouts a week to be runs over 4km. Also to see if I can replicate that 7min/km avg...

I 'joined' this group for runs every Saturday morning. (Another sign that I've gone crazy, giving up one of my only sleep-in days to go for a run) You're more than welcome to come! You can do 3-5km, go as fast or as slow as you want (I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH THAT THIS IS FOR ALL ABILITIES) and then we all go for coffee together afterwards! Click HERE for more details.



This has been quite the adventure so far.
Lessons learned to date:
1. Set a goal and go for it. Even if you don't think you can reach it you may just surprise yourself.
2. Give yourself credit where credit is due.
3. Keep track of your progress -You WILL get better and it will be great to see how far you've come
4. Don't compare yourself to others. You will do stuff at your own pace.
5. When deciding to exercise: Don't think about HOW you feel, think about how you WANT to feel.

If you have any questions, let me know! I'd love to chat with you!