December 2022 Fitness Update

Hello friends, and welcome to the blog!

I can hardly believe it is the middle of December. The new year will be here before we know it! Now is a great time to make goals, if you are inclined to do so.

I’m the type of girl who likes to make goals year round. But I do tend to make a few special goals around this time.

Thankfully, I have stuck to exercising for quite some time now. I have exercised every day for at least 30 minutes in 2022.

It has become just part of my routine. I think I would feel really strange if I didn’t exercise for a day.

I am in pretty good shape at this point, and I participated in three 5ks in 2022. They were so much fun.

Now for 2023, I have a new goal.

Run a half marathon!

My husband and I signed up for a half marathon in March, and we are beginning to train for it. Overall things are going well.

I am a little concerned about a couple of things, though. Starting about a month ago, one of my hip flexors began to give me problems. It usually only bothers me if I run uphill or fast. I have avoided big hills for a while now, and it does seem to be improving. But I’m not sure how it is going to react with the extra mileage I will soon be doing.

I also am unsure about running that distance. This is a bucket list item for me, and I want to try it. But the farthest I’ve run so far at a time is 7 miles, and I was very worn out by the time I was finished. I didn’t fuel any during that run, though. Learning how to fuel appropriately while running is a new concept for me, and I hope I do it well without making my stomach upset.

This is a very fun goal to set with my husband. I definitely want to give it my all, but my goal is to simply finish. If I do that, I will be very happy with myself.

On Thanksgiving, several of us participated in a 5k/1 mile fun run. It was a fun race, and I didn’t push myself as hard as I had a couple of times before. I finished two minutes slower than my personal record, but it was much more enjoyable. At this point of my life, I want exercising to be enjoyable! I am trying to train to increase my aerobic fitness, so I can run a little bit faster while putting out the same effort. We shall see how it goes.

Right now, I run two mornings during the week, and once on the weekend. On my off days, I ride my exercise bike for thirty minutes while watching a fun homesteading or homemaking YouTube channel. I would like to add in a little bit of strength training soon, but I’m not sure about how to do that.

I do lift my five pound weights several times a week. Impressive, I know. But hey, you have to start somewhere!

Since I started exercising regularly, I can tell that I just feel better. My body feels like it did when I was in my early-20s. My mind also feels “sharper,” and I usually am able to get more done in a day than I used to. This has been such a blessing!

If you exercise, I would love to encourage you to stick with it. It is so good for us!

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you have a wonderful day!