Hey guys. How is your Labor Day weekend going so far?
Ours has been kind of interesting. Lily got sick Friday night and I ended up taking her to the emergency vet that night. Thankfully, she’s much better today and we are going to follow up with our regular vet this week.
We didn’t get to bed until the middle of the night on Friday, so we decided to scrap all of our Saturday plans and just hang out instead. Most importantly, we watched some football… Go Hokies!
In other news- I finished my summer challenge to walk/run/bike 325 miles this week! Here’s my mileage for this week:
Mon- Walk, 4 miles
Tues- Bike, 5.09 miles
Thurs- Bike, 7.89 miles
Sat- Walk, 4.09 miles
Miles this week = 21.03
I reached the big goal during my bike ride on Thursday. Right when I hit the 325-mile mark, I snapped a pic to commemorate the moment 
My ride that night was pretty great. I’m getting a lot more comfortable with my road bike (hello clipless pedals), the weather was perfect and there were lots of friendly people out and about. It was a great way to end the challenge!
It’s fun to look back at the past 3 months:
- When I first decided to set a June-Aug fitness goal
- The first time I ran 1 mile
- The first time I ran 3 miles
- My first mention of getting a road bike
- Passing the 200-mile mark
Here’s a breakdown of all of my miles by month:
I have always struggled to maintain a regular fitness routine, so here are some important things I took away from this challenge:
- I probably wouldn’t have exercised consistently for 3 straight months had I not set some sort of goal
- My goal addressed my main issue: sticking with a workout
- 325 miles was realistic for me, which is always an important part of setting a goal
- Almost all of my miles were done outside in my neighborhood and on the greenway… no fancy gym equipment necessary
- Almost 75% of my miles came from biking, which is my favorite form of exercise
- On days when I didn’t feel like intense exercise, I went on a 3-4 mile walk
- I had no endurance at the beginning of June and now I can comfortable run a 5k
I’m excited to figure out what I’m shooting for next. I would love to start doing some races and eventually do a half marathon or triathlon! In the immediate future, I definitely want to build mileage on my bike and start doing group rides with my local bike shop.
Thanks for following along with me this summer! Have a safe and happy Labor Day!!
P.S. I can’t believe tomorrow is *September*!
I completely agree that setting goals and having some kind of objective measure of success if incredibly helpful when trying to maintain a strong and consistent level of fitness. Don’t get me wrong, I love exercise and fitness, but I am more likely to be more mindful and maintain a higher level of fitness (challenging myself) when I am working toward a goal. Great job meeting all of your goals this summer. I am looking forward to seeing what you have in store this fall and throughout the holidays. :)
Yes, definitely. I’m thinking about possibly working towards running in a half marathon. It will be interesting to see how things go once the weather starts to get cold. I love being outside so that really helped me keep my fitness level up this summer.