31 Days, 31 Activities

With the ending of 2019, I’m about to embark on a very active January.

It’s the Ragnar 31 Days challenge, a pledge to make every day in January a workout day. (Ragnar puts on some pretty cool races throughout the country, if you’re into difficult running challenges.)

I started a new team. If you want to join me, just click this link!

I am not very good at running. Last year, I wanted to compete in a triathlon, and I messed it up by running too far, too hard, too soon. I made a shift from weightlifting to endurance sports pretty quickly, mostly because I was bored in the gym doing the same thing over and over. Running and biking gave me a chance to get outside, go places, meet people, and see the beautiful world from a different perspective, rather than staring in the mirror, wondering if my biceps were growing.

I was very arrogant when I first started. I thought I was in shape. I thought I was strong enough to handle whatever I wanted to. But the truth is, training takes a long time. Training anything takes a long time. You can’t just wake up one day, throw in a couple months of training and expect to be great at something.

It’s quite humbling, actually, how difficult it is.

And so, I’m starting from the beginning. January 1 begins my couch to 5K running program. I am starting, truly, from square one. I don’t know how it will go, especially with all the bike training I need to do for a big season of endurance rides. But I want to be able to run again. I want to take my dog out for a jog after I’ve been sitting all day at work. I want to participate in a 5K with friends. And sometimes, I just want to throw on some sneakers and my HR monitor and set out to burn off some extra stress (or a couple of cookies). I may not be the biggest fan of running, but sometimes, it does just feel really good.

I am a little nervous about the prospect of having no rest days in January, though. How will my body handle it? I currently take at least one rest day a week, sometimes two. My legs get sore, my body fatigued. They always say you get stronger during rest, not work. I’m a firm believer in that: I just can’t work as hard or as effective when I’m holding on to so much fatigue.

But I am thankful that things like yoga, weightlifting and swimming “count” as activities. Recovery rides and walks will be nice too. (There is a debate going on in our group as to whether walking counts as an activity. It does raise your heart rate and benefits your body, so I am going to say yes, it does, but that does not mean I’m going to use it as a crutch. Plus, it’s part of my running plan, so I can’t ignore it!)

I am also excited to get back into the pool a little bit more often. I need to swim more. I love swimming, but the whole process can be kind of a pain: Getting changed, drying off, showering, extra conditioner time and lotion for my dry skin. Sometimes, you just want to get out there and get moving before you lose momentum to exercise in the first place! And don’t even get me started on the freezing temperatures. Nothing makes me want to curl up under my covers and sleep than the chill of winter.