Identify a personal goal that you would like to reach. What are the changes you want to create in your life?
Example: “I want to take action in recovering from my alcohol addiction.”; “I want to create a healthy sleep routine.”
My goal is training so I can run the 4 Mile in October 2024 for charity
Formulate your goal in a way that is specific and measurable. What does it look like when you’ve succeeded?
Example: “I will reach my goal when I will hit 6 full months of sobriety”, “I want to be able to sleep 7hrs/week for at least 4 nights/week”.
I will reach my goal when I chose a charity to run for, asked people to sponsor me, and actually ran that 4 mile.
When do you want it to be done by? Make sure to define a healthy and realistic time line.
Example: “In eight months, by 12/18/23.”
I want it to be done by October 2024
Because I haven’t had a lot of experience in running, I will get some advice from people I know who are knowledgable about running and who can help me create a training regime. I will research what kind of foods are better to use for training and which ones are better to avoid.
What a fantastic goal to have Nyntje, I look forward to viewing and supporting you through this. One important thing to remember both figuratively and metaphorically when training on this 4 mile road, there will most likey be a few bumps but you are strong and all together we are even stronger. You have got this. xxx
I know you can make this goal and I am looking forward to your progress updates, bumps and missteps along the way and all. You will get there. I know you and I know what you can do. You are loved.
So a little bit of an update on this Action Plan. Lately, I’ve been having a tough time to make sure that I am eating enough, which results in me not having enough energy to work out. So this week, I want to focus on making sure that I eat enough, so I can start the running process. I also want to look into a bracelet for my phone, so I can take that with me while I do things. The bracelet I will look into this or next week, but the food is definitely the main goal for this one!
I finally got over my own insecurities and went for a run today. 2373 meters in intervals and I was able to keep it a secret from my dad who keeps telling me that i will “never do it”.
I’m not sure if anyone cares for an update since it’s been more than a month… but for the past 2.5 weeks I’ve been consistently going out for a run on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and on the other days I’ve been walking… I do notice that it becomes a bit easier physically… Mentally, it really depends on the day… Today was really difficult because of depression, but I still did it…
I found a notebook that I had no plans for yet, so I made it my “runners diary” book in which I write down the run I did, when it was, how far I ran (and how far I walked to get home as well). I also added the interval I’m on at that specific moment, and how it was feeling. The “how it was feeling” is basically, did it feel good? Did it become better during the run? Why or why not. 9 out of 10 times it’s a mental block that I still face. This happens especially when I see a lot of people during the run, then my brain just goes into overdrive of how ridiculous I must look. and it shows in the distance I’ve run in the same time too and I get very down on myself. I still feel physically okay afterwards, but mentally it can still be a struggle. But still going strong with the 3 runs a week at the moment…
Today, giving a little update on the last week. I’m running every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Last week I was sick on Friday, so I needed to move my run-day to Saturday, which might’ve been a mistake because I also had a long rehearsal day and all in all the run was a HUGE struggle. Last week was also the last time I did the 6 intervals of 1.5 minute running 2 minutes walking. And today I started with the 6 intervals of 2 minutes running, 1 minute walking, which was quite hard, not gonna lie. But all in all I’m still trying to become better each time.
When it comes to food, I have bought some protein shakes, that I only use when I go up and have a really tough time while running too… so that’s about all in my update… Still keeping my runners-diary so that’s also a big plus… maybe
Everything hurt so much, lol. During and afterwards. It’s definitely not something I would do again. My breathing was so wrong for the run and still very much in “playing horn” mode. I had stabbing pain after 1 minutes of running already, because of that. So it wasn’t great, but it was very much a learning moment.
New update:
Still running at least 3 times a week. Last week I did a challenge of 5 times that week and I realised that that is not for me yet, but kinda proud of myself for doing it.
I also still write down how my run went and got to borrow a sports watch from one of my friends because she’s not using it at the moment. And it’s really cool to see all the extra data too.
I do have a problem still with getting too much in my head… Which makes me want to give up a lot…
honestly the thing I can use the most help with is how to get out of my head when I’m running. I’m quite overweight and very selfconscious about that… Whenever I see someone while I’m running (and I’m lucky that I live out of town so that’s rare), I just want to give up because I look ridiculous and stupid… and “I shouldn’t have let it get this far”, etc… That’s the hardest thing rn…
Ok totally understand where you are coming from. First thing I will say is when you see someone else out running when you are don’t give them a second thought. I would probably be having the same thoughts and doubts you are if I started running outside again especially because I’m overweight as well.
I personally used running as a weight loss mechanism back in my mid 20s almost 10 years ago and believe me I am a self conscious dude, but I decided not to give a shit. I ran for me and the fact that it did give me a healthy outlet for so long until I unfortunately got into drinking and partying.
Point is don’t compare yourself to others with where you are at right now. I promise you if you stick with it and take care of your body (another important part of building up your running) that running base will continue to build up as will your endurance and cardiovascular fitness. I think running a 4-mile in October of next year for charity is pretty flipping awesome. And not sure if you like to use music when running, but that was my go to when I ran and where I developed my love for heavy metal music because it kept me going.
Anyhoo, not a professional runner by any stretch, but I ran in all seasons and all kinds of crappy weather through cross country and track in high school and for some years after for shits and giggles. If you need anything at all I’m here to support however I can! Hold fast!
thank you, yesterday was hard because I had to pass 3 people… literally had a breakdown and couldn’t pass the 3rd person…
It’s still difficult to not compare myself to others… or to think about how purple and ugly I look when I’m running… but thank you for your encouragement… I’ve been running to a metal playlist my spotify made for me, it works like a charm, but sometimes I’m just too insecure…
nyntje, so awesome!! I’m so proud of you for doing that run even though you had a big rehearsal day. I’m sure you were exhausted after all that.
