Blogpost: Saturday Successes

We start our walk/run a little later on Saturdays. The good news is so do others, so Three-o does not have more distractions. However, he was more in the pull mood today for the first couple of miles. He cant’ stand for someone to be in front of us. I think he is either on patrol or the neighborhood greeter. My ankle was not ready for a waterski simulation behind him so we walked for most of his three miles. The temperature was cool and the breeze was nice as the sun came up. At this point I was not sure if it would be a 10 mile day or a cut it short day and save myself for tomorrow kind of day. Sophie took the lead at 3 miles and we started to run 4 minutes and walk 30 seconds. I was just not loosening up in the foot/ankle area and it was a grind. I contemplated walking more and running shorter but decided to see if I could loosen up. It was definitely time to think of positive things versus focusing on how stiff I felt. I looked at my watch and was actually shuffling along at a 11:30 pace which was not bad for how I felt. The other good thing was I was tolerating the increased pace and 4 minutes of running much better from a cardiovascular and big muscle view. I dropped Sophie off and got a bottle of sport mix and headed out for just a little less than 5 miles. It now seemed doable. I focused on form and noticed my pace was improving and I was less stiff. Not perfect but I felt like I had a little rhythm going. I ended up running at a better pace for longer duration after a stiff sluggish beginning.

What was even better than finishing 10 miles feeling better than I started was seeing a post from one of our members. She has been walking the 5k steady only missing one day. We talked a little about walking form and pushing off rather than reaching out a few days ago. Since then, she has dropped over 2min/mile in her pace and feels great. Today was her longest walk at 4 miles. Steady forward progress. The walking challenge has given people a goal and challenge outside of their comfort zone. People are starting to look at their paces and distances as successes as opposed to checking the walk box with just a stroll. Getting outside of our comfort zones, pushing paces while walking outside does more to promote a healthy life span than any medical intervention or pharmaceutical. I hope your walk was successful today.