Good Morning Kix Country!

I have not written about my fitness journey for a long time. Now I have a new project and a new focus and I am pretty excited about it. This summer I am planning on participating in my very first 5K run. If someone had asked me to do this even a few short months ago, I would have said no in a heartbeat. Now I am working diligently on getting ready for this run and I know it is the right time for this new adventure.

Why the change? Well, it turns out the weight loss goals are not the thing for me. I still struggle with my diet. I have learned a lot and have incorporated a lot more healthy foods, but my weight is really stubborn (or I am). The reality is that worrying about the scale is not working for me. What is working for me is focusing on fitness goals. I can do so much more than when I started working out over a year ago and that improves every single week. I feel great about that and I want the progress to continue.

I have worked hard on improving flexibility and strength and have come a long way with both. It has been a year of preparing my body for being an active involved person. Now I am ready to get after it. With my increased strength and flexibility, I can do things that I have missed out on for years and I am ready to really put it to good use. That is why I have decided to do the Ridge Run. It is a chance to go get dirty, have fun and hopefully forget that I am running and exercising. It is also the push that I need to up the amount of cardio that I am doing on a daily/weekly basis.

Here is the plan. I am still working with a trainer once a week at the Marshalltown YMCA/YWCA. We are doing pretty intense plyometrics workouts once a week and the rest of the week is focused on maintaining muscle mass with weights and improving endurance on the treadmill and by lap swimming. This is only week two or this plan, but already I feel better, stronger overall and faster. I am very much looking forward to what the next several weeks will bring.

I will try to do better about updating you on my progress. Have a great day!