2012 Intention First Quarter Results: Health

I can't believe its already spring! I'd planned to re-assess my intentions at the change of each season, and well, here we are. I decided to give myself a grade for each intention, and to revise the ones that don't seem to work for me. Thankfully I'm starting off with one of my unequivocal successes.

Health
Original Intention:  "SOME form of exercise most days---NOT including my walking commute"
Grade: A

I was off to a very slow start, with a couple of yoga classes in early January, petering off to nothing for a full month or so while dealing with L's severe sleep issues. Then in mid-February I signed up for a 10 MILE RUN in early May. The next morning, I changed into workout gear, handed G the baby, and took off with the dog. I've been running regularly---three times a week---including a "long run" on the weekends which is up to 6 miles. And I actually like it! The weather has been mostly gorgeous and its a great way to start off the day. Plus, the routine of regular exercise drives me to be more energetic while walking, playing with the boys, etc... Now the increase in energy expenditure has led to a simultaneous increase in energy consumption, so I haven't lost an ounce, but I feel better.

 Happily, G (who did not sign up for the race) has also been spurred on, and we basically alternate days (except for Wednesdays which are early work days for both of us). No, I'm not hitting my original goal of daily exercise, but I think this schedule works best for my life & my family. I've read before (here) about how its easier to build a habit by practicing daily, rather than a few days a week...and I can see that---it'd be easy to put off exercising at the beginning of the week because you still have the rest of the week to finish your 3 days, or what have you. What makes this work for me is having a hard & fast schedule, I run on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. G runs Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday. If I skip Monday, I don't have another day to make it up. And I know I need to train if I want to be able to do this race without embarrassing myself. It's also nice to have days completely off, instead of trying to even fit in push-ups or other short workouts. 

Come May, when the race is said & done, I may switch out some of the running for strength-training or yoga---I definitely  need to build my upper body strength, too---but I think I'll stick with: Exercise at least three days a week.