My Journey With Health And Fitness – One Kilometer At A Time

There are some days I truly believe there is no place better than the beach where I live, today was one of those days. The past couple of days it has been quite windy leading to some significant waves. While it sucks walking/running in that wind is freezing, the stunning beauty of watching our ocaen move makes it so worth it. Today the tide was in and there sitting on a log watching the water was a stunning bald eagle. He just reminded me of the beauty of the nature around me and why I live in this gorgeous part of the world.

Today was 10km day. I did an easy one a few weeks ago and it was quite difficult. But I have been working hard the past few weeks and thought it was time to do a longer run again. So, up early and on the road by 6am. It was a bit warmer today than it has been this past week and I really appreciated that. I started out at a nice pace down the hill and my immediate thought was how much I was enjoying this. That thought is a huge change from 2 years ago before I had to take my break due to the blown out ankle. Back then I hated running only appreciated it once the run was over. Instead, today I thought about how good it felt.

So what has changed? I realized that hiatus I took really made me miss running. At the point when my brother died I remember thinking how much I wanted to do a run to clear my head but I couldn’t. Having stepped away for 18 months I now appreciate how invigorating doing a good run can be. And today was no exception.

I was a bit disappointed in my first kilometer because the pace was slower than what I wanted therefore I picked it up for km 2. Now don’t get me wrong, I still run slowly but I am working on that. I kept trying to up the pace but it wasn’t going as well as I hoped during those first 5 km’s. But I turned it up for the last 5 km’s and was pleased at the end result. Again, I still have work to do but each kilometer is getting easier.

I also had a bit of a break through today. Because of the ankle I have avoided running/walking up the steep hills. This week I decided it was time to work on this so twice I have walked up a very steep hill just to get back to doing it. Today I decided it was time to conquer running up a hill again. And so instead of only running on the promenade/pier I actually tackled the hill that leads me back home. The 1st 2 blocks of that hill are brutal but I kept pushing myself until I had made it. The ankle held (note I do still wear a brace when running) and I was pretty proud of hitting the top of the hill. It told me that I can do this on my long runs and can’t wait to try it again next week.

When I started running a friend who is a long time runner told me that a 10km run is simply 10 1km runs and don’t let the large number intimidate me, she was right. Running is about each kilometer, not the total. When I was about to do a 1/2 marathon the smae friend dropped off a hilarious card (10 things that mean you are a runner) and reminded me it is 1 kilometer at a time. Again she was right and I am really looking at my new found love for running through those lenses.

Tomorrow I will do an easy 8km run. I know that like today I will focus on each individual kilometer instead of thinking about how far I still have to go. Shifting that focus makes the experience so much more enjoyable. Really, I can’t wait to get out there again and just enjoy what I am doing.

So, I intend to improve my running 1 kilometer at a time because that is all that I need to do. Who knows maybe someday I’ll be at the point of not being a ‘slow’ runner, I sure hope so.