Things I learned from this challenge:
- It was much harder than I expected. Not so much the physical effort, but the time commitment. I have been running 3 days a week for quite a while, but this required me to get out there almost every day in July to either run, bike, or swim. Some days I had to do 2 activities.
- I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I accomplished all this, while at the same time still running even after finishing the 26.2 miles so I can train for my first Half, and while running my first obstacle course early in the month (didn't count those miles towards my 26.2 either).
- Planning ahead was key. If I had not taken the time early on to figure out how to break down the activities & miles into reasonable chunks, there's no way I could've crammed it all in at the end & finished.
- The cross-training of biking and swimming really seems to have improved my running also. I am going to continue to cross-train one day per week.
- Yoga every day. Every day. Stretching, twisting, relaxing - it's key when you are training this much to also maintain that flexibility and balance. Plus it just plain feels good after a hard workout.
- Something I still need to do is evaluate how many calories I am burning, and plan ahead for meals & snacks. I didn't do a good job of that this month and many days just inhaled whatever I could find in the cabinets in the evenings, and often still went to bed hungry. Especially as I continue making longer runs in the Pew to Half training, I really need to make sure I'm fueling up well but not overdoing it.
- I had fun! Even on the days that at first it felt like a chore, once I got out there I always found by at least halfway through that I was enjoying myself. That's always good to remember, on days when motivation seems to be lacking.
I am in total awe. Not that I didn't think you could do it, just that it takes such commitment. Very smart that you calculated early on!
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