Here it is, already: April — a good time to take stock on how you’re doing with any resolutions you may have made to exercise more in 2014.
If you’ve been making your health and fitness a priority, rock on! If you haven’t, don’t fret — there’s time.
One way to motivate yourself to get moving is to set a goal. The TMC Meet Me Downtown 5K Night Run and Walk is six weeks away, which is a good amount of time to get ready to walk or run 3.1 miles. An event we started eight years ago as a way to draw people downtown, it has grown each year. More than 4,000 runners and walkers are expected to take part on May 31.
To help you prepare, for each of the next six weeks we’ll offer up two training schedules along with tips on a range of topics, including nutrition, getting the right gear and how to deal with the heat.
If you haven’t exercised for a while and you have health concerns, you may want to talk to your doctor before starting something new.
This week’s tips
Think big, start small: It’s OK to have a big goal, so don’t be afraid to say that you want to do a marathon or a triathlon. But it’s always better to create a series of incremental goals to help you achieve the big goal. If your big goal is to do the Night Run, then make each week an incremental goal.
Talk about it: Research has found that people keep internal commitments more often when they make them public. We suggest you find three people whom you like. Tell them that you are making a commitment to use April and May to get healthier. Tell them that you want them to join you on your journey.
One step at a time: Psychologists also say that the trick to making change stick is to make one change at a time. We set ourselves up for failure when we say that every day we’ll eat better, exercise, cut back on television and clean the garage. Our goal is to try one thing new every week. We’ll make it easy for you — your job is to make it easy on yourself. This week’s stress is simple: Start the six-week plan.
