During this challenge, I met my goals of building my endurance. I was able to walk five miles during my last week, but I’m not sure if that will be something I do regularly; it was pretty hard! I felt kind of wiped out by the last week.
I think this challenge was a great jumping-off point for me to get in shape and I will definitely keep walking in my weekly schedule. One of the major challenges for me was finding the time for my walks. Each walk took over an hour and between classes, homework and my job, I was already overwhelmed. That’s why I will keep some aspects from these last few weeks, but modify them to reduce the feeling that these walks were another obligation on my list. Did anyone else have trouble with time management during this challenge?
From now on, I plan to walk at least three times a week and they will probably only be a mile or two on most days. If I have free time on the weekends, I might refresh my skills with a longer hike, but for now I just want to maintain my endurance in a way that is easy for me.
My favorite thing about this challenge was forcing myself to go outside every day and take a break from anything that was stressing me out. It allowed me to spend time outside, listen to music, and get away from screens. With my homework being mostly on my computer, I feel like I am getting double the screen time, not just from my phone. My walks were the only time of day when I could zone out completely.
They also allowed me to catch up with some family and friends. I would call people and talk to them for almost an hour, which I normally would not have time to do. It made the walks go faster and I felt like I was walking with someone. I really recommend doing this whether you walk all the time or just want a moment to catch up with someone. Going on a walk and calling a friend is a really nice activity. Nowadays, no one really calls each other just to chat, so it was pretty refreshing.
The only thing I would change about this challenge is the timing. The next time I feel like I need an endurance boost, I would do this challenge at a time when I don’t have school. This is one of the busiest times of year with midterms and projects, so it would have been better during one of my breaks. But, hey! We did it and that feels pretty darn good. The one thing that was perfect, though, was the weather. Fall weather is perfect for walking and the scenery it creates is so pretty. Let me know what your favorite time of year is in the comments. My favorite weather is probably in the fall or spring, but my favorite time of year is definitely summer because there’s no school and it’s time for the beach!
Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed walking through this challenge with me and I hope you found something new to takeaway from it! Email me on how your experience was building your endurance and let me know your favorite thing about the challenge in the comments! Good luck going forward! So long for now, walking buddies!