Running a Mile a Day for a Month

My Starting Point

There’s nothing I hate more than cardio. (I’m sure there is but when I’m actually in the middle of a cardio intensive workout, I can’t help but think over and over that there is nothing I hate more than cardio) I’m not athletic by any means. In fact, I’ve gained about 20 lbs within a couple of months.

I’ve just recently started trying to become more fit. I’m still in the part of the process where using my body weight for squats and lunges is sufficient. My point is that I’m not in the best shape but I didn’t start this challenge with fitness in mind.

Why Am I Doing This

I’ve just recently moved in with my partner and we both have two dogs of our own. Now we have a lovely family of 4 dogs. My two dogs are itty bitty little angels, less than 10 pounds and much older, so the amount of exercise they need isn’t anything I can’t handle. On the other hand, my partner has a husky and an australian shepard, both of which are fairly young and extremely energetic. Luckily we have a large backyard for them to play in, but I feel like they needed more exercise. I decided that I’d start taking them on “runs” in hopes they’d enjoy it.

First Half of the Month

Strangely enough the first half of the month was much easier. I remember purchasing one of those dog leashes that you can tie around your waist so your hands are free. This leash cost me a pretty penny, and being as frugal as I am, it meant that I definitely had to see this challenge through. My friend also gifted me her Fitbit since she had just purchased an Apple watch.

Tracking my run with the Fitbit made the run a lot of fun! I was worried that I would become so obsessed with the numbers that I would forget the reason why I started this challenge in the first place. It was super interesting to see how the times varied depending on which dog I was running with. My husky was the least distracted out of the 4 so her times have been the quickest. The australian shepard is easily the most distracted so her times were always the longest. My terrier and chihuahua were the most consistent with their times.

With all of my dogs we started at roughly 25 minutes per mile. Now I know this sounds like a lot, because it is, but I was more impressed with the fact that I actually completed a mile. Me, who likes to give up as soon as things get tough. It was a great feeling!

Second Half of the Month

I will say that I didn’t notice much of a difference in terms of my stamina in the first half of the month. Though I will say it was much easier to get up and run during the first half. It was more challenging for me to get the energy to run during the second half. After some self reflection I think it was harder because I knew it was doable. I knew at this point I could run a mile at the very least and still have energy afterwards. That was really difficult for me to come to terms with. I kept thinking, “There’s really no excuse for me to not do this everyday for the rest of my life.”

This is the part where I start to plan the rest of my life, resulting in me feeling overwhelmed and freaking out. At least before I started this I could easily make excuses on why I couldn’t run. Excuses like, “I could faint or I could be really bad at it.” Now, I can’t make those excuses. It’s even harder for me to make excuses since I know my dogs love these runs now and expect them.

Benefits of running a mile a Day for a Month

The part everyone has been waiting for…what benefits did I see? Well to start off I went from running a mile in 25 minutes to 12 minutes. While I eventually want to get to 10 minutes, I cut my time in half, and that was so motivating to experience! I feel stronger and I don’t feel like dying by the end of it. Additionally, I will say my legs are more toned and I’ve lost some centimeters around my waist!

As some of you know from my previous post I have ADHD. I’ve been tired of hearing how exercise is super beneficial for people with ADHD…mostly because I know it’s true. I know it’s true and I still make the conscious decision to not workout and feel sorry for myself when my ADHD starts to really negatively impact my life. Running has helped so much with that. Normally I feel like I’m in a constant state of stress and there’s always so much going around in my head. I tend to not be the nicest person when I’m feeling like this. I noticed that I was much more easy going after a run. I felt for a couple hours after, my brain was finally quiet. This was an unexpected (but I also completely knew this could happen) benefit.

Last but definitely not least, the most rewarding benefit is seeing how happy my dogs are. There’s nothing quite like seeing your dog jump up and down excited to go for a run. I could not begin to describe how happy I felt when they’d be so tired afterwards. This was the whole reason I started, to make sure that my dogs were getting the exercise they needed.

Will I Keep This Up

I definitely see myself keeping up with this habit. There are just so many benefits to doing this. Likewise, I don’t think my dogs will ever let me not take them for a run. They just get antsy at this point if I try to take them for a walk.

I’m proud of myself for not making excuses for myself and seeing this challenge through. There have been a lot of benefits, not only for myself, but for my dogs and the people who have to put up with me when I’m in one of my bad moods.