Recently I wrote about how being Healthy and fit makes you better parent. In my experience I find this to be true and that’s one of my motivations to be healthy and fit. Last November I decided to register for an ultramarathon. The particular race (Squaw Peak 50) that I signed up for I have finished 8 times and I want to become a 10 time finisher. So, this year I’m going for my 9th finish and then the following year I can become a 10 time finisher.
My Health And Fitness Struggles
The last 5 or 6 years I’ve really struggled with keeping my Fitness at a ultrarunning level. I’ve struggled for a few reasons such as being in school, being a dad and a husband, and I’m getting older which means fitness is harder to come by. It was a lot easier to maintain my weight in my 20s and early 30s. Now I have to be mindful of what I eat. Also, I never really struggled with running injuries when I was younger. The past few years I’ve had shin splints which have really put a damper on any of my efforts to get into ultrarunning shape.
What I’m Doing To Overcome My Struggles
A lot of these reasons for my struggles are not unique – this is life. To get over these struggles I’ve waited until this year to go for my 9th Squaw Peak 50 miler finish because I am now out of school and that has freed up a lot of time. As far as maintaining my weight I’ve been on a keto diet for over a year and have seen some good results. To prevent injuries I’ve made efforts with my training to rest and to build up my milage base slowly.
I started my training in January by running low mile weeks with lots of rest days in between runs. It’s now February and I’ve increased my miles per week to around 15 and 20 miles a week. I still build into my weeks rest days which I think is important at this stage of my training. This week I’m going to run 20 miles and last week I ran 15 miles. After this week I plan to decrease my weekly miles and then do a 20 mile plus week. Training like this I have found so far that my endurance has increased and I haven’t felt any signs of shin splints, which I’m really happy about.
Health, Fitness, And Parenting
My goal, as stated in the beginning, is to go for my 9th Squaw Peak 50 finish, but my over arching goal is to maintain my health and fitness for my family. If my health and fitness is good then it is easier to have patience with my toddler when he’s throwing a tantrum. I also have energy to take him out to do fun things. And my mental health is better when I’m healthy and fit.
I think one important aspect to staying healthy and fit is to choose an activity that you know you’ll enjoy. It could be any kind of activity such as walking, swimming, or hiking. The important thing is you have to enjoy it. For me ultrarunning is something that piqued my interest because it involves being active outside in nature on a mountain trail. All this combined is something that has kept me interested in staying healthy and fit.
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