Twice a week, I volunteer as a music teacher at my children’s school. I often have some time between classes, so in order to get in some exercise in those days, I’ve been taking a walk. There’s a great hill near the school, with an elevation rise of 600 ft. in about 1.4 miles. Definitely gets my heart working hard. The problem is that on the way back down, another 1.4 miles, I can’t get my heart rate up by just walking. So, I’ve started jogging back down most of the hill.
On Christmas day, the gym was closed but I still wanted to get some exercise in to make up for the excess to come. We have the Christmas tree in the middle of the living room, so Zumba on the Xbox is not an option at the moment. So, I decided to try out jogging again. Turns out, I don’t hate it. I think what I really hated was when I was doing the Couch to 5K program, I felt like I had to jog the entire 5K without stopping. Then when I finished the program, I still felt like I had to jog the whole time without stopping. When I went out for my Christmas jog, I let myself switch to a brisk walk when I felt like it. I enjoyed it so much more! I went for another jog/walk today, about 4.5 miles, and enjoyed it again. My husband points out that I never like “have to’s”, and jogging had become a “have to”. Now that it is a “want to” I kind of like it. Don’t know what that says about my personality, but there it is.
Zumba My Butt Off 