30 days

About a month ago my mom invited me and my sister to participate in a 30 day challenge with her. She sent us this video, which inspired me to give it a whirl: Matt Cutts: Try something new for 30 days 

My goal was to run for 15 minutes every day for 30 days.  

I know that 15 minutes isn't a lot.  Most people probably would have done it for 20 or 30 minutes.  But I was starting from absolute scratch and for a total couch potato, 15 minutes is a lot. 

A view from my running path...

The first week was brutal.  My body let me know each and every day that it was mad at me.  I had to learn to jog while pushing a stroller, which was challenging.  I had to learn which socks would not fall down into my shoes.  I had to learn which sidewalks had the least cracks and were the least busy.  But most of all, I had to learn to run.  That first week, I'd run for just a minute or two and then stop and walk and try not to keel over dead.  I'm sure if anyone was watching me, they must have thought I was the biggest wimp ever.  Every single day that first week, I thought about quitting the stupid challenge.  I considered the challenges that my mom and sister were doing, and I would rationalize quitting by telling myself that their challenges were way easier than mine so I should get to switch to something easier.  Ray really encouraged me to keep going, though.  He kept telling me that the first week was going to be the hardest, and that it would eventually get easier.

On October 6 (my 6th day of running), I ran for 15 minutes straight.  I thought I might die, but I did it.  I was so excited, and so proud of myself.

Megan came running with me one day. 
She did a fabulous job and stayed right with me for the full 15 minutes!

After that, it got easier and easier.  I am the slowest runner EVER, but I didn't give up.  And yesterday, which was day 30 of the challenge, I ran for 33 minutes straight.

I wanted to share this on my blog for a few reasons.

I've talked to a lot of people lately who say that they don't have time to exercise.  They are wrong.  I have five kids to homeschool (including a nursing baby), a big house to keep, a laundry pile taller than my 8 year old, a Sunday School class to teach, and for five days of my challenge my husband was in Germany.

I still made it happen.

If you have 15 minutes to facebook, you have 15 minutes to exercise.  If you have 15 minutes to pinterest, you have 15 minutes to exercise.  

We make time for the things that are important to us. 

Another reason I wanted to share is to challenge YOU to try something new for 30 days.   It doesn't have to be anything fancy or big.  But doing something new for 30 days has made me feel so much better.  Not only physically (even though the benefits physically have been a bit mind-blowing for me), but also emotionally.  I feel so proud of myself for not giving up, and for accomplishing more than I set out to do.  I intend to start a new 30 day challenge tomorrow, and I invite you to do it with me!  Let me know in the comments if you want to try, and what you will do.  We can encourage each other!