While any increase in walking will help promote good health, the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports recommends 30 minutes a day, on five or more days a week, or 10,000 steps daily, to produce the best, long-term health benefits for most individuals. In a hurry? Get in your 10,000 steps a little quicker by running today!
My Story: I started running as a Senior in High School. Although I occasionally joined my dad for a hot run on the dirt road I grew up on and I even dabbled in Middle School Track for nearly a full season, I did not develop a passion for running until I set a goal to run a 5K before graduating high school. Not just any 5K, the Old Kent Riverbank Run. 3.1 miles? Sure! With training of course (mostly on that dirt road...ugh). My first race just happened to be the year that the Old Kent River Bank Run was held at the Old Kent Ball Park rather than Downtown. The course almost resembled that dirt road....so I actually ran surprisingly well considering about 3/4 of the way through I thought that I was going to die because it was so hard to breathe and my legs were running on empty! As it turned out, 3/4 of the way through the race should have been the finish line! They changed the location of the course that year....and failed to mark it correctly....only to find out in the newspaper the following day that I actually ran 4 miles. So much for training right?! I was scarred. No desire to do anymore 5K races for awhile....who knew how long 5K might actually turn into! I did not face the Riverbank run again until taking on the 25K, I figured if the race was longer than I had anticipated years ago then 15.5 miles should not be too bad! Aside from the fact that the race endured the quintessential cold drizzle, it actually was not too bad and I was proud to call myself a runner that day!
12 years later and 6 months pregnant, I decided not to run today. However, I did choose to walk back to my hotel from a conference instead of taking the street car. It was well worth it! I managed to get in 13,000+ Steps today and my baby was lulled to sleep on a nice long walk.
Why do you Run? Make a bold statement and tell the world our reason for running!
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