On the eve of training day 1, what am I thinking? I’m not too worried about the first two weeks of training as I’ve been a regular walker ever since I got my first Fitbit back in 2011. That being said, often my walks are more like a stroll. So, for those first two weeks, I think I’ll try to intersperse “fast” walking with my “let the dog sniff” walking and focus on doing some yoga and strength exercises on the off days, to get into that habit. Of course, at our house, which has been filled with 32 years of dogs and cats, doing anything that involves being on the floor is not so appealing. But, I’m going to brave it (or at least attempt it) for the animals of MEOW!

For the pre-training stretching, I’m going to try this Dynamic Stretching (referenced on the training plan). Just 5 minutes, that’s doable, right?

For the beginning yoga, I went to YouTube (“10 minutes, yoga for beginners” search) and found Adriene and her dog, Benji. The dog’s lack of interest made me smile and felt a lot like what it will be in our household.

I’m very excited that I found a “training by text” partner. Linda Rubin, our Volunteer Programs Manager, is taking the challenge too. We don’t live near each other, and of course she has a job, so we’ll mostly be encouraging each other (“it’s not raining that hard!”) and celebrating successes (“yes, a glass of wine is definitely deserved after that workout!”) via texts.

I am a bit worried that there won’t be any other challenge takers and there will only be 5 of us participating! Although we’ll be a dedicated group certainly, we most likely will fall short of our $5,000 fundraising goal and it will be pretty ho-hum on 5K day. Why not join us? It’ll be fun! Here’s the link to learn more.

If you’re really not interested participating in the 5K, you may certainly be a part of our fundraising efforts (and my team of encouragers) by donating. If you’d like to offer me encouragement by supporting MEOW, you may donate via my Facebook or Network for Good fundraising page. Thanks!