Chicago Running Review

The Resolution is the Revolution. This year instead of a resolution, choose to be a part of a revolution. Revolutionize yourself, and choose to do something that for you, and the people around you is revolutionary. Avoid the challenges of sticking with your resolution. Don’t resolve – revolt, to a new you.

New Year’s Resolution: Introduce Workouts Into My Daily Routine

One way to take control of your wellness is to increase your physical activity by changing your daily routine. You may be surprised the difference you see and feel by incorporating more walking, biking, or stair climbing throughout your day.

Here are some ideas on how introduce workouts into your daily routine:

• Walk more on your way to work, school, etc. Simply getting off the bus or train a stop early or parking your car further from your destination are great first steps.
• Bike your commute or your weekend errands. Biking is a fantastic way to shop locally and cut down on harmful emissions!
• Shun elevators and escalators (and even those moving walkway things at airports). Use your legs to get you where you need to go.

How to do it right:
Make one change at a time: Instead of making three changes at the same time, make one change at a time. This lets your body adjust gradually to your new routine.

Budget extra time: It may take you longer to get to your destination on foot or by bike so budget in some extra time for your new mode of transportation.

Start and maintain an activity log: Join dailymile to track your increased activity and commiserate with your friends. Get a heart rate monitor that can track calories burned and average heart rate to see your fitness level improve.  Finding a way to track your activity will help you see your achievements and motivate you to keep it up!

Pack your bag the night before: Don’t wait until the morning to lay out your cycling gear, shower stuff, or change of clothes. Get set the night before so you can get up and go!

With these tips you will be well on your way to a safe and successful journey but to add a little more inspiration here is Sarah & Ronan’s accounts of how they found ways to add fitness into their daily routines!

Sarah’s Story:
This past semester, I was a TA for a freshman sociology class at Notre Dame. Since I’m a senior I don’t have my own office I would have office hours to meet with students in the main department office on the 8th floor of the building. I’m not really sure why, but the first day I had to get my way to the 8th floor, I decided to take the stairs. I ended up taking the stairs every time I went up to the office that semester! It became a fun little challenge to be able to say at the end that I never took the elevator.  It was a small thing to do, but it made me feel like I was doing a little something extra for my body. Some days (well, a lot of them) the stairs didn’t feel so easy, but I’m glad I did it. I’ll be heading up to the same space next semester, though less frequently, and I’m actually excited to continue to meet my own challenge.

Ronan’s Story:
When I decided I wanted to run a marathon about two years ago, my biggest concern was if I was going to have enough time to properly train for it. My job is very demanding and I work long hours and sometimes during the weekends, and committing myself to something outside of work has always been very difficult. However, as part of my resolution that year to find a balance between work and life, I signed up to run the Chicago Marathon in 2010 and though sticking to a training program was difficult, I did train and run the race.

After that first marathon I signed up for a few more races but still encountered the problem of finding time, and essentially the motivation, to train. I considered other ways to compensate it but because I live up north and far from my work, nothing ever really materialized. Then last year, my roommate moved out-of-state so I looked around and found an apartment in the city closer to work.

When I was trying to figure out my commuting options to work, I realized I could basically walk to work around the same time that it would take me if I had chosen to take the bus, maybe even sometimes faster. So for a couple of weeks I would alternate taking a public transit and walking to work. Then, without really thinking about it, I realized that I was walking to and from work more often than I was taking the public transit.

I realized that by walking to and from work, I can use it as a way to supplement my training regimen. When work began to be more hectic and busy, finding more time to go to the gym and work out has become a bit more challenging.  Therefore, walking to and from work, though it does not replace working out or running, does help as a way to compensate for me not being able to work out as much as I want to.

With this routine I’m able to continue to keep my resolution I made a couple of years ago to not use my hectic work schedule as the excuse to not work out and train. The city has plenty of resources to make anybody’s resolutions of being more active possible; it is just up to us to use them. This year, my goal is to ride a bike to work as an alternate to walking or taking the bus.