As I enter the final week of my project, I start to reflect on the overall growth that I have had as a learner, runner and teacher. 

This goal, as I mentioned before, really aligned with goal setting that I just finished completing and assessing with my students. At the beginning of the unit I teach about the importance of connecting mind, body, spirit and emotion through some medicine wheel teachings. Quite often, students find when they work on one of the four quadrants of the medicine wheel that there is growth in other areas as well. So, I thought that I would make a visual to represent the growth that I have seen in the four quadrants myself. 

It is not “new news” that running helps, but sometimes I just need that little push. At the end of the exhausting day, I can use a run to help regulate my emotions rather than being a grumpy pants all night. When I feel as though my mind is racing, I can use a run to help clear my mind. 

I have a plan to print off this visual and hang it on my fridge or somewhere visible. Then I can be sure that I am seeing the importance of running. 

Looking forward, I have to make a plan for how I am going to make this sustainable for the long term. This is not about just getting a good mark in EC&I (but that wouldn’t hurt me). 

Here are some great tools that I found to make and keep running a sustainable activity for my overall well being: 

This link gave me some support in how I can fit in smaller runs throughout the week. Sometimes 30 minutes is a lot, so some smaller runs just a few times a week could help me maintain the health and development of my running.

One of my biggest obstacles here in Saskatchewan is trying to figure out how maintain running in the winter. There sure aren’t many resources out there that support running in the cold, deep snow winter that we have. This Tik Tok had some relatable snow depths, but I am not sure about how cold this person really is as they run. 

Finally, I found an inspiration Instagram running coach that can hopefully pop up on my feed in a regular fashion for motivation. @trackclubbabe has regular motivation and real life posts that can keep me motivated through the good, the bad and the ugly! 

To finish, I am going to share a beautiful photo that I took during one of my runs these past five weeks. It was a reminder to stop and smell the flowers, or canola, or whatever else is out there to give me allergies!

Hey there, awesome ECI 831 readers! Welcome to my final blog post, where I will be sharing my journey of my 5k running project. In just six weeks, I went from a beginner to a determined runner…..just jokes, I am still at the beginner stages, and my “running” is more of a jog, but I am ok with that. My journey was filled with growth and excitement. Let me dive into the highlights, lessons, and triumphs that made this learning project MY learning project.

Getting started: it all began with me wanting to sew a quilt, but then I realized it would cost me $200 in material…..beep that! NO thank you! I had to switch gears completely……

So, it actually all began with a simple goal of completing a 5k run within six weeks. As someone new to running, this was a big challenge that required discipline, commitment, and a positive mindset. To kick off the project, I researched some training plans and settled with From Couch to 5k! The plan looked easy enough, however reflecting back I feel I probably needed more time to work my way up to the running times. Realistically, I should have trained a few months for this run.

Weeks 1-2 was about building the basics and focusing on a strong foundation for my running journey.  I was reading articles if running was good for you? Still not sure I agree with this hahaha. I worked on my running form, gradually increased my endurance, and added some stretching into my routine. It wasn’t always easy, but I learned that staying patient and keep going were the keys to successfully completing my learning project.

At this point, I was regretting not spending the $200 on material!

Weeks 3-4 I was working on better nutrition and planning some meals, based on the reading Your Guide to a Runner’s Diet. I came to the conclusion I do not like meal planning, prepping, or cooking. Why can’t I win the lottery and have my own personal chef? During the running process I entered a more intense phase of training. I was increasing my time to eight and ten minutes and I was achieving milestones that were giving me a great sense of pride and motivated me to keep going.

Week 5-6 I tried my creative hand at creating the iMovies for my learning project. I have never worked with iMovie and so I watched full tutorial on YouTube. It was a smooth process and I found it easy to work with. I feel like iMovie is tool I will be using again for future projects. A few things to note when you watch my videos, yes I did cut my hair half way through the class, this made it difficult for re-takes! Also, why do I look down at my feet so much? Well, there is a funny story behind that. I tried running once before, back in 2008, and I tripped over my feet and broke my finger. True story! So, this running project was a big feat (feet LOL) for me!

Race day! Finally, the big day arrived, and I found myself feeling defeated before I even began. I read some running tips on how to prepare yourself for a long run. I wasn’t sure how I would ever run for a full 5k without stopping….As I put on Vanderpump Rules, started the treadmill, I embraced the challenge. I don’t know if it was the culmination of all my hard work or the fact that I knew I would never have to run again, but I pushed myself throughout the entire run. When my fitbit alerted me that I had reached 5k, I was left with joy that it was over, a little bummed that my episode of Vanderpump was over, I mean, it was getting juicy! I think in my video, you can tell I am watching tv as I was looking up at my screen (and not my feet this time!).

Important Lessons Learned:

1. Consistency is key: Regular training, even when I didn’t feel like it, helped me improve and build my endurance.
2. Patience pays off: Progress takes time, so I learned to be patient and enjoy the journey instead of rushing results.
3. Mind of matter: Running is not just physical. It is also about mental strength. Staying positive and believing in myself helped me pushed through…..or maybe it was the fact I was able to be away from my kids and watch Vanderpump Rules instead of Sonic Boom or Dance Monsters! Either way, I pushed through mentally and was able to overcome the struggles.

Reflection: I’ve come to realize the power of setting goals and working hard to achieve them. Training for my 5k run not only improved my fitness (a little, but I will take it) but also boosted my confidence, and determination to want to continue on my fitness journey….maybe not with running.

This was my first time blogging and using Twitter and all this techy stuff. As I read other blogs throughout the semester, I could see I needed to step up my game, as I felt behind everyone else. Looking back at my overall learning project, there are some things that I would do differently. I would have incorporated more running apps, and maybe included my Fitbit more into the process. To be honest, I only started wearing it again because of my learning project. I didn’t do a lot of flashy posts as I didn’t have the skill set, but I kept learning and trying to do my best and I think that that is what is important for me. I learned some new things this semester and I am proud of my growth and learning.

As I say goodbye to this project, I eagerly look forward to new adventures and challenges.

Thank you all for reading my posts and the comments. This has been a great class. Have a great summer!