Healthy Goals: March Review

This month has been difficult, to put things lightly. With shelter in place orders in effect and the world shutting down, I found myself incredibly grateful that we live where we do still focus on the healthy outdoor goals that are helping me live a better life. I have found that right now, fresh air is even more important as it is healing and energizing.

In case you need a reminder of my healthy goals:

1. Spend an average of 1 hour/day outside with my kids. Setting this as a daily goal motivates me to make an effort every day instead of getting behind and then trying to play catch up. I’m hoping that we will surpass this goal, but for now, I am keeping this as an attainable goal. Plus, I made the goal in the winter and my youngest does NOT enjoy the cold.
2. Hike/walk the year in miles. That is 2,020 miles during the year, an average of 55 miles/day. I am recording my miles every day to keep track of this.
3. 52 trails in 52 weeks. That is 1 new trail every week. I want to explore the world we live in and discover new areas and hidden gems. This is one of my most exciting goals and I’ll be sharing my hikes on Instagram as well as a round-up during these monthly check-ins.

These outdoor goals are helping me on my journey trying to achieve better mental health after postpartum depression and better physical health. Are you ready to crush some goals?

Goal #1: 1/hour outside every day

There was a lot of cold, rain and wind this month. Plus, with the situation in the world, I honestly had a hard time motivating myself to get outside and play with my kids. It is so much more comfortable to just sit inside but I still managed to go outside most days with them. Since my husband was home due to unemployment early in the month, we were able to go on a lot of walks as a family and played together a lot.

Creating a Messy Outdoor Play Area

The month started with me adding to a great dirt play area I had been building for the kids. It started with me digging out two large bushes and relocating them into the woods. Then I got this plastic kitchen that a local mom wanted to get rid of and some old pots and pans for a dirt kitchen. I added some large logs to mark a boundary and for the boys to climb on. Finally, I finished the area with a water table (that quickly became a mud table) and a small plastic slide. We spent most of our outdoor playtime here.

Total time outside for the month: 64.93 hours

Daily Average for the month:

Total time outside for the year:

Daily Average for the year:

Goal #2: Hike/walk 2,020 miles

I have actually been able to run lately! I had been able to strengthen my knees enough with yoga that I am running outside again and it feels so good. This is the first time in over 15 years since I first injured my knee that I have regularly run. Right now, I average about 3 miles when I go for a run and I have been working at increasing that distance.

This means that I make up the distance at home in other ways. Chasing my boys in the yard is a popular exercise in my house. Often, I end up marching in place and counting the steps to make up the mileage at the end of the day. I’m still on track to hit this goal and I’m proud that more and more of the miles are becoming more intentional and fewer are from around the house.

Daily Average for month: 6

Total Miles Walked this month: 186

Total Miles Walked in the year: 536/2020

Goal #3: 52 Trails in 52 Weeks

This was honestly the hardest goal this month. Most of the trails by where I live became so crowded in the middle to the end of the month that I didn’t want to go. I also wasn’t in the greatest mood for a while so motivating my family to go for a hike wasn’t at the top of my list, although now I wish I had pushed for more.

Black Rock Mountain

The first hike I did was early in March when schools were still open. My oldest was in school and I took my youngest up the mountain. It was about 4 miles from the parking spot on 9W that gave me access to the Black Rock forest. From there, I went up the Black Rock Hollow Trail to the top of the mountain. It was an amazing view up there. The route I took was about 5-6 miles up and back.

Some Random Trail

The first hike I went on that my husband joined was just exploring the woods by route 218 in New York. We walked back and found a cool old fire hydrant and had fun as a family. It was a short trail, maybe about 1 mile total in and out.

Popolopen Gorge Trail

This was a fun hike. It went along a river and up and down a mountain by Bear Mountain. There was an old dam and a some big stone steps that we climbed. We had our hiking treasure bucket with us and D was collecting lots of “shiny” rocks. We didn’t make it to the end of the trail before the kids started getting cranky but still managed to do about 3-4 miles.

Total Hikes this month: 3

Progress Toward Goal: 11/52

Mental and Physical Health Check-In

I haven’t been working out a lot at home except for running. It feels so good to get outside for a run but then I usually don’t have energy left for strength training. And, for some reason, other than trying Cosmic Kids Yoga with D, I haven’t gotten many yoga sessions in either. Instead, I’ve been doing a lot of at-home activities with my kids.

This has been a choice and I’m happy with it. I am still active and feeling strong but spending this time together as a family has been great for my mental health. I started to get overwhelmed last week and it took talking to my mom, my husband, and friends to get my head straight again. This led up to my “letter to the people who are the emotional rock for their family” that I wrote on Instagram.

Mental health will be a struggle at this time. It is more important than ever to practice self-care, kindness, and forgiveness for others and yourself. I find that taking a little bit of alone time each day to accomplish something helps me. This accomplishment can be in the form of a run or hike, cleaning a room of the house, or creating a piece of art. Maybe it is simply that I got through the day with everyone alive! Find a reason to feel accomplishment and it will help your mood a tremendous amount.

That was my healthy outdoor goals review of March. I hope that some of what we have done to inspire you to get outside. For more, check out my Instagram or Facebook pages. 

January Goal Review

February Goal Review

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