June Review of Healthy Outdoor Goals

June truly felt like summer in New York! We had some hot and humid days, scattered thunderstorms, and a lot of fun. Although the world seemed to fall apart a little more, I feel like I am found a groove I hadn’t known in a while and looking forward to a lot more time outside. Getting out to hike isn’t the easiest in this heat, but early mornings are beautiful and the air is so crisp that it rejuvenates the soul.

Maybe it is current events of racism and hate, but a fire was reignited in me during June. I feel a need to teach my children to be loving, joyful, accepting, and kind to everyone. My oldest son stayed up late one night so we could go to a Black Lives Matter vigil. I felt the need to show him that I am committed to living in this way.

We also have a lot of fun, my kids were a little cranky this month too. The one thing that constantly amazes me is how the wild will calm a child. We can get out on a trail or to a creek and the kids will suddenly calm themselves. It is like a great weight is lifted and suddenly the crank just disappears. That is what keeps me going back. It is what motivates me to push through the screaming and crying. I know, that once we walk out into the wild, all will be peaceful.

In case you need a reminder of my goals:

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.
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.
52 hikes in 52 weeks. This includes the trail runs that I have started to enjoy.

Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram to see the day to day outdoor fun.

These outdoor goals are helping me on my journey to achieve better mental health after postpartum depression and better physical health. I feel so much better when I am on track so I continue to pursue them. Are you ready to crush some goals?

Goal #1: 1/hour outside every day in June

June was full of beautiful, sunny weather. There was rain, which provided mud and puddles to play in so we loved it just as much. These warm days are perfect for a lot of yard work and play. Although we are mostly still just home staying healthy, we did start to make a few ventures out to meet up with one family at a time, including a trip to the Hudson River. The social interaction was needed on all sides.

Water play continued to be a big part of our days. We started almost every day with a little play in the kiddie pool, giant buckets of water, or the sprinkler.

We started a lot of outdoor projects. While I build a new fire pit by sourcing stone from our property as a Father’s Day gift, my husband fixed and painted our deck to look like new. The deck still looks like new, but my youngest drew with chalk all over the fire pit with 5 minutes of finishing!

I also built and tended to my new garden. It is my first year with a garden and I’m so excited for it to produce more. So far, I have harvested a lot of green beans, but my son will eat them raw and they have only made it to the dinner table once! After helping me re-pot strawberries, the boys ate them all so I’m hoping they grow and will give a second harvest.

I’m not sure if it is because of the nice weather or the garden, but we ate outside a lot in June!

Total time outside for June: 105.5 hours

Daily Average for June: 3 hours 30 minutes

Total time outside for the year: 436 hours

Daily Average for the year: 1 hour 51 minutes

Goal #2: Hike/walk 2,020 miles.

Honestly, I thought I had moved a lot more in June. Maybe it was because of the heat or the fact that I was doing so many other things but my body was definitely moving. Some of the rocks I moved for the fire pit were huge and so I was getting a real workout without actually moving very far. My arms got toned and I feel a lot stronger as a result, but this doesn’t show so much in my mileage. Now that my major projects are finished, I am going to focus on going for more runs and hikes and go for the distance. I don’t want to just hit this goal, I want to smash it!

Daily Average for month: 5.8 miles

Total Miles Walked this month: 174 miles

Total Miles Walked in the year: 1052/2020

Goal #3: 52 Hikes in 52 Weeks

I’m really enjoying hiking with the boys again. My youngest loves it so much he will climb into the hiking pack to ask to go! We have made friends that are the same level hikers as us and it makes it really enjoyable. Sometimes our hikes turn into playing in a creek or on a fallen tree and that is ok. When I have the kids with me it isn’t about the distance covered or the destination, it is about enjoying each other and having fun on the way.

Keeping a 4-Year-Old Moving on a Trail

One of our favorite trail games is to “find the next shape”. We follow the trail markers and it is a constant search for the next one. It is a great way to keep going and do some real distance (even with kids). We did a 4.5-mile hike together in this way following the clues left by “Scrumpy the Squirrel” and finding some cool things along the way.

Trail Runs

I was still running trails. My favorite loop is about 1.5 miles of trail plus 1 mile each way on the road from my house to the trail. It is such a satisfying run and really challenges me in a good way. Unfortunately, that trail is closing for a summer camp so I’ll have to find a new place to do trail runs.

Total Hikes in June: 6

Progress Toward Goal: 26/52

Mental and Physical Health June Check-In

I continue to benefit from working in my garden and simply soaking up the sun. We are spending a lot of time together as a family and seeing a few other people has done wonders for my mental health. I still miss my parents and sister a lot, but I try to ignore it and simply enjoy the interaction that we can have due to technology.

In June, I started to feel like myself again. I started singing and dancing in the car, while cooking, and randomly in the street because I felt like it. My paintbrush found it’s way back into my hand and I got creative again. Between music going in my brain and art coming out, I felt better than I had in a long time.

My physical health feels like it is improving every day. Doing all the yard work I have done was amazing strength training and I continued to hike with a 30 lb toddler on my back. My arms and legs are stronger than they have ever been and I can feel that strength continuing to build. It truly feels amazing. In this way, June was a great month. I will continue to pursue these outdoor goals and push myself to be stronger and better each day. I do this for my kids.