Kathleen's goal was to increase her physical activity by going for daily runs over 4 weeks to lose weight and improve her health. Her goal was to run 1.3 miles in 12 minutes by the end of the period. She tracked her progress weekly and was able to improve from running 1.09 miles to 1.23 miles in 12 minutes, narrowly missing her target but making significant progress. She plans to continue running to further improve.
2. My Goal I want to increase my physical activity and exercise each day in order to lose a little weight, get fit, and improve my quality of life. I want to start this through going for daily runs, because this seems like an activity I could enjoy and whenever I see people running I always think that I wish I could get into that. Not only will I enjoy running, I believe that I will be preventing future health problems that arise because of lack of exercise. Specific - I want to start by going for a jog every day and by the end of the 4 weeks I want to be able to run 1.3 miles in 12 minutes. Measurable - This goal is measurable because I'll be able to time myself each time I run I can time myself. I also have an elliptical machine in my house that I could use to time myself on (though I'm not sure if this is quite the same as running.) Achievable - When I took the fitness test, I ran 1.09 miles in 12 minutes, and I haven't done any running in a long time. This is why I think that if I get into a routine and go running regularly for a month, I'll be able to improve that to 1.3 miles. The book says that for my age group 1.3 miles is right in between Good and Adequate, so I feel that that is an appropriate goal to set for now. Realistic - To be realistic, I'm not going to start right off with running for an hour a day or anything like that. Instead, I'll start with going out every day for 30 minutes and jogging/walking. I do have 30 minutes each day that I can do this, and after a week or so I'm going to try to limit my walking and jog the entire time, or as long as I can. I'm going to buy some new running shoes and I'll be sure to bring a water bottle with me every time. I'm going to try to get a friend to run with me so that she/he can hold me accountable to it and I won't be able to make excuses and get out of it. Time - I hope to be able to run 1.3 miles in 12 minutes by the end of 4 weeks. After this, if I find that I really do enjoy running then I'm going to try to keep it up and make it a regular part of my life.
3. Factors Predisposing Factors- I value physical health and I have learned (through this class and others) that this is important. On the other hand, my parents never encouraged me to keep fit. Enabling Factors- Going for a run is free, and even if weather is bad I can use my parent’s treadmill. Reinforcing Factors- I got my sister to go out with me a lot of the time and it gave us time to hand out and talk a little, so I began to look forward to our runs/walks. Barriers- I tried to pick a goal that had as few barriers as possible, but laziness certainly was an issue. Making time was also problematic because I could often think of something else I could do.
4. Resources My sister who went out running with me New running shoes that made the whole thing more comfortable Water bottle Money to buy previous 2 Free to go out for a run
5. I tried to go running every day, and I only missed a handful of days. At least once a week I ran on the treadmill I timed myself for 12 minutes and I kept track of how far I ran. If I ran, there’s an !, if I didn’t there’s an X, and if I ran and timed myself there’s a time.
6. EVALUATION/ASSESSMENT I started out and it took me 12 minutes to run 1.09 miles. Now I can run 1.23 miles in that time.I feel that I did a good job and maybe could have worked harder at it but I am happy with my results. At first it was difficult to stick to it but after a while it became like a habit. That’s the main thing that I want to remember: that it’s worth it to push through the unpleasant time until it feels comfortable, because that’s when you reap the benefits. Unfortunately, I didn’tcompletely meet my goal. I think this may be partly because my goal wasn’t realistic enough. While I still can’t run 1.3 miles in 12 minutes, I have improved a lot! I’m going to try to keep running and continue improving.