Day 5: Making Peace with Exercise

From November 4th-13th my blog is hosting the experiences of 10 different women through the BYU Women's Services and Resources Recapturing Beauty campaign. Go here or here to read more about the 10-day challenge.

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Day 5 is written by my friend Jaimei Zhang! Jaimei is my best friend from high school, and my future teammate on the Amazing Race (Summer 2015, fingers crossed). She's a junior at the University of Washington studying biochemistry with plans for med school in the not-so-distant future. Jaimei loves all things Pixar, the band fun., Disneyland, and moose tracks ice cream. 

Hello beautiful readers! As a long time reader of Kylie’s blog, I am stoked to be making my blogging debut here as a guest poster for this 10-day challenge. Today’s challenge is making peace with exercise, so to fulfill this, I laced up my running shoes after I got home from school and went out for a nice jog in the fall sun (shout-out to Seattle weather for giving us sunshine instead of rain today!).

Now, I will admit that this challenge wasn’t as hard for me as it might be for some because as of late, I have been running regularly in preparation for my second ½ marathon of this year. However, I think that getting to the point I am at right now emulates what today’s challenge is all about.  

I ran cross country and track in high school, but when college hit, I didn’t make running a priority anymore. Toward the end of my freshman year, I decided that I wanted to get back into my old running routine and train for a half marathon, but I was a little hesitant. 13.1 miles is daunting – I was nowhere near the shape I was in high school and did I really have time to fit running into my already hectic schedule?

Newsflash: Life’s busy, but if you want to make time for something, you can always find a way. I was determined to complete a half, so I signed up for the Seattle Rock ‘n Roll, made a training plan, and got to running. It was a little rough getting back into shape, but taking the time to run a few days a week was empowering – I felt healthy and productive, I got a short reprise from my hectic class and work schedule, and I was finally doing something for me.

Training can get a little monotonous which is why I’m always more motivated with a race to look forward to. The rock ‘n roll did not disappoint; the race was incredible (well, except for the hill at mile 13…). Not only did it feel great to complete a half marathon, but it was so cool to see the 20,000 people who were running with me. Though each person was running or walking at his or her own pace, we were united in our goal of crossing the finish line. I always love watching everybody finish, no matter how fast or how slow, with the same look of pride and accomplishment (mixed with a little fatigue and sweat).

Sometimes we forget that the purpose of exercise is to keep our bodies healthy and happy and instead we let it become a burden, another task to check off of our already long to-do lists. Exercise shouldn’t be something you dread, but rather an activity that brings you joy. For me, this comes through running, but whatever it is for you, do so with confidence and pride that you are taking time to care for yourself and your body. The human body is a truly amazing system and exercising is just another way of bringing out the beauty of it. 

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Tomorrow's Challenge: Making Peace with Food

We want to hear about your experiences as well!
Tweet or Instagram with the hashtag #RecapturingBeauty about your journey over the next 10 days! You can follow @wsrbyu on Instagram and @byuwsr on Twitter, or me at @kylieinthesky on both. 

If you're also blogging about the Body Image Challenge, we want to see it! Add your post below and link back to this one so we can all share this experience together!