As part of my beginning of year DP1 Activity goals, I strived to run 5 km in under 40 minutes. I wanted to achieve this goal to improve my general fitness, specifically looking at my stamina and endurance. Running was not the only medium I improved this through, as I used cycling whenever I found running to get too repetitive. Additionally, I focused on building up my cardio by utilizing HITT home workout videos that I found over the course of online school. The main reasoning behind being so determined to improve my stamina was to apply improvement in running into athletics. I was primarily determined to improve my running in order to enhance my performance in football and volleyball, as this stamina would allow me to move faster and longer on the field or court. Amidst the Covid restrictions, I wanted to make sure I had a goal that would allow me to be positive and prepared for when they would loosen. I found it was important to have a specific activity goal in order to give my physical actions a sense of purpose.

Over the course of the school year, I consistently ran at least two times a week to achieve this goal. Fortunately, this work paid off as I recently achieved my 5 km goal. This was a big milestone for me as I had always wanted to run a long-distance whilst keeping track of time. In most sports, I have shown an interest in long-distance swimming and running, preferring it over short sprints. This was especially prominent in my SAISA swimming experience of 2018-2019, as I enjoyed the satisfaction of long-distance racing when competing against other international schools in Amman, Jordan. I recently ran the 5km in just over 40 minutes, thus, there is still a lot of room for improvement. Throughout the run, I took 1-2 minute breaks after each 10-minute segment and ran at a speed between 8-10 km per hour for a majority of the ten-minute segments. I found the toughest factor of running a long-distance was the mental barrier as you tell yourself you are unable to continue running. Getting over this mental barrier and blocking out the negative thoughts was a key tactic for me to achieve the 5km goal.

My next step is to focus on running 5k in under 40 minutes, hopefully reaching the 30-minute time mark. I would have liked to run outside as I found there are many more distractions that allow you to block out the mental barrier, and I hope to do so with a partner. I will continue to consistently run every week so I can maintain my goal and hopefully reach my 5 km in 30-minute goal.

Focusing on the learning outcomes of this experience, I found I was forced to identify my own strengths and develop areas of growth as I reflected on my performance to improve after each running session. This allowed me to focus on areas of growth, such as speed and breathing techniques in order to make my runs effective and purposeful. Additionally, I developed new skills in the process, such as keeping myself physically motivated over long durations of time and blocking out that mental barrier mid-run. Similarly, this experience forced me to stay committed and persevere even on challenging days. Without a commitment to this goal, I would not have been able to reach my 5 km goal as well as focus on my CAS activity. Overall, I see a lot of room for improvement, however, I feel a strong sense of accomplishment for pushing myself to reach 5km, even if it was slower than I would have preferred. I find it is important for me to remind myself that I am allowed to go at my own pace in reaching my goal and that this bar I have set for myself is only the beginning.