My Medal Motivation

I like to exercise, it makes me feel good and I'm always pleased I've done it when it's finished. Haha! But sometimes some extra motivation is needed to keep me going. I've said before (many times) that I like to use Zombies Run when I'm out walking (I used to call it speed walking but I'm not that fast anymore!) Twice a year in the Spring and at Halloween they run Virtual Races.

Virtual Races are races you run (or walk, cycle, swim, whatever) on your own and in your own time. Zombies Run gave you a window of a week to do your race. You receive a medal when you've completed it. After getting my first medal, I was hooked. The orange ribboned medal on the far left was my first medal and I felt quite proud of myself for completing the Virtual Race.

I did the next few virtual races with Zombies Run but then I started having knee problems. So I looked into doing Virtual Swimming Races. I found a site called Swim The Distance. This was a bit different, you had a whole month to rack up as many lengths as you could, swimming to reach the goal you'd set yourself. I chose to try do 100 lengths (2,500 metres). I really enjoyed doing this race and got this blue swimming medal for completing it.

I really like swimming but it's just not accessible enough for me to do often so I decided to look around for a second hand exercise bike. JD found me one on Facebook Marketplace for £150. After wrestling it home we set it up in the corner of the dining room. I can cycle every day without leaving the house and I love it. I do 20-30 minutes a day (usually cycling between 3-5 miles) and it's great for my arthritic knees.

I still need that extra motivation some days though and so I found another virtual racing site. Virtual Racing UK does virtual races for all types of exercise. If you can log your distance you can take part. I've done several of their races including this lovely Remembrance Race earlier this month. I cycled 11 miles and it took me nearly an hour. My legs were like jelly when I'd finished.

My latest challenge is doing a Virtual Race with The Conqueror. They do longer distance challenges like the length of Hadrian's Wall (90 miles) or the Grand Canyon (280 miles).

I chose to do their Alps to Ocean challenge. It's 180 miles and I'm almost 1/3 of the way there so far. It keeps me motivated to cycle every day and to push that bit more to get a decent distance to log on my challenge.

I really enjoy my cycling exercise. It always feels like a great start to my day and I feel pleased whenever I look at my virtual race bling!