los bosques de palermo y ejercicio / parks of palermo & exercise

About three months ago, I realized I had a lot of free time on my hands. Most of my work was happening in the late afternoon and night so I found myself laying in my bed until after midday. I decided to try something new because I was being extremely lazy. Exercise. I generally eat healthily but ever since I quit gymnastics many years ago, I have not enjoyed exercising. Therefore every time I start, I end up stopping. I started searching Pinterest for ideas to keep me motivated where I could create short term objectives to reach longer term goals. I began by creating a 30-day challenge that included a combination of abs, squats, and arm workouts where I'd go from doing basically nothing to a decent amount of push-ups, squats, and crunches by the end. 

One of my favorite things to do in Buenos Aires is walk through the Bosques de Palermo, Parks of Palermo. I realized that if I enjoyed walking through them, I might as well try running through them. I started completing an app on my phone called couch to 5k, interval training to get someone running a 5k in 8 weeks. After the first thirty days passed I started a second 30-day challenge to keep pushing myself and and was running about three times a week. I also ran my first 5k yay! In the third month I started practicing Bikram Yoga at least three times a week. There is one Bikram Yoga studio in Argentina and it happens to be five blocks from my apartment woo! I also started training for a 10k which would take me another six weeks to complete.

I started exercising first because I was bored, continued because I am stubborn/had to finish the challenges that I had started, and now exercise because I enjoy it. I love the way it makes me feel and I like that its my time during the day to focus on me and let my mind wander freely. Three months ago I could not run a mile and now I am running over six miles at a time. When I return to the US, I want to find somewhere I enjoy running as much as I do through the Palermo Parks and also keep up the yoga. My body feel so much stronger, more flexible, and healthier and I have the Bosques de Palermo to thank for this. Buenos Aires has given me so much this past year and honestly, I never thought it would teach me to enjoy exercise but it has!