Kathryn H.

PROGRAM
NEW YEAR PERFORMANCE CHALLENGE

2022 was a hard year for me, and after what felt like constant illnesses, injuries, job changes, and personal losses, I ended the year in rough shape - I was sedentary, sad, feeling uncomfortable in my body, and I needed to change something. I wanted to get back to living an active and healthy lifestyle where my fitness wasn’t something that held me back from saying “Yes!” to any adventure.

I had used BIN in the past and knew I would benefit from the accountability, but worried about focusing too much on my weight and body. When I saw the Performance challenge, I knew that was exactly what I needed - help with nutrition, daily habits, and a workout program focused on outside adventures. I signed up, and I’m so glad I did!

I had two big, concrete goals going into this: backpack the Grand Canyon and run a 5k. I was starting starting from almost nothing; I could barely run a mile without stopping to walk, and short hikes were really difficult and left me feeling sore. I was only getting in about 1000 steps a day, so my coach gave me some daily goals to be sure I was staying hydrated and getting steps in every day. In the beginning, I beat myself up a bit for missing workouts or not hitting goals, and I really worried I wouldn’t progress enough and would fail at my goals. My coach helped me realize that I didn’t have to be perfect and hit every workout to make progress. So I kept at it, and I did make progress.

This is me backpacking the Grand Canyon the day after a blizzard! Not only was I able to complete the hike, but I did it in harder conditions than I was expecting, with more gear than planned, and with one less day to hike out of the canyon. It was hard, and I’m so proud of myself for completing it.

This is me completing my 5k. Going into the run, I hoped to complete it without walking in under 40 minutes. I finished in 35 minutes, and I jogged the whole thing! It felt so good finishing it.

I love this chart of my VO2 Max, and how well it captures my progress. I’ve always loved data, and seeing my VO2 Max creep up between January and March is so satisfying because I can see that my data that matches how I’ve felt - that my performance has improved a lot.

This challenge and my coach have been so helpful in keeping me on track and helping my achieve my goals. I’ve learned a lot about balancing my nutrition, daily habits, and workouts in a way that I can sustain. I wasn’t perfect on any aspect of this program, and I came to realize that’s ok. I kept trying instead of giving up after a misstep, and I feel really proud of my progress.

I’m excited to continue to see where I go with my fitness and performance. I’ve set some new running goals, including a half marathon at the end of this summer! I’m also looking forward to saying “Yes!” to lots of hiking, backpacking, biking, and climbing adventures this summer!