Huong Le has a goal of 30,000 steps per day and uses goal to win the Holiday Challenge

The annual Northwest Winter Challenge is well underway, and SHOES-n-FEET congratulates Huong Le on winning the inaugural Holiday Challenge this past year, 2019. Le finished first in the Winter Warrior and Overall divisions with 553 outdoor miles run from Black Friday (Nov 29) to Christmas (Dec 25), averaging an impressive 23 miles per day.

“It’s been fun,” Le said. “It’s been a little bit harder just because of the holidays.”

Le’s motivation for walking and running comes from a personal goal she set for herself to reach at least 30,000 steps per day. This goal of Le’s has since translated into what is now a passion for the 30-year-old individual.

Le finds herself training for races and running events alongside her original goal of 30,000 daily steps. On a typical training day, Le will usually wake up around 4 am and complete all of her mileage in the morning. Le likes having the rest of the day to enjoy other facets of her life, which is why she prefers to get going before sunrise.

“I try to be consistent every day,” Le said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a weekday or a weekend, it’s just easier for me that way.”

One specific aspect of running that Le pays attention to during all of her runs is making sure she’s not running the same route over and over again. Running repetitive routes can become tedious, and Le helps herself branch out by getting creative and drawing pictures of runs that she anticipates herself wanting to do.

“I started drawing my runs, so that makes it more fun,” Le said. “I try to find different routes every day to run.”

Besides drawing out her runs, Le also helps herself get through long runs by listening to podcasts, which she says allows herself to stay entertained and pass the time.

Le participating in a recent Northwest Trail Runs event at St. Edwards State Park. Photo courtesy Northwest Trail Runs and credit to Ross Comer.

A popular running route for Le during the Holiday Challenge ended up being the Lake Sammamish Loop, which spans roughly 23 miles round trip. Le enjoys this route in particular because of its flat terrain and broad enough trails.

“It’s a pretty nice route,” Le said.

With December in the books, Le has now steered her focus to her second year of participating in the Northwest Winter Challenge. Having accomplished 25 races last year, Lee is hoping that 2020 is just the beginning of another great year and another great Northwest Winter Challenge.