Sometime in the month of June, I became very frustrated with myself. I used to love running, still called myself a runner, yet I couldn't tell you the last time I had gone for a run. I had gotten an email that registration for the Disney Princess Glass Slipper Challenge was opening up on July 14. (The Glass Slipper Challenge is the 10k on Saturday and the Half Marathon on Sunday.) Some friends and I had all run the Princess Half Marathon before and had decided that we were going to do the Glass Slipper Challenge in 2016. After my last half in April that wasn't great, I realized that I needed to run, especially to be able to complete the Challenge.
Therefore, I challenged myself to run everyday in July. For thirty-one days straight, I ran outside in the heat in a hilly park near my house. I ran in the rain, at 9 o'clock at night after getting back late from a day trip, and even left work a bit early some days so I could get my daily run in when I had evening commitments. I ran between 1 and 3 miles each day, bringing my total mileage for the month to 62 miles! It was so rewarding to write that number down on my calendar on July 31!
If you don't know, I live in South Carolina, where it tends to be a bit hot in July (there were a few days when I went out to run and the temperature gauge was in the 100's). This played into why I was sticking to low mileage, as well as due to the fact that I hadn't run in so long! My goal was to build my endurance back up- which I did! In the beginning, I was mostly running 1-1.5 miles each day and that was miserable. I was hot, out of shape, and ending on a steep incline, all things that made for a poor re-introduction to running. By mid-month, I told myself I couldn't run less than a mile and a half, and I never felt that I needed to run that little again! Even on my "rough" days, I was able to meet my mileage goal. I mostly ran 2-2.5 miles each day, and for the last 7 days, I ran 3 miles. The last 5 days, I tracked my pace and time to see how it was going - I could see how I was getting faster, which was so encouraging! Don't let me fool you though, I'm still as slow as a turtle in peanut butter, but now faster than a snail in molasses. Progress, right?
It was hard, but fun as catalogued by my Twitter feed in July:
"Tonight's run-tertainment was a man playing a bagpipe in the park. Felt like a Scottish lass running up the grassy hills" - July 6
"A bad run is better than no run, right? At least the bagpipe man was back again" - July 7
"Omg. I need to wait this late to run everyday. It felt AMAZING out there. #summernights" - July 16
"My speed training: waiting to run before a storm and then sprinting when the lightning starts popping & i'm a mile away from the car. #yikes" - July 18
"This bad boy was in my shoe. No wonder my feet felt weird! Today's lesson - check your shoe soles before you run!" - July 23
By the end of the month, not only did I look forward to my run each day, but I craved it. It was a time to de-stress from my day, whether that was spent getting lost in the run and enjoying the day, or spending the entire time in prayer.
July may be over, but the streak is not! I still have a long way to go before I'm ready for the Glass Slipper Challenge in February, but I'm looking forward to every mile of it!
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