Running Streak: Month Two

• Ran in two states (Idaho and Oregon)
• Ran in three cities (Meridian, Lincoln City, Donnelly)
• longest run: 5 miles
• shortest run: 1 mile (minimum requirement to keep the streak alive)
• total July mileage: 77 miles. This is 30 more miles than last month. I accomplished this not by running particularly long runs, but by running fewer 1-milers and quite a few 3 and 4-milers. With the busyness of June I ran a whopping 17 1-milers (and another four 1.5-milers). In July I only ran four 1-mile runs. 77 is still not a particularly big number, but I am glad I was able to increase my mileage so much. I wish I'd fit in a couple more long runs, but such is life. 
• total streak mileage: 124 miles. Here is what I like most about this--I am now averaging more than 2 miles per day. 
• I ran 24 times by myself, 6 times with with Tammy, and one time with my sister-in-law, Linda. 
• slowest mile:  13:15. This makes me laugh, because last month my slowest was 11:16, and I was sort of embarrassed by that. I was sure I wouldn't run any miles that slowly in July. But I am not embarrassed by the 13:15. It was a mile that was almost entirely in deep sand, with soaking wet shoes, against the wind. I desperately wanted to stop and walk, but I really pushed myself to complete this mile. 
• fastest mile: 8:45. That was just last night (July 30th). I'm not impressed, but I can live with it. 

I know that July will likely end up being the biggest mileage month of this streak. With school starting up in August, my real life--my tired, busy, real life--will begin again. It's hard for me to even fathom how different I feel during the school year. I have a faint memory of that tiredness, but I know once it's here, it will still shock me, to some degree. This year, I plan to shock the tiredness right back, by running anyway. But I also plan to listen to my body, to get in my naps when I can, and to run 1-milers when that's what my body is begging me to do. 

I will close with this. I am having an amazing summer--a summer that defies my imagination and stretches my dreams. And one of the most intriguing parts of this summer is how my mind has adjusted to this streak. I never think, "Should I run today?" I think, "When should I run today?" I can be a very undisciplined person, and this new discipline, and my ability to embrace it (mostly with joy), gives me hope about adding discipline to other areas of my life.