June finished up ages ago, and I have yet to make a peep about it. Let's just say my #runstreak plan went flying out the window as soon as some twinges came along (hip flexor, lower leg). I couldn't bring myself to jeopardize the rest of my summer running in the name of a silly resolution that was only lasting a month anyway. I *did* however run in some beautiful places:
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| Carkeek Park, Seattle |
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| Green lake, Seattle (aka my old home turf) |
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| Walla Walla, WA |
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| Walla Walla, WA |
July has been a month of ups and downs...literally and figuratively.
First, the downs. Summer running in the South is HARD. I had several weeks of running that were mostly miserable, like drained and barely moving by mile 5 of an 8 mile. Walking was a SERIOUS temptation and instead of zoning out and sorting out my thoughts mid-run, all I could think about were glasses of ice water. But I made it through and now running is fun again. I will say that my pace is still
pathetic suffering and I'm glad my Garmin is collecting dust somewhere.
The ups. Although my running has been a bit rocky, my July resolution got dominated (mostly)! My lifetime goal of doing a pull-up was finally achieved! Kinda made me feel like anything was possible and that I might be a superhero. See below for evidence. If you don't want to waste ~30 seconds of you life watching me do one pretty good pull-up and then a second one that is obviously a big struggle, take a look at the screen shot below and take my word for it.
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| Not sure what my legs are doing here but I'm pretty sure they're helping |
Ultimately, perseverance was my saving grace this month. Slogged through the bad runs, and lifted weights until my scrawny arms could lift my body weight. Success!
Have you had the summer running blues this month too?
