Monday, August 01, 2016

12:34 August 1

At midday, I was wrapping up a three-mile walk at the park near Matt's mom's house. Today marks 18 straight days of walking or running at least three miles a day. I started this streak the day after we returned from our three-week trip to Georgia and Louisiana. I ran a few times over those three weeks, but spent the last two weeks kind of despondent about our car situation and feeling "stranded." Plus, the heat and humidity in Louisiana is something awful.

Once we finally made it home, I needed something to motivate me. I knew picking a long distance or pace goal would feel too daunting, so I decided on just doing three miles, running or walking, every single day. I have discovered that it's more important for me to exercise because of the way it makes me feel--as opposed to how it might make me look. My pattern over the last few weeks has been to do some running (always mixed with a little walking as I build my stamina back up) on one day and then just walking the next.

Today tested my resolve, because there was a light rain coming down when I started to walk. I hesitated but realized I would feel worse if I skipped a day than if I got soaked from the rain. So I grabbed an umbrella and logged nearly three-and-a-half miles. I'm grateful for how exercise makes me feel and thankful to be in a mindset in which I can see clearly how much I need it. I'm looking forward to seeing how long I can keep this streak going.

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