Century Run in the Sun

"Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must;

just never give up." -- Dean Karnazes

I stumbled upon the Instagram account of a girl who was starting to run shortly after I registered for the Star Wars Half last summer. To keep her motivated, she committed to a challenge she called "100 Miles of Running" for the summer. It was inspiring to watch - I had recently decided to take up running again myself, but was struggling with consistency. She ran over 100 miles last year, while I just hit the 90 mile mark by the end of what she called summer.

That was last year. I racked up well over 150 miles during December and January alone, and have run roughly that in the 3 months since my half marathon (kinda pathetic, I know, but I'm getting back at it slowly). A back and neck injury this week, combined with a crazy work schedule, led to a flirtation with apathy that I would really like to reverse. I started off the month of May strong - committed to my diet, and greatly committed to my workout routine. Post-Tinkerbell, I still did ok. Sure, I had a few slips, but I basically stuck to my diet and did 90% of my scheduled workouts. I started this week out better... but found myself eating popcorn and staying inside almost all day on Friday. This is a slippery slope for a girl who named her blog "Occasionally Fit," so I'm going to do my best to reverse this course of inaction.

Enter... 100 miles of summer! Yes, I've decided to join my Instagram friend, Jenn, and have committed to do 100 miles of running this summer. Now, if I actually stick to the running plan tacked up in my cubicle at work, I should far exceed this 100 mile number. But 100 miles seems like a good goal for two months, so I figure I'll see how it goes. Yes... this is only for 2 months. I have decided that "summer" is not the season in the calendar sense; rather, I am making my "summer" start on June 1st and run through the end of July. Why those dates? Well, most people I know consider Memorial Day weekend the beginning of summer, but I like to start on the 1st so I figured June 1st would work as well as any. I'm targeting to complete this through the end of July because 3+ months gives me too much leeway to be lazy... and ain't nobody got time for dat!

For those of you who follow Natasha and my adventures on Facebook, I'll be setting up an event for those interested in playing or following along (you can join here). You don't have to be a runner to participate - you can walk, skip, or bike to get your miles. This is more for me than anything else, but I'd love to see everyone else get committed to a fit summer too. Hope you'll join me!

Until next time, my friends...

--- Becky

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." -- John Bingham