On the first day of June, I set out to run or walk a mile every day for the month with the #StreakingWithTheCoolKids challenge. My motivation to run has been completely gone because I’ve been having some trouble with running since having the baby.

I’m slower and it’s frustrating. I guess the only reason it’s so upsetting is that I know what I’m capable of doing. I thought I would come back stronger and faster than I did before, but I was wrong. There’s been some pain with the running too but I’ve seemed to have worked through those issues with strength and conditioning. I didn’t think it would be this hard. (It’s hard when I see other moms who had their kids around the same time are just crushing their running game.)

It’s a good reminder that every person and situation is different. I got caught up in the comparison game.

Today I finished my run streak. There was really only one day that mile didn’t happen because we had a crazy monsoon of rain for about 4 days. I ended up getting a mile in the rain.

This was a good experiment for me because it showed me a few things:

1. The number of miles I run every day isn’t as important as getting the miles in. Knowing that I only needed to do one mile was helpful because I always ended up wanting to do more.

2. I made excuses because I was feeling sorry for myself. Knowing I was slower and not covering the miles I wanted was frustrating. I used that as an excuse not to even trying. Some miles are better than no miles.

3. I said I didn’t have the time, but I did. Taking the little bit of time to get the mile in everyday kind of changed me. Making the excuses of “too tired” or “not enough time” took over my life, but the run streak even got me thinking about the blog.  The blog is better than ever now.  I owe it to taking on this challenge. It was really all about time management and I was just hiding.

4. The running stroller is a crutch. It gives me an excuse to run slower or not push myself. I do most of my runs with the stroller because I just need to get the miles in. I don’t have someone to watch Tiny Tot all the time. Today I ran my 8K without the stroller and I felt liberated. I pushed myself a little harder and I was running. It felt good to know I was improving. Maybe a little bit of that improvement comes from pushing that stroller.

All in all, I’m glad that I decided to do the streak because it was all for the better. Everything changed for me in June and I’m grateful for that. Thank you to everyone who supported me and gave me encouragement along the way. All of the support and notes were greatly appreciated.

Would you be interested in doing a run/walk challenge during the holiday season?