July 19th thru 31st, 2011 – 19.17 Miles Total

The continued prayer is, “Lord keep me focused. Keep my mind stayed on You. Help me to bring You praise. I know You believe in me. Please help me in my unbelief. Amen.”

July 2011 was a rough month for fitness for me. The kids had swim lessons, which they enjoyed thoroughly and I enjoyed watching them go. Also, there was a lot of activity at the office as we were making ready to ship a new release. WOO-HOO!!!

Needless to say, I let life get in the way of my workout a lot this month. So I will be covering 7 activities with this entry.

July 19th, 2011 – 1.5 Swim & 1.17 Mile Walk
This was a swim after the kids’ lessons. Afterward, I walked home, looking ghetto fabulous in my Egyptian cotton wrap, my Crocs, Marc Jacobs sunglasses and my hair all over the place. I asked Chris to go ahead and take the children home after class and I would walk back but I kept my running bag with me, so I looked like a pampered homeless person, carrying 40 lbs of gear.

Wouldn’t trade it, though, because it was either that, or no workout at all. So I’m calling it a win.


July 24th, 2011 – 4.1 Mile Hike
The Wildwood Trails! I’d heard that there was a waterfall somewhere on this trail and I was determined to find it. This was a hilly trail and the terrain was rocky at times. But it was firmly packed and very well populated.

I had a great time with this one. I didn’t realize until afterward that I had taken the long way to the waterfall, but that was A-OK with me! I enjoyed every minute of this run/walk.

July 26th, 2011 – 3.07 Mile Run
As you may know, I am a HUGE Michael Jackson fan. I went out with a friend this week and she recommended that I read "Moonwalk". This is the one and only autobiography of the King of Pop. It was certainly not brilliant, but it was a nice look into the brain of a musical genious. It may seem like a bit of a stretch to say that reading it made me a better runner, but I really believe it did.

Whether you're a fan or not, it can't be denied that he was great at what he did. Therefore, if you are seeking greatness in any aspect of life, it may behoove you to at least consider his advice. One thing that was prevalent in the book was that he was always studying: watching James Brown, Jackie Wilson and Fred Astaire. And he was always reading about his craft and working toward bettering himself and learning from people who had done it before him. I loved that about him. And he was so committed to everything he undertook. He either cared not at all or one hundred and crazy percent!

So I’ve started reading “A Few Degrees From Hell: The 2003 Badwater Ultra Marathon” and discovered that I am a GIANT wimp!!! These folks are no joke! Crossing Death Valley in a 135 mile foot race in record heat is nothing short of amazing! It is a book full of people who care one hundred and crazy percent.

I highly recommend the book. It is a compilation of the accounts of 25 Badwater finishers. Their stories are more than remarkable. I was a quarter of the way through the book when I had to stop and find the YouTube videos of “Running on the Sun”. You gotta check it out. It adds pictures and faces to the stories, which is always inspiring.



The book and the video encouraged and inspired me because while these folks were certainly fantastically fit, most of them weren’t professional runners. They weren’t all “young” either. Many of them were older than me…. some, *much* older. But what inspired me more than anything is that just about all of them walked. They walked large portions of the race.

Now, I know it was 135 miles and that is, Ummm….. WOW! But at the core of it, it was a race. A race that they trained for, planned and prepared for. And they weren’t shocked to find that they had to walk. For many of them, walking (particularly the hills) was always a part of their training.

The point is: These are the best of the best in the running world and they felt no shame in walking. I always thought walking was a sign of defeat and failure. But no. I have heard it before from better runners and now I *finally* believe….. There is no shame in walking!!!

Well, I didn’t walk for this run. It was only 3 miles. But I ran it easy, with the Badwater finishers on my mind the whole time, encouraging me along the way. Great run.


July 28th, 2011 – 3.92 Mile Run
This run was extra nice. We were visiting the In-Laws because they needed some technical support. While Chris was working on their issues, I took the opportunity to run the beautiful hills of Camarillo.
It was nice and easy.


July 30th, 2011 – 3.26 Mile Run
This was just a maintenance run. Just a little something to get the miles in. I’m not sure what’s going on with the weather, but it has been so mild and wonderful here lately. There hasn’t been a day when I had to cancel my run because of the heat.

Now that I am reading “A Few Degrees from Hell”, I thought, as long as it wasn’t over 95, there was no reason for me to stay home. So I was mentally ready for some heat training. However, when I got ready to hit the pavement, it was almost chilly!

We went to a Saturday night service at church, so I asked Chris if he would drop me off on the highway. Once the soft shoulder gave’ way to an actual paved sidewalk, he pulled over and let me out so I could run the rest of the way home. The traffic was pretty sparse for a Saturday night so I guess I lucked out. Another great run.


July 31st, 2011 – 2.15 Mile Hike
This was the same Wildwood Trail. But this time I took the short way to the waterfall. Jordan wanted to see it. I was supposed to get a long run in, but when your son wants to hang out with you, you change your plans.

The month was already shot for booking any record breaking mileage reports, so I was OK with letting it ride. School starts next month and things should get back to normal.

At this time last year, I made a commitment to run one organized race every month for 12 months. August 2011 would have been the 12th month, but I can’t find a race in my area in August. It’s weird. It’s as if the whole running and fundraising community is on a hiatus. I will keep looking to see what I can find, but if I can’t find anything soon, I will change my goal and make August 2011 the month where I clock my first 13+ mile run. I’d be calling that a win too.