Here's to 30 Days!

Pre-run in dad's hunting hat with lights and ear flaps.

Persistence is the key to success for EVERYTHING!

I often beat myself up because I occasionally live like a bachelor (I actually am not that bad but it helps illustrate my point). Of course like everything in my life, my ability to keep my house pristine ebbs and flows based on my mood or what is going on in my life. I typically don't stress about little things, as a matter of fact if my friend's child comes to my house I am often heard saying to him (as he spills his milk, drops something or accidentally breaks something) don't worry about it, if it breaks it can be fixed or replaced; IT IS JUST A THING. I guess you can say I am not very materialistic.

If you know me at all you know that I function best in controlled chaos. If you look around my office, in my junk drawer or on my counter you may find stacks of mail, files, papers or other items that may seem disorganized. In my mind it is organized. As a matter of fact I was lucky enough to get a 'new' car this past month. Because I have so many keys I have found that I am better off keeping my car keys separate from my regular pile of keys as I do not want to break a key in my ignition or door. I now have a specific place where I hang my car keys when I walk in the door. Here is the problem: even though my keys go in the exact same place every day I still spend at least five minutes EVERY morning searching for my keys. Why, you may ask? Because it is way too organized for me. I swear I would not search for my car keys if I threw them on a table, counter or arm of the couch when I walk in the door because that is where I expect them to be.

Over the last month I have challenged myself to a mile a day, running that is. I am going to start with telling you I have 30 days!!! What exactly does this mean? Well I have officially run at least a mile day for the last 30 days. I realize this may seem crazy (stupid) to some but you have to understand on my days 'off' I literally go out for a 1 mile, very slow loop around my neighborhood.

Because of this challenge I have to be very calculated about everything. I need clean running clothes, dry gloves, my headlamp if it is dark, water bottle, hand bag, shoes, etc. to make getting out the door easy. I have become the most organized person as it relates to running. I walk in the door from a run and take off my sweaty jacket and hang it up. I take off my shoes and put them back in their box (I rotate shoes so I like to keep them in their labeled boxes). I hang my gloves and hat/headband over the side of my running box and deposit all of my running accessories in my running box. Finally, I sit down at my computer with my Garmin and sync up with daily mile and running ahead to log and journal about my run for the day.

Post run in fancy hat. 

How is it that this disorganized person has the ability to be so organized with running? I wish I knew the secret because I would probably take a little time and apply it to other areas of my life. When I really think about it though I recognize that when I challenge myself to something that seems unattainable I will do anything in my power to be successful. I suppose after fine tuning my routine for 30 days I have finally come out on top! I expect there to be more 30 day accomplishments with running in the future, if only I could find my keys...