On the final day of Juneathon, I ran 2 mi. @ 23:22. I am dragging. My legs are resting as we speak & no, I didn’t stretch post-run, so I’ll rely on a few days rest for muscle repair. My stats on RunningFree show my final total at 76.5 miles. I’m quite satisfied. And with that, I’m hanging up my running shoes for a weekend break, ooo ahh!
What did I learn from this whole Juneathon thing? A whole lot about…
Virtual Community. I got to hang out with a gang of runners & fitness enthusiasts or fitness hopefuls like myself, all challenging ourselves & supporting each other. It didn’t seem to matter how old I was, how fast or far I run, or where I lived. Seemed a very friendly group from my perspective as a newcomer :-)
Twitter. I finally got to see how Twitter can be useful! I had tried investigating Twitter before, but couldn’t quite see the point of it. The size & dynamic of this group was a little more interesting & now that I understand more about hashtags, links & lists, I can finally see a way in which Twitter is worthwhile.
My Body. Hmm, it’s stronger & less prone to breakdown than I thought… capable of more than I anticipated.
My Mind. This is the big WOW. Surprisingly good at discipline & flexible thinking ie. having to plan runs, long or short, at all times of day or to accommodate tight schedules without sacrificing too much of my surrounding life. Difficult at times, but doable, even without a set routine. Tho I confess, I did sacrifice a lot of sleep to do the blogging portion of Juneathon (yawning now, in fact).
Creativity. Keeping the daily blogpost interesting was tough. Photos, journalling stories — truth told, my creativity got more exercise than my legs!
Will I do it again? Most likely, yes. The power of this group challenge was an amazing journey. Janathon will be around in 6 months, so I can raise my own bar — now that I have one. By then, I will have forgotten how long & painful 30 straight days of running can be.
In closing, some quick gratitude: thanks to all the kind fellow Juneathoners who left inspiring, encouraging & amusing comments (plus help with Brit vocabulary) on my posts throughout the month. Now that’s great support! And a special thanks to Mike at Failure To Detect Sarcasm, as without him, I would not have heard of Juneathon, never mind thought to try it myself.
So… after all that, I am taking a little vacation, not just from running, but from blogging. I need some time off. For art. For piano. For gardening. For making new plans. Happy Independence Day, everyone!
Note: My apologies to England, which back in 1776, was having a wee bit of trouble from my early American cousins at the time… oops!
Tags: daily blogging, daily run, discipline, fitness over 40, juneathon, physical challenge, running, The End
Henniemavis Runs Rampant 
July 1, 2011 at 12:13 am |
Have a well deserved break from blogging and running maybe we will meet again in January though feel you may need to invest in running snow shoes. Have enjoyed reading your blogs and looking at the fantastic photos.
July 1, 2011 at 5:12 am |
Good job & enjoy a rest to you, too! In winter, I road-run only (no trails)… & I do have little “ice cleats” for my running shoes! I’ll show you by photo come Janathon :-)
July 1, 2011 at 5:48 am |
It has been a pleasure reading about your Juneathon exploits and wildlife adventures and your support has been fabulous. I quite understand the whole wanting a break from blogging, but hope you manage at least the occasional post between now and Janathon. Enjoy arting and pianoing.
July 1, 2011 at 5:53 am |
Oh, I will continue posting… just not every stinkin’ day, HA! My blog is an ongoing personal experiment, not just for Juneathon like some people’s :-) Been a pleasure following you, too! (which I may continue to do, if your blog is also ongoing)
July 1, 2011 at 7:30 am |
Well done to you (and your early American cousins) enjoy your rest :-)
July 1, 2011 at 7:34 am |
Thanks & HA! Even on the last day, you made me laugh! :-)
July 1, 2011 at 7:38 am |
Lovely post – I particularly love the line “raising my own bar – now I have one” That rings very true with me too!
It’s been great reading your blog and I look forward to your return after a well deserved rest! I feel exactly the same – blogging every day has been more of a pain that the actual exercise!
July 1, 2011 at 7:45 am |
Well, we have to start somewhere, don’t we? Perhaps I will change my name to gutwillbegone & we can be an ongoing team of rising fitness stars! I will have to check to see if you keep on with your blog… to keep some momentum (tho not at Juneathon pace), I think I will continue to follow some folks thru the summer? We’ll see how my new plans shape up!
July 1, 2011 at 1:42 pm |
Woop woop!! Well done for completing your first juneathon and with a very, VERY respectable mileage!! thanks also for reading my drivel and I hope you’ll stop by again over the interim months until janathon comes back around… Enjoy your rest, but don’t leave us hanging too long!!
July 5, 2011 at 12:14 pm |
Well this was fun.
It’s been 5 days, have you gone running yet?
It’s great that Juneathon delivered its intended benefits, including sleep deprivation which pretty much sucks. Even if you don’t post for another month, we can always go back and review all of the June posts. There’s plenty we probably missed in our own drowsiness.
So you did 76.5 and that included your 10 miler which was the best part. What’s a taper? What’s recovery?
Good luck dedicating all of this rediscovered free time to the stuff you really should be doing. And I hope you enjoyed the 4th.
July 5, 2011 at 2:33 pm |
Yeah, fun :-) … and no, I haven’t run since… yet… but I did bike to & from class yesterday (5 mi. bike, 1 hr. strength training, 5 mi. bike… brick brick brick, right? HA!). I might go out for a trot this evening… either that, or mow the grass at a brisk pace :-)
Thanks again for the Juneathon push, Liberty Man!
July 7, 2011 at 9:56 pm |
Get back into your garden, girl. Running every day is over rated, says the queen of poop! Just kidding, I’m proud of you and Mike, you both dug deep and it sounds like you reached a new level in regards to what you can do and how you can do it. Good news all around!
What’s next?
July 7, 2011 at 10:09 pm |
Next: my 1st half marathon of Sept. 8th, perhaps? I have until July 30 to decide (early sign-up discount deadline). I am kinda likin’ NOT training for anything in particular right now. I am getting back into art this month, yay! Tho today I cycled 8 mi., got off bike & ran 2.25 mi., got back on for 3 mi. cycle… stopped at a free outdoor bluegrass concert for an hour, ate dinner (OK, & ice cream)… then cycled 5 more mi. home! You know, just for fun :-) Thanks for your support, love!
July 8, 2011 at 6:15 am |
Hey Hennie! Congratulations on your Juneathon accomplishment! Enjoy your running and blogging break. I have been an intermittant blogger myself lately and am just catching up with your adventures now. Have fun in the garden!
July 8, 2011 at 6:24 am |
I saw you were on a lovely vacation :-) Thanks for saying hi!
July 15, 2011 at 6:46 pm |
Hey Hennie! Thanks for the note. I took a break from blogging and am focusing on other hobbies right now. Still running though…and still working toward my goals. I recently ran my fastest half marathon time, although I’m still a bit away from my goal. I won’t post again until I accomplish one of my goals on the blog. That’s my rule for now. :)
July 15, 2011 at 7:53 pm |
That’s great about your speedy half! Bummer for us readers if you “won’t post again” til you accomplish one of your goals. Wow, you’re tough ;-) Good luck!
August 8, 2011 at 1:20 pm |
Cool new horse-ass-blue-nails header!
August 10, 2011 at 10:36 am |
You were very strong and dedicated, which is more than I can say for me–even though I do walk nearly every day year after year. And run some. And bike some. And swim some. YA DONE GREAT!!!
You ROck, girl!!!