EARNED RUNS HONOR SERIES 2018 & SUMMER CHALLENGE WRAP-UP

THE FIRST PORTION OF THE TWO-PART ANNUAL EARNED RUNS HONOR SERIES is the "11k Race to Remember 9/11".  My 4TH personal observance was last Tuesday. The second portion of the series this year will be December 7, 2018. 
 
FROM THE HOME PAGE: “The Earned Runs HONOR SERIES is an effort I make each year to commemorate two different but life-changing events that helped to define generations of Americans. For the initial run, Earned Runs bibs had not yet been delivered in September, in advance of the October 1, 2015 launch of the website.  I did not run wearing a bib.  Since 2016 I have used the last of my 4 personal bibs to mark these September and December events, and to make them official and special for myself.  In 2017 the running 'races' were changed (walked in stages) to accommodate my recovery from an injury.  Deciding to competitively walk rather than run going forward after the injury, both 2018 commemorations will also be walks. That's the beauty of personal events; accommodations can be made, almost on the spot, to altered circumstances. An event needn't be scrubbed when conditions or situations change.”
 
“This September represents the fourth year (the INAUGURAL year of the SERIES was 2015) in which I memorialized the anniversary of the World Trade Center terrorist attack, with an 11K event.   After spending 6 months, September 2017 to February 2018 in rehabilitation and recovery from a knee/calf problem and not running since then, I was able to walk the full 11K distance yesterday. Last year I walked 5.5K each day, on September 11 and 13 for a total 11k distance in stages.”

“My walk this year was performed to establish a base pace that would hopefully improve over the next couple months of training, in preparation for a competitive late November Turkey Trot walk. It was not a race. My times for each mile weren't great; the fastest was more than 1.5 minutes slower than my best pace established on August 6, 2018. A disappointment. So was the weather.  It should have been clear but fog made visibility very poor. The picture that was taken came from a glorious early walk on the following morning September 12.”
 
SUMMER IS OVER: The first part of the Honor Series bookends the Summer Challenge season, which concluded on Labor Day Monday September 3, and the start of the Fall Challenge season, which began with the first official day of Turkey Trot Training on Monday September 10. It’s one of the best times of the year in my opinion. 
 
This period of seasonal transition offers a wonderful opportunity to congratulate yourself for the accomplishments of the summer and use them to fire up for autumn training and events.

“YAY” to those who completed a STREAK or the RUN/WALK/BIKE ACROSS AMERICA 2018, from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  A vigorous, celebratory "fist pump" for all who managed a FASTEST 5K or Summer of Fun 5Ks, the HIIT training SERIES SWEEP 4 of 7 days each week, or the 6-week OBSTACLE COURSE TRAINING.  Hopefully, the BUDDY-UP challenge helped some make enjoyable social connections. If any of your challenges ended prematurely, give yourselves credit for the effort, but determine to carry thorough on next season’s fall training and challenges.
 
Think back and recall past summers in which the weeks slipped by without much notice, when specific goals were not set or achieved. This is not to say everyone receives a participation trophy for just trying. If you want a prize at the end of the upcoming season, it must be earned with hard work. Take what can be learned from the summer, and apply it moving forward to have greater chance at success. No whining.
 
Personally, I had more or less difficulty with several of my challenges. In order to keep a mile-a-day walking Streak intact while traveling on a train I used a step counter to identify a mile.  On other travel-days I needed to employ the same tactic.   It wasn’t satisfying, but the task was “technically” accomplished.  
 
During some weeks of the Across America Challenge all the miles I had covered in each and every challenge were used to satisfy the mileage requirements. That also seemed like a cheap way to get to the next route segment.

But I surprised myself by completing the full 6 weeks of Obstacle Course Training, managing to perform all exercises except 2: pull-ups (hang-time was substituted) and burpees (I performed plank step-outs + bench step-ups instead).
 
My greatest success was finishing a Fastest 5k walking event on August 6 when my times was slightly better that an almost out-of-reach, lofty goal. The HIIT Series Sweep challenge helped provide speed work days for this event; these walks were faithfully completed each week. Also, I had at least 14 weekly wonderful Buddy-up sessions with family and friends, that are now a regular part of my walking training.
 
That was a lot of work, and I’ve got the bib log notations and stickers to prove it! Glad and sad to be done with summer challenges.  On to 2018 Turkey Trot Training and The House Cup.
 
RUN & MOVE HAPPY!

Morning sky the day after my Earned Runs Honor Series Remember 9/11, 11k on which fog spoiled the view. Taken by PKSenagore Septeber 12, 2018. All rights reserved.