It has been four years and ten months since I ran my first half-marathon race on March 18, 2018. It was the Publix Half, and I completed it a few seconds under 1:30 on the race clock. That was the fastest I had ever been in my life. Since then, I didn’t run as much. With covid, while I virtually had more time to run and nothing much to do but run for a while, it didn’t turn out to be the case.

Now I plan to run again, under 1:30.

Here comes my third challenge:

I challenge myself to complete The Rock ’n’ Roll Nashville Half-Marathon on April 22, 2023 under 1:30.

I will write all the entries in one story. You need to scroll down to read the latest entry.

Baseline

I ran more intentionally last week to gather some data about my baseline. I want to know what my condition is to track my progress. I also started the first week of the Strava 10-Week Half-Marathon program to have some structure. I looked at a few other programs to compare as well. They are similar; they all have zone 2 training with alternative pace training days. I will follow the Strava program but will adjust it along the way.

The first week I ran every day, some indoors, some outdoors. I tried a fast mile to see where I was. I ran in zone 2 to see what my pace was around. I ran a long run to see if I could keep my heart rate steady. I did track runs to see my 400m times. Below is the runs of the week;

Last week I ran more than I did for a long while. Second week I ran most was 26.63 miles in the past 12 months. Last week I ran 38.04 miles. I increased my mileage more than recommended percentage (10% weekly) in a single week. Based on how I feel, this week I may keep total milage shorter.

TODO: write about current performance states

96 Days to Go

Today is my off day based on my half-marathon training program.

P3: Run Half Marathon Under 1:30 — Log was originally published in Project Me on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I chose these books:

• Blind Spot : 272 pages
• Ghost in the Wires : 448 pages
• Grain Brain : 336 pages
• How Children Succeed : 256 pages

I have already finished 25% of Blind Spot, so I will have to read 1244 pages in total. This means ~120 pages every day. If I read a page in 30 seconds (oh, can I?), it is an hour a day. With the amount of work I have, I am not sure if this is possible but, that is the point. If I was sure to accomplish this, what would I learn from this experience? So, hoping I won’t fail but knowing the likelihood of failure, I am committing to finish these four books in 10 days.

I plan to write a few words about each book when I am done.

PS: P1 is, Project #1

Day 1 of 10: Early Start

I woke up 4:50 am this morning using jetlag to my advantage and started with Ghost in the Wires. I have 4 books to finish in 10 days. For simplification in math, ignoring the fact that I had read 25% of Blind Spot, I need to read 10% of each book every day. My plan was to read each book, one after another and see 10% progress but Ghost in the Wires is a very exciting read and couldn’t drop it.

Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker

I am at 28% which is less than 4 x 10%. Although this book is one of the longer ones, I think today I didn’t read as much I should. It is almost 9 pm at the moment, I was reading for the last 30 minutes and I am sure the time Kindle predicts it will take me to read a chapter is a little shorter than I really need. I find myself thinking about what I read. I think that is why anyone reads, to think and reflect what is written. Maybe I am slow thinker…

After a few e-mails, I will drive home and try to read some more. Probably I will start another book though.

I decided to continue with Ghost in the Wires as it is pretty interesting and easier to read before bed time. I stopped reading at 34%.

Status update

• Ghost in the Wires : 34%
• Blind Spot : 24%
• Grain Brain : 0%
• How Children Succeed : 0%

Day 2 of 10: Time, not will, is the challenge

This morning while having a quick breakfast I was able to read a few more pages which moved my progress from 34% to 35% on Ghost in the Wires.

The challenge I have with reading four books in ten days is not about the will or lack of interest in reading but time. I have not more than an hour to read each day as work is pretty time consuming. I have other functions to maintain as well. Sleep is the most daunting one, then comes healthy eating, running, working out, recovering from jetlag, dealing with headaches…

I am working on an amazing project these days something that will benefit many. There is a chance it will be open source, maybe I could create a project for it here as well though I am not sure if it is a good idea to have two projects going at the same time. Maybe, if these two projects are in different areas of my life and doesn’t really push the limits of my “will” reserves.

I will write an update towards end of the day once I read some.

I was able to read for ~2 hours before sleep and this took me to 60% on Ghost in the Wires. I plan to switch to a different book tomorrow as I also want to experience reading four books at the same time and finish them around day 9 & 10. I had read somewhere that reading multiple books in parallel helps to improve something in the brain or maybe I haven’t read it. It even has a name: poly-reader.

Status update

• Ghost in the Wires : 60%
• Blind Spot : 24%
• Grain Brain : 0%
• How Children Succeed : 0%

Day 3 of 10: Starting The Third Book

This morning after breakfast, I started to read Grain Brain. It was a short session about 15 minutes but I felt the author’s style is far from boring as sometimes it is with these kind of nutrition books.

Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers

I like reading on nutrition and recently changed my diet from low fat to high fat / low carb diet. I was not really thinking about my brain health while doing so but was more interested in the effects on my body. I had heard some people had good responses to not consuming gluten even though they were not allergic to it. Grain Brain focuses on brain health and how gluten & carbs affect brain in the long term.

After some push during the night hours, I was able to get to 12% with Grain Brain which is less than I should have done. I am going pretty slow if I want to finish these books in 10 days.

Status update

• Ghost in the Wires : 60%
• Blind Spot : 24%
• Grain Brain : 12%
• How Children Succeed : 0%

Day 4 of 10: Saturday is Long Enough to Finish a Book

My grand plan was to read for 3–4 hours on Saturday. Only then, I would be able to be on track and have a chance to accomplish my goal. Having a plan is one thing, executing the plan is another. Then came the news which kept me awake until 5 am in the morning. Eventually I woke up, had a breakfast and went out to Starbucks to read some.

I started with Grain Brain and read for about two hours. Then I had to work for the next several hours. Before dinner, I reserved another hour for reading and continued with Ghost in the Wires.

Ghost in the Wires is starting to get closer to the end which I expect to be the most exciting part as @kevinmitnick is about to be arrested. I always know who Kevin Mitnick is but never knew really about his story. Fascinating book.

Status update

• Ghost in the Wires : 74%
• Blind Spot : 24%
• Grain Brain : 32%
• How Children Succeed : 0%

Day 5 of 10: Sunday for Fourth Book

As soon I woke up, without leaving the bed I started to read How Children Succeed. This is the last book of four I set a goal for myself to read in ten days. So, as of today, I am reading four book in parallel.

In How Children Succeed, Paul Tough argues that the qualities that matter more have to do with character: skills like perseverance, curiosity, optimism, and self-control.

Book is based on research and tries to provide a new perspective which I like. I like these paradigm shift moments when you learn something that invalidates everything you knew for so many years. Grain Brain does the same, about cholesterol.

These books are based on new research, like all “most recent search reports” they are the best until someone comes out and invalidates all the claims. It is common sense to take them with a grain of salt. Asking questions is always important but since the real truth is very difficult to figure out, it is all about choosing an action plan based on the information as one can process to his capabilities.

How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character

PS: I am running fever, feeling not well. Last week I had the same for 3–4 days. I hope this one will not last that long…

Status update

• Ghost in the Wires : 60%
• Blind Spot : 24%
• Grain Brain : 12%
• How Children Succeed : 8%

Day 6 of 10: Monday, sick, unplanned

Life as it is, always creates obstacles. A hard to accomplish goal becomes a miracle to finish. Maybe not that bad, but there are so many things out of our control, that long term plans usually don’t work.

Now I learn that, in my “4 books in 10 days” challenge, high fever and nausea would be the unexpected factors to make it ever harder for me to accomplish my goal. Yesterday (Sunday) I went to bed around 8 pm and slept until 7 am in the morning. According to fitbit 10 hours of it was sleep. I think I hadn’t slept 10 hours for many many years. Sleeping is good, helps recover I guess but for the sake of my challenge, it is not good.

Today feeling better, I read Blind Spot for 1–2 hours during the evening. Switched to other book. Overall, after a long day, I think I couldn’t read more. Tomorrow evening, assuming I’ll feel better, I will try to read 2–3 hours. Maybe then, I will have a chance to accomplish my goal.

Status update

• Ghost in the Wires : 74%
• Blind Spot : 45%
• Grain Brain : 32%
• How Children Succeed : 8%

Day 7 of 10: Some Progress but Hopeless?

Feeling better today, I read Grain Brain for half an hour right after the breakfast and another hour after dinner. I liked the book for the details it provides and the way it reads.

Below is a passage about antioxidants which is an industry on its own by now. Author describes how these elements won’t neutralize oxidized molecules on their own, as we can never get enough of them if it was the case, but instead how body uses them to make oxidized molecules ineffective.

Several natural compounds that turn on antioxidant and detoxification pathways through activation of the Nrf2 system have been identified. Among these are curcumin from turmeric, green tea extract, silymarin (milk thistle), bacopa extract, DHA, sulforaphane (contained in broccoli), and ashwagandha. Each of these substances is effective in turning on the body’s innate production of key antioxidants, including glutathione.

Just before sleeping I read a few pages of Ghost in the Wires as I wanted some action. I kind of don’t want to finish this book before finishing some others as it drives me to read.

Looking where I am with the books, it doesn’t look like I won’t succeed in my first project. (While writing this negative statement, my optimistic side say, come on you can do it, just don’t sleep Friday night! And I prioritize sleep these days over anything as my health seems to require more sleep than I usually get)

Status update

• Ghost in the Wires : 76%
• Blind Spot : 45%
• Grain Brain : 49%
• How Children Succeed : 8%

Day 8 of 10: Last Three Days

It is time to start believing in miracles. As with all projects, when the inevitable end gets closer but still haven’t knocked out us, we tend to have hopes in something great to happen that will save the day. It won’t happen. Never happened, likely won’t happen.

Today I read from 6 to 8 while having dinner then coffee. Then, I wanted to work on this amazing project I have for a while. It is getting closer to be materialized so I couldn’t stop myself from working until late night on it and didn’t read long enough.

How Children Succeed turned out to be a book not as practical as I expected. It is full of research, very well written but so far, it is all some ideas I will remember but not enough action items. I read more than half at this point, can’t wait to see how the final two chapter will develop.

As seen below, I have a desperate reading pace. I am about to accept, I’ve lost. I don’t even have another weekend day with enough hours to dedicate to reading. Let’s see…

Status update

• Ghost in the Wires : 79%
• Blind Spot : 45%
• Grain Brain : 49%
• How Children Succeed : 58%

Day 9 of 10: Thursday Reading Night

I planned the day, to come from work around 6 pm, eat very quick and dive into reading and I did as I planned.

I started with Ghost in the Wires and finished pretty quickly.

Then I moved on to How Children Succeed. I was at 75% of the book and I found that rest of the book was just the references to the sources used in the book. It is amazing to see one fourth of the book is dedicated to the references. I liked this though as it proves how reliable the content is or how much research was involved in writing this book. I am disappointed in the book as I couldn’t find my prescription like advices in the book but overall it is a very good read, exciting at time, educational most of the time.

Status update

• Ghost in the Wires : 100%
• Blind Spot : 45%
• Grain Brain : 49%
• How Children Succeed : 100%

Day 10 of 10: Final Day

Failed. Not that it was unexpected but I still had the hope. I read many hours to finish remaining books but couldn’t finish all. Blind Spot is half way done. It is fun to read so, I will finish it in the next few days.

While reading these books I highlighted many sections from these books on my Kindle. Highlights and notes are great features of Kindle. I think Kindle is the single most useful technology dedicated to a single purpose I have ever used. I love it.

Below is a section from How Children Succeed. I highlighted on my Kindle and copied from the web interface on kindle.amazon.com to paste here.

This is about modern life stress;

…our stress-response system, like that of all mammals, evolved to react to brief and acute stresses. That worked well when humans were out on the savanna running from predators. But modern humans rarely have to contend with lion attacks. Instead, most of our stress today comes from mental processes: from worrying about things. And the HPA axis isn’t designed to handle that kind of stress. We “activate a physiological system that has evolved for responding to acute physical emergencies,” Sapolsky writes, “but we turn it on for months on end, worrying about mortgages, relationships, and promotions.”

Status update

• Ghost in the Wires : 100%
• Blind Spot : 45%
• Grain Brain : 100%
• How Children Succeed : 100%

P1: Read 4 Books in 10 Days — Log was originally published in Project Me on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I have been running for a few years now. I think there are many benefits of running. Being able to eat more bagels, maintaining a more balanced blood sugar level, producing more brain cells are some of which I can remember.

Like all good things, running requires commitment and then a pair of injury free legs, good sleep and a balanced diet. With a combination of injury, vacation, jet lag and flu, I wasn’t able to run for about 6–7 weeks until two days ago. I ran twice in two days(3.5 miles and 2 miles), have sore legs after running less than 4 miles on road at a pace of ~10 minutes. That would be like little more than walking to me, if I was in shape. I have to get back into running. I also plan to have a 5K PR towards the end of the year but before, I need to start running.

Here comes my second challenge:

In August, I challenge myself to run at least 2 miles everyday for 31 consecutive days.

If I got sick or something prevents me from running, I will still continue until end of August. This challenge requires not just the discipline of getting out for a run everyday but also staying healthy. Two miles a day is short enough not to overtrain myself. I plan to rotate between a fast day and a couple of slow days. Once I start to feel better, I may do longer runs but, I don’t plan to do more than 6 miles at all as gaining speed is my second goal after being able to run everyday for 31 consecutive days.

I decided to write all the log entries in one article. You will need to scroll down to see the latest entry.

Day 1 of 31

I had sore legs but it was the first day of the challenge so I had to run. I planned to run 2 miles on the road, a mile out and in. It was 86 degrees but cloudy. While it was feeling hot, didn’t feel like miserable.

I pasted the stats for the first day below. I think once I have some data, I might create a chart which will show my progress.

Day 2 of 31

Tuesday is the group run day and shortest distance is about 3.5 miles. With an average of 8:12 pace, it felt hot, especially the last mile. I wanted to walk but instead put a smile on my face and didn’t stop. My legs were still sore, now I feel even worse. My average heart rate was 2 beats slower than yesterday but because the distance is 1.52 miles longer, my overall effort was much more. I will definitely run at a slow pace for just 2 miles tomorrow. I am very careful about not pushing too hard. Yesterday my right knee felt a little awkward and I slowed down. Today I felt nothing wrong. As soon as my legs get used to the daily beatings, I think I will feel much more confident.

Day 3 of 31

I was very motivated to run today. I didn’t even think not running as this is only the third day of thirty one consecutive runs. I would do it no matter what. I didn’t even think about it. I would run this evening and I ran. I wasn’t feeling any better than yesterday. My legs were still sore.

When I started to run, my left vastus lateralis started to hurt a little. I wasn’t feeling tired there so the little pain I was feeling made me anxious. I didn’t go fast, tried to increase my cadence and in a few minutes the feeling went away.

Vastus lateralis muscle

Then, right after I was feeling pain free, my right knee started to hurt a little. Just a little, that I wouldn’t mind normally, if I wouldn’t have to run tomorrow. After 2–3 minutes that pain went away as well. I ran just two miles. It was hot, I didn’t enjoy it much.

I am still waiting for the soreness to lessen and I wonder how long it will take without resting even a day.

I was pasting endomondo screenshots for the first two days. Today I put the one from Garmin which shows “Running Dynamics”. These are interesting numbers. I also like the “Training Effect” number. It is 3 for today’s run and 3.7 for yesterday’s.

Day 4 of 31

Today things didn’t go as planned so I had to run right after dinner. Literally, I ate dinner and five minutes later I was on the road running.

As it became the norm, first mile I was feeling pain here and there. First one was a outer side of my left knee. Second one was behind my right knee. None stayed longer than a few minutes. I think I might start running at a much slower pace to have more time to warm up. Maybe it is all about warming up properly.

Good news was, my legs weren’t sore. I was feeling great overall but better than previous day. I expect 5th day will be better.

I am not planning to go faster yet as I am terrified with the idea of injury. Maybe by the 10th day, I will start doing speed intervals.

Finally, the graph above shows a few stats for my 2 miles run. Interesting one is the cadence which improved towards the second mile as I was trying to take smaller strides. It helps with heels for sure but also reduces the vertical oscillation which makes you a more efficient runner. What I couldn’t understand it, my ground contact time increased towards the end. There was a slight hill, that could be the reason.

Day 5 of 31

It was a very hot day and I wasn’t able to run early in the morning at a cooler temperature. So I decided to run indoors on a treadmill, listening to my audio book Into The Magic Shop. I ran with about 8 min/mi pace.

It was a relatively slow pace, so I was in Z2 most of the time. Even though I was listening to a very interesting book (a mix of science, self improvement and a good story), I felt bored of running. Anyway, I had to do it. It was better than burning under the sun. I think the reason it got boring is, it was too easy. When there is no challenge, there is no fun.

Day 6 of 31

Saturday is the group run day. Still I ran alone as unfortunately there isn’t anyone close to my pace. I am not running fast at all. Just others seem to take easier runs on Saturday’s.

I didn’t sleep enough last night but motivated enough for Saturday runs, I found myself running on a hot morning. I had no sore legs, wasn’t feeling tired but still not feeling that great either. I started slowly to be sure I won’t have any hurting muscles and joints in the first mile.

Third mile was uphill and probably the hardest. I stopped for about 5 seconds then pushed myself not to stop again until the end. It was a short run anyways. I had to stop again.

This time, a car stopped and ask for direction. There were two things interesting.

1- About a minute ago, I had finished Into The Magic Shop. The author talked about his compassion project and how not the fittest but the kindest serves better for humanity in the long run.
2- It was a clown, a gentleman probably over fifties, dressed and painted his face as a clown, asking the directions for a high school. I would feel upset as someone stopped me while I was running. Most of the time, I run against time, to do a PR for the last mile, for the section etc. This time, I almost felt the need to help. I didn’t know the address he was asking but searched on google maps and gave him the directions as shown on google maps.

I definitely recommend “Into the Magic Shop”. Great read (or listen).

Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart

Day 7 of 31

Today I had a company who is going to turn 8 in a few days. My daughter.

We ran about a mile at a slow pace. Then I ran about two miles a faster but still comfortable pace. I was wondering how much time I spend on the ground and how much I “jump” while running at these two different paces.

Below is the slower run, with 8.9 cm vertical oscillation and 280 ms ground contact time.

Below is the faster run, with 9.5 cm vertical oscillation and 240.8 ms ground contact time.

I was expecting faster run with much lower vertical oscillation and ground contact time. It turned out, I was wasting more energy than I should with going vertical. At least my ground contact time was lower as expected. I am not sure what the optimal values are. I need to research this.

Day 8 of 31

Today I had to run after a heavy dinner. 1755 calories with 118 grams of carbs and 103 grams of fat. So, I really had to run. I wish I ran before the dinner but didn’t happen.

I was planning to run my usual short route but on the way back I decided to do the hill which adds half a mile and some elevation. Training effect was 3.3 which is where I wanted to be. More than that, is probably too much yet. After day 10, I plan to run longer distances. After about 2 months of break, I think it is still pretty early to reach the level where I left. I wasn’t at my peak anyway as I was trying out zone 2 running for a while. My VO2 Max was 59 during early April. It is 54 now. It was 53 last week.

Day 9 of 31

Another run after dinner. I had to run, so I did. I was planning for a slow run. It was dark, so cooler. I am not used to run at night, didn’t have flashlight or anything reflective so I decided to do circles around our division. I felt like I have a good pace but wasn’t sure how it was.

I like the times when I don’t look at my running watch and figure out what my pace was when it beeps at the end each mile. I find it stressful to be constantly looking at my watch. If it is a race or I am going for a PR, it is useful but other times, it kills the joy of running. Maybe I shouldn’t wear it at all during the practice runs, but then I wouldn’t be able to compare runs and see my progress. Also I like how my watch shows the recovery time after each run.

After the first mile, with the beep, I checked my pace and it was 7:13 min/mi. I was surprised. Then I decided to keep my pace and run comfortably faster for the last mile or so. My pace for second mile was 6:39 min/mi. Chart below shows how my cadence and ground contact times improved after mile 1.5. Continuous line is pace. Gray dots are cadence and blue dots are ground contact time.

The higher cadence value, the lower ground contact time. Average stride length for this run was 1.4 meters which is 0.13 meters longer than a 7:23 min/mi run. I took more steps per minute, spend more time on the air and took longer steps because of the speed. I wonder if I was hitting my heels first because of the longer strides. I try not to.

Day 10 of 31

Easy run with 7:52 min/mi pace, all in aerobic zone which I rarely achieve. I think being a 2 miles run helped as likely if I had to go more than 4 even at that pace, considering my VO2 Max is 55, my heart would go beyond 171. I worked out a bit after the run, I was feeling tired. I haven’t been sleeping well since Monday.

Day 11 of 31

I was really feeling tired today. My quads were sore, I am not sure why. I averaged 6 hours 10 minutes of sleep since Monday and which clearly is not enough when I am running or working out. I don’t feel sleepy during the day but I feel the difference when I run. I had another easy run. This time little longer but little slower than yesterday.

I cut it little shorter than I planned as I had to listen to my body. I have ignored those signals for so many years, time to listen more closely as I don’t want an injury this month for sure!

Day 12 of 31

Another late run, at 8:19 pm. Late but not cool. I wasn’t feeling great, which seemed to be the norm. Maybe because of the hot weather. I think a few days rest would fix all but can’t have a break for the next 19 more days.

I think, eventually, my body will get used to this. Also 2 miles a day should not be a physical challenge but one about persistence.

Day 13 of 31

I ran about 4 miles and felt like I had to stop at minute 25 and then felt like I had to walk at minute 29. I walked almost a minute. It was uphill, my average pace was a comfortable 8:30 min/mi. At least comfortable on the paper, in my mind… Anyway, at least I was on the road for more than 4 miles on the thirteenth day.

Day 14 of 31

9:32 pm run, indoors, right after watching Usein Bolt’s 2016 Rio 100 meter victory, I ran a boring 2 miles on treadmill. It is interesting to see how smooth ground contact time is. It seems like the decrease on contact time correlates with the increase in speed.

Day 15 of 31

Without any elevation, I ran about 4 miles at 7.23 min/mi pace. Last minute pace was 6 min/mi. This is my second fastest time since I started this challenge and it was for 4 miles.

My VO2 max also increased to 55 in the last few days. I want to hit 59 before November.

The first mile, I felt like pain behind my both knees. Likely I started a bit too fast, without enough warm up. It eased after the first mile, rest was easier.

Oh, almost forgetting to write. It was 91 degree and feeling like 97. A cup of coffee and a dinner with about 50 grams of carbs helped afterwards.

Day 16 of 31

I decided to run another 4 miles today, feeling not bad, not great either. I would run the same course second day in a row and being familiar to the course usually makes it more fun to run.

I didn’t have any early pain this time but little something on my left calf. So slowed down the last mile significantly. Overall, I felt like I was running much slower than yesterday. It turned out I was but only 11 seconds per mile. It is interesting how different it feels when I change my pace only ~15 sec/mi.

Today I completed half of the month. No injuries, no missed days. I am looking forward to the remaining 15.

Day 17 of 31

Today I would run in the morning in gym or probably wouldn’t be able to. I didn’t take the chance and went early to the gym, get on the boring treadmill and rolled myself for 2 miles with an average of 132 BPM heart rate. It was an easy run, listening to “The 4 Percent Universe” and thinking about what is ahead of us…

Day 18 of 31

I don’t think running at least 2 miles a day, everyday, for a month, is impressive for some. For me it is. So far I am:

• Not injured
• Haven’t pushed my limits so next day became torture
• Improving slightly
• Still enjoying going out, even it is just for 2 miles most of the time
• Haven’t missed a day

Today’s run was another easy one with 143 BPM average heart rate. Second mile lasted longer than the first. As seen below, GPS stopped working a few times for some time.

Day 19 of 31

I wasn’t planning to run fast but having the first mile mostly downhill, and the second not that uphill, I ran with 6.28 min/mi average pace for two miles. This was my fastest run since a while. Not really impressive as it is even shorter than 5K but a good sign, I am getting there. Tomorrow I plan to run longer, likely 6 miles which I haven’t done for almost 2 months.

Day 20 of 31

Long run day. I planned to really slow.

Not as slow as I did, but even at this slow pace, I felt really tired after 3–4 miles. I stopped a few times, just to rest. My heart rate was not high but I was feeling really tired. A few months back, I was able to run 8 miles on the trails. Now I respect that me. It doesn’t look easy when your body is not at that level of conditioning.

Day 21 of 31

I ran on this interesting machine today. It is a curved treadmill and doesn’t require pushing any buttons to increase or decrease your speed. You can run really fast or just walk. As expected it shows time, distance, calories burned. I think can connect to heart rate monitor wirelessly but I didn’t try. It feels like running uphill so I felt some pain when I was running fast so slowed down. But then it is so easy to change your speed as you would do when running outdoors, I decided to to fartlek training. After 2 miles, I was done.

Day 22 to 30 of 31

Yes, I ran each of these days. I was very busy with work that except sleeping and eating I worked and didn’t have time to write updates. I could create time maybe, just didn’t so. Day 30 was eventful.

Day 31 of 31

This was probably the hardest run of all 31 days. Yesterday while doing my first trail run after a several weeks, I hit the ground hard after tripping on a root. I was listening to an audiobook, had sunglasses, so I was a little too focused on the book instead of the trail and as it was later hours of the day, sunglasses made my vision a little too dark. I was running on a narrow path, I fall so quick to my right and it was little downhill and covered with plants on both sides, there wasn’t enough space to roll, instead I fell on my knee and mostly right hand and elbow. I felt so much pain on my toes, initially I thought a few were broken. I stayed there for 5–10 seconds and slowly stood up after being sure I was able to move my toes. My knee was bleeding. It was hurting. My right wrist was hurt, it wasn’t too bad initially but after an hour it got swollen and I wasn’t even able to lift my phone. I ran back to the car. My whole right side, toes, knee, elbow, wrist were hurting while I was trying to sleep. Right wrist was the worst, still is.

So running today was not so fun but I had to do. Last day of the challenge. I would do it, even with one foot, if I had to.

August 2016 became the 3rd most miles I ran in my life. 82.99 miles. In March 2106, I had done 111 and then I have a 90.7 miles month in 2015. When I look at the picture above, I see many 2 miles and doesn’t seem remarkable. Usually I would run 4–6 miles when I go out and I do 3–4 of them a week or that is what I believed so. When I look at my stats, usually it is not the case and I miss a lot of days. It is obvious, if not well planned, it is easy to postpone todays run to tomorrow. I plan to run similar milage next month but likely on 4 times a week.

…and yes, I ran everyday in August 2016. I don’t think I had even a seven day strike before.

Mission accomplished!!!

P2: Run 31 Consecutive days — Log was originally published in Project Me on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

With “4 book in 10 days” challenge, I recalled the old memories of how relaxing reading is. It is pretty close to mediation as you focus on a very narrow topic and can stop as often as you like to reflect. With audiobooks, because of the setting I listen to audiobooks (driving), I usually don’t pause and give time myself to reflect on what I learn. Most recently, I was more into listening novels / fictions instead of content heavy because mostly because of this reason.

Reading on Kindle is pure joy. It is easy to carry with you, holds thousands of books, syncs highlights to my account. While reading, it is not really there either. There isn’t a notification that interrupts as it would be on a phone or tablet. Nothing fancy with Kindle, just the reading experience. Just me, the book and ideas that I generate. The better me, with every page turn…

I knew, 4 books was a little more than I could do. I had other priorities like getting enough sleep. So I didn’t sacrifice my sleep to create more time to read. I had to work, a few times during the evening hours which decreased my reading time. Getting sick was unplanned. I read while I was having breakfast and during most of the lunches. I watched a movie one of these nights, I should read instead. Maybe I could ask Alexa to read one of the book while I was doing chores at home, though that wouldn’t be reading so didn’t want to cheat.

I enjoyed the experience, even though I failed. At least I know what is reasonable now.

I can’t wait to come up with a new challenge. I think, I know what it is already.

P1: Lessons Learned was originally published in Project Me on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.