My running word for the second quarter of 2024: Fun

Posted on by Vanessa Junkin (She Runs by the Seashore)
Woman holding an ice cream cone with the text "April 107.09"
Woman holding a cup of ice cream with the text "May 102."
Woman holding a cup of ice cream with the text "June 80.12."

It’s been a busy year, so I’ve moved to doing quarterly wrap-ups, at least for now. I participated in a lot of unique, scenic and otherwise enjoyable running activities this quarter, so I’m picking “fun” as my second quarter word. And it’s only in quotes because I’m describing a word, not because it was not actually fun.

  1. I ran 100-plus miles in April and May, but not in June. I kept up my 100-mile-per-month goal in April and May, with 107.09 miles in April and 102 in May. In June, I got far off that goal, running 80.12 (and then I ran even less in July). With four days left, I’d need to run 30 more miles, and I do this for fun — not as a job and not as a chore. June was hot, and I’m OK with not meeting this goal. It reminded me why I normally don’t set a monthly mileage goal.
  2. I ran my fast 1600s in 8:24 (April), 8:25 (May) and 8:45 (June). April and May were very consistent; the June 1600 came less than a week after a blood donation. I’d still like to run another sub-8:00 time for the 1600 meters, but I’m not there at this time.
  3. I ran three races. I ran a great half marathon near the beginning of April — my fastest half since 2018 with a time of 2:18:17 at the Salisbury Half Marathon. The following weekend, I successfully paced the 2:45 group at the Coastal Delaware Half Marathon. In May, I traveled to New Hampshire to run the Revel White Mountains Marathon — my 13th marathon state — and in June, I traveled down the street to run the Ben Layton 5K at the Salisbury City Park.
  4. I started The Islands Tour. Since 2020 when it began, I’ve been running the Tour de Salisbury, which consists of 12 different courses around Delmarva. This year, the event has switched up to include 12 courses all featuring islands — two of which you can only access by boat (Tangier Island and Smith Island). Because the courses are harder to get to than in past years, The Islands Tour is run over four months instead of the usual two. Still, in June, I had a busy month of Islands Tour running — completing the Ocean City, Isle of Wight, Assateague, Deal Island, Picnic Island, Tangier Island and Fenwick segments all that month.
  5. I did a lot of fun runs. Running with the Eastern Shore Running Club is always fun, but in addition to those group runs, Tour runs, and the races that I did, I got to take part in, chronologically, a 50th birthday run for Trent, a 60th birthday 60K for Karla (I did part of it, not the whole thing), a “Read” run with Delmarva She Runs This Town, a stuttering awareness run with DSRTT, a run with the Kent Island Running Group and a Global Running Day run with ESRC.
  6. I ran in some cool places. In addition to the places I ran mentioned above, I also ran in Fruitland, at the new Pirate’s Wharf Park and on the Baltimore & Annapolis Trail.
  7. It was hot. June was a tough month to run outside, and it was a struggle. I even used my gym membership and ran on the treadmill inside one day.
  8. I did some other exercise. This included yoga twice in April, three times in May and once in June. I went to the gym once in April and once in June — a number that was already improved slightly in July. I haven’t done a DribbleUp class since April, which I really need to get back to. I also participated in the Ride of Silence bike ride in May.

It was tough getting back to the heat, but my second quarter was good. Here’s to more exploring during the rest of the year!