There are three things keeping me sane in these not so normal times. Two have four paws and the third requires my nikes.  

Now more than ever, I feel like our pets are therapy dogs and therapy cats to the Nth power! And have you noticed they aren’t acting any differently now then pre-Shelter in Place…maybe because they are always living in the moment and not futurizing.  

My other saving grace has been my running. Probably the first 3 weeks of the Chicago Shelter in Place, I had lost my motivation to run. I think watching too much news put me in a state of self-paralysis.  There were days that I would suit up in my running gear but not leave the house and run.  Even though I knew that I would feel better after.  I knew I could not be alone with my feelings and lack of motivation so BOOM, I knew I had to make a change.

I had heard of running streaks but had never done one before.  I felt like having a running streak with other runners would help keep me more accountable…plus it would keep others going through the same thing. So I started a running streak with the Facebook Group that I manage, Chicago Marathon Runners Unite.  There are streakers from all over the world. To make it a little funner, the minimum amount of the streak is 2.62 miles…get it : )  And you can walk, skip, prance to get the distance in.

So far, I have run 9 days in a row!!! I haven’t run 9 days in row since I had a coach in 2009!!!  Now that I have run so many days in a row, I feel like I am back in my groove. Plus, when I wake in the morning, I know my friends will be streaking so I can’t let them or me down.   In case you were curious, Ron Hill of Accrington, England has the longest running streak, everrrr, 52 days and 39 days!!!  I have a long way to go to top Mr. Hill but I will just take this Shelter in Place and my Running streak one day at a time.