102

Run Streak: Day 365! I started my run streak last year on June 18th. I have successfully made it to one, full calendar year despite occasional sickness, aches and pains, and moments where my general mood is "not feeling up to it." If you're curious and don't know, an official run streak is running one or more miles every day. While I had plenty of one-mile days last year, this year, it has been more of the exception. It's amazing what one year and an evolving goal can accomplish. Even though my relationship and commitment to running will inevitably change throughout my life, I have found my streak to be my number one proudest running accomplishment yet. Knowing that missing a day means starting over is a great motivator. No matter how slow or sloppy it is, I know I've got at least a mile in me.

Mileage Mayhem: I have logged 471.5 running miles for 2019 so far! My run streak has netted me a total of 794.5 for the last 365 days. With a little math, you'll be able to see that my daily average is is higher this year. My commitment to running 1,009.5 miles this year has pushed me to get more miles than is necessary for my streak.

Run The Year: My wife and I hit the 800 mile mark for our RTY Team a couple of weeks ago. I am currently ahead of where I need to be for my mileage goal at +6.9 miles. I know I will have a week or two at some point this year where getting 19.3 won't be doable, so every day I can run a little more than needed is a good thing. I am 28.5 miles away from hitting 500 miles for the year and I plan to hit that before the end of June!

Here's a picture my wife took of me after finishing the TC One Mile in May of this year. I ran a time of 7:46.1 and blew away my own expectations going into it. Here, you can see me holding my post race handout of potato chips and water.

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101

Run Streak Sneak Peak: Today will be the 354th day of my streak (after I run later). I'm excited to hit the year mark in just 11 days. My run streak might be my proudest running accomplishment yet. The discipline has both pushed me mentally and physically, and I can say without a shred of doubt that it has helped me to be a better version of myself.

The Works @ The Office: I've been slowly grinding out a post for Graham Sedam Writes about where I am at in life in regards to all of this "office" stuff. I believe that after the last Note I wrote, I actually started and wrote 97.57% of the post. Yesterday, I got back to it and edited and wrote a little more. I'm not sure if it's done yet, but it's getting close. I'll have to put a few pictures in and pretty it up a little. I'm really pushing for having it published next week.

Present Situation: I'm hoping to accomplish a handful of tasks at the office this morning, where I've written this Note, and then head home around noon for my daily stretch and run, and then mow the lawn. Our city is having its annual parade tonight, and this is the first year in many that my entire family will be sitting and watching it, as opposed to being in it. It's a beautiful day for a parade in the S.L.P.

Being someone who runs every day, I find this both amusing and satisfying.

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100

A Passing Milestone: You should have noticed that this is Note 100. Technically, if I was going at the rate I started out at, I would have hit 100 months ago. That is not how it turned out, and I've clearly slowed to the point where 1 or 2 a week is a cause for jubilation. Jubilation might be a bit of an exaggeration, but that's what I'm going with. While there HAS been a smidgen of laziness involved, I have fallen out of the discipline partly because I have chosen to do other things with the time it takes to put out a Note. I haven't been writing for my blog, Graham Sedam Writes, because I just haven't had the time. I'm sure I've mentioned it in other Notes (or maybe the blog, too?), but I've been trying to get ahead and stay afloat in other areas of my life. Enough of all that for now. Here's to Note 100.

The Works @ The Office: I'm hesitant to say that my writing will pick back up with a gusto any time soon. Mostly, it'd be nice to get some type of momentum going so that I have an idea of what type of rhythm I'm currently in. I plan to do some writing today at the office, and I'm hoping that will bring me some satisfaction in the product of my efforts. Yesterday, I spent about 5 hours at the office, and I worked solely on financially related work. It was a hurdle I needed to get over. I still have some of that to catch up on, but I will always have something to work on in all areas of life. As long as I don't work a lot of overtime, I can schedule it throughout the week. Balance. Next week will be much like this week has been—Monday at The Place That Pays Me and then the rest of the week to divide between the office and home.

Remember...
Change is afoot (that wears many shoes).

This was one of the views I had on my walk to the office. That mallard had the water to himself. Hidden within last year's leaves was a hen and some chicks.

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099

Run Streak: Day 329!

Mileage Mayhem: I have logged 367.4 running miles for 2019 so far!

Run The Year: It's been a few weeks since I've written a Note about my running goals for 2019. All in all, I've continued to add to my mileage surplus, and I'm now ahead by 4.4 miles. That's not much further ahead than my last update but better than being behind. The last 3 weeks' numbers are as follow: 17.8 miles, 21.1 miles, and 20.6 miles. My wife and I earned a 600 miles badge sometime in the last couple of weeks and I'll be hitting my 400 miles badge soon. It's been getting harder to get the miles in lately, so the goal is to try and do what I can when I can and not rely too heavily on my mileage surplus to stay afloat.

Present Situation: My wife just got back from her short run, so we'll be watching Game of Thrones soon. Afterwards, I will be taking a much needed shower. This week will be long and full of terrors. It will be trying and will require all of my efforts to keep my sanity intact. I'll be pulling in a lot of overtime, which is both good and not convenient. A good complaint to have? Still, not much else will get accomplished outside of the time at The Place That Pays Me, running, family stuff, chores, and kids' activities. I should rescue my office plant and bring it home for the week. I also need to get that book I'm reading, as it was forgotten there. I do have Thursday off, but that is a bit misleading... I did some fun things last week and I hope to tell you about them this week.

PS. I'm writing this on my Chromebook, which has become my home computer. Irony?

Better brush up on your grammar, people.

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098

The Works: I've been so busy with the Business of Life lately that I haven't had much time to write. My intent was to carve out a little bit of time this morning to do that, but my brain feels a bit too fuzzy to accomplish that. What I did do is create a page at Graham Sedam Writes that I've been thinking about doing. It is essentially a short list of posts from GSW that I found to be more or less central to giving the casual passerby a rundown of me and who I am right now. The page doesn't have a lot going on, but it has enough. You can find it in the hamburger menu at the GSW site under the heading Blog Features. Give it a look here: https://blog.grahamsedam.com/p/essential.html

Present Situation: As much as I'd love to do work at the office right now (and get a Workshop post about the office and related things written), I can't stop thinking about what else I have to get done today. I'll need to get my run in to keep my streak. It's a beautiful day and I NEED to get a list of yard work things done. Next week will be spent almost entirely at The Place That Pays Me. And, the oldest two kids have extracurriculars tonight. Considering everything always takes longer than originally planned, I should make the most of the sunshine. Plus, it won't get easier as the week progresses. Still, I am GRATEFUL for the opportunity to have an office to go to and spend a small amount of time to myself to recharge. For me to be my best, I need that. Now to those other things.

The view from my home-to-office walk this morning.

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097

Thoughts On Notes: It's obvious that my Note and Blog contributions have been dropping off and becoming mostly non-existent. Life throws curveballs and not just heaters right down the center of the plate. Sometimes, we swing and miss. I've often noticed that life is pretty cyclical in different ways and that the more that I am in-tune with them the better I can react to them. What works out for a few months may go completely counter to the following three months. One must change and go with the flow or suffer unnecessarily. It's always a choice. SO, I've been thinking lately that my Notes will need to adjust. I never intended it to be a night-cap style post, but that is what it became when I started them. Now, it seems, the end of the day has become more difficult to accomplish. You'll notice (maybe) that I am posting a Note in the morning. I'm at my office, and it seems like just as good of a time as any. It is quiet and there's a computer sitting in front of me. I have something to say. There we go.

Recent Link I've Enjoyed: Here's a link to a very short post from Kottke.org that talks about the exact idea I talked about in the previous paragraph. Good Things By Their Nature Are Fragile

Present Situation: Um, office? Yes. I don't want to "reveal" too much too fast. I also want to delve more into it in a Workshop post, but I'm fine with breadcrumbs within my Notes. The short of it is: I needed a place outside of the house that would provide me a quiet recluse free (mostly) from distraction in which to conduct both the Business of Life and the Business of Graham. If you think there are other options out there or criticisms for my choices, you're welcome to hold onto those nuggets of wisdom. I rarely come to any conclusions or decisions on a whim. And, I'm cheap thrifty financially disciplined. Like I said, more will be revealed as time allows. Right now this second, I must continue to get caught up with the Business of Life so that I may move onto the Business of Graham.

You do you. I'll do me.

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096

Out About Town: Today, for me, might have been the first day that it actually felt like the warm season has arrived. I ventured out of the house this afternoon and evening without a jacket. My wife, The Toddler, and I went to Home Depot this afternoon for a couple of outdoor things and tonight my daughter had her first softball practice. It turned out to be more of a meet & greet than a practice, but an important first step nonetheless. Me and the boys played at the playground, and my wife ran a mile. And so it begins...

Seeing The Light: With the amount of overtime I've been working along with the other various circumstances within my life, I've gotten pretty far behind on things I need to accomplish. I won't be working any overtime over the next two weeks, so I'll have—in theory—4 days each week to knock things out. Having things to do is not necessarily a bad thing. Without going into the details of what I have to do, it says to me that I have a lot of ambition and I'm clear (mostly) on what I want in life. Sounds like a good problem to have.

Present Situation: Today went pretty well, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow. My wife is off attending a fitness class tonight, and I'm happy that she's branching out more and pursuing something she likes. I look forward to hearing all about it. She did threaten to murder me if The Toddler was still awake when she got home, so I should probably start wrapping up. Today also marked a big step in my path forward in life. I'm sure that I'll talk more in depth about it in the near future, but to feed your anticipation now, I signed papers and handed over a check to start renting an office (one room) in an office building that is a few minutes walk from my house. I'm excited. GAME ON, WORLD.

Isn't it strange to find gum carefully placed on a shower head and NO ONE put it there?

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