Long-term goals can be, well, long term.

It can be hard to maintain your momentum when the end is a long way off. Whether your goal is losing weight, earning a degree, running every day for a year, or something else, the way to stay strong is to celebrate the small milestones.

I have run 66 days in a row. That means I only have 300 days left. That still sounds like a lot, but it’s a lot less than 366, so I’m celebrating. In just a hundred days, I’ll only have 200 left. I’m going to celebrate then too.

Break your goal into small chunks and celebrate every milestone. How am I going to celebrate? Go for a run, of course.

This is the 5th summer that runDisney has provided a virtual race series. I haven’t participated in all the races because I haven’t always liked the medals (I’m all about the medals), but I’m pleased to promote this summer’s virtual runs.

A virtual run is not done on a computer (I hear that all the time.) Instead, it is run that is done whenever and wherever you want. While traditional races happen at a specific time on a specific date at a specific place, you can run a virtual run on your own schedule at a place of your choosing (even your treadmill.)

It does have a computer component. You sign up online, and if necessary, turn in your time to the website. (Some charity runs, like those done by PHRC, send you the medal whether you do the race or not.)

The runDisney Virtual Series is made up of three 5ks, one in June, one in July, and one in August. You get a bonus medal if you sign up for all three races (I did that last year since it was Marvel-themed.) You can also do just one or two (I did that the year I only wanted the Mickey Mouse medal.)

This year’s theme is favorite park attractions. June’s medal is for the Mad Tea Party, July is for Space Mountain, and August is for the Haunted Mansion. runDisney hasn’t revealed the medals yet, but I think they will be awesome.

If you have made a resolution in 2020 to exercise more, training for and running a virtual race is a great way to ease into the sport. Plus, you can walk a virtual race, and no one will think you are too slow (or like me, you can run/walk, and no one will think you are too slow.)

The medal comes in the mail, and it’s fun to open it once you have done the run. I hope you’ll consider doing a virtual race this year. If I live near you, I’ll gladly do it with you.

I know that if something happened, and I lost a limb, I would embrace whatever technology allowed me to live a life worth living. I’m always impressed by runners like Marko Cheseto, who break records on blades and provide inspiration to everyone. But, everything I had read before now talked about the limitations of prosthetics.

Then I saw a TED Talk by Hugh Herr. This video was mentioned in the back of the book I recommended in yesterday’s post, Broken Places, & Outer Spaces.* The technology that this MIT professor and his team have developed is game-changing.

I don’t want to give away too much, but I encourage you to watch to the end (it’s not that long.) The climber brought me to tears. I don’t know what the future will hold, but I believe that a lot of good will come from those people who don’t let today’s limitations hold them back.

*Amazon affiliate link

I’m going to run at least one mile every day in 2020. The reason makes perfect sense to me. I have been planning this for more than a year.

Streaks are a lot of fun and easier than you think. When you’re doing a streak, all the excuses disappear. I’m going for a run each morning because I’m doing a streak. Not lacing up my shoes is not an option.

While running streaks are popular (the longest streak was for 52 years and 39 days), there are other streaks out there. You could journal every day, or take a photo of the same tree. Or you could read a book for fifteen minutes. Anything that you do every day of the year is a streak. It’s incredibly satisfying to see how much you did at the end of the year.

The most important thing to do, besides your challenge, is to record your daily efforts. A gold sticker on a calendar or a spreadsheet with Xs is all you need. If you want to do a running streak, I recommend recording it on  Smashrun. This website gives virtual badges for various runs and is why I’m running every day in 2020.

Join me in streaking. You don’t even have to take your clothes off.

A new exhibit is coming to the Morocco Pavilion at EPCOT. The Morocco Pavilion is my favorite place in the World Showcase, and usually, the displays show off the amazing art of the country. This new exhibit, “Race Against the Sun,” is about racing, one of my favorite topics.

Two remarkable races happen in Morocco and are featured in this exhibit. The Rally of the Gazelles is an off-road, all-woman desert rally. That sounds amazing, but the one that piqued my interest was the Marathon des Sables (Marathon of the Sands.)

This race may have “marathon” in the title, but it is actually an ultra-marathon. It covers six days and 156 miles through the Sahara Desert in southern Morocco. Since its start in 1986, it has been called the toughest foot race on Earth.

I love learning about crazy long races in insane environments. I hadn’t heard of this one before, so I searched around to see if there was a documentary about it. It turns out there were several. I watched one about the 2000 race that was unreal.

I love watching movies about unbelievably hard races, Barkley, Mount Marathon, Badwater, and others. It’s fun to watch humans push themselves to the limit. But the Marathon des Sables might just be the hardest.

I agree with Anakin Skywalker when he said, “I don’t like sand. It’s coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere.” I would never do a race in the Sahara Desert. The three half marathons on three consecutive weekends that I’m doing next June is tough enough for me.

I do encourage you to watch the documentary on the Marathon of the Sands. It is quite moving how much people can do and how much support they give each other.

I hope the display is still at the Morocco Pavilion when I go to Walt Disney World* in January of 2021. That is how I want to experience that race, in Florida.

*I would love to have three or four people come with me to Walt Disney World. I’m going to run the Dopey, but we’re also going to ride a ton of attractions, and hopefully visit all four parks in one day (you get a certificate if you do.) It’s a lot of fun and January is a great time to go.