This week was harder.
For some reason, my body decided sleep was optional. Most nights I wasn’t falling asleep until 12:30 or 1:00, and even when I finally did, the sleep was restless and broken. Normally I’m in bed before 10 and up before 5, so I could feel the difference. It’s not an excuse; it’s just reality. When I don’t sleep well, I don’t have the same energy or capacity to do everything else well either.
The rain didn’t help. Some of our regular dog walks didn’t happen because walking five dogs after a good rain means coming home and basically running a tiny car wash for 20 muddy paws, and there were days when I simply didn’t have that in me.
Maybe I was a little too ambitious with my 90-mile goal for my first month. Three miles a day seemed pretty doable because it’s essentially about two dog walks, but I’m discovering there’s a difference between being able to walk three miles and consistently getting those miles in every day while real life is happening.
I’ve still got 10 days left, though, so I’m not counting myself out yet.
What Went Well
I’m still closing the kitchen by 7, and when I wanted something sweet at home, I made brownies. I also made fruit pizza for Sunday’s family picnic, which technically has fruit on it, so I’m going to go ahead and say I ate fruit. 
I also ate Junior Mints at the movies twice this week, and I’m not going to pretend they become a health food because they’re consumed in a dark theater. I ate them, enjoyed them, and went right back to what I was doing. One choice doesn’t have to become a whole day or week of “Well, screw it!”
And despite being tired, I got my writing done. That’s an accomplishment too, because I’m trying to figure out how movement, work, writing, family, friends, dogs, rest and everything else can coexist in a life I actually enjoy living.
What Needs Work
Because my job keeps me sitting at a desk for about seven and a half hours a day, I’ve been setting an alarm every hour to remind myself to get up and move. I listened to those alarms about half the time this week. More than once, I shut one off thinking, I’ll get up in a minute, only to have the next alarm go off and realize I’d never moved.
So that’s something I’m still working on…not more miles, just less sitting.
An Unexpected Reminder
I got a pretty unexpected reminder this week of why functional fitness matters to me. Phil had a scary choking incident and ended up face down and unconscious on the floor, and I had to react immediately to help him.
There wasn’t time to wonder whether my knees or back would cooperate, whether I could get down on the floor quickly, or whether I was strong enough to hit his back hard enough to help dislodge whatever was stuck. I just had to move, and thankfully, my body let me.
Seeing my husband unconscious on the floor was a little traumatic, especially after losing my dad just six months ago, but thankfully Phil was fine other than a cut lip. While I was still trying to recover from the whole ordeal, Phil had already moved on to an ice pack and a leftover pumpkin bar from Sunday’s family picnic.
Afterward, I realized this is the kind of strength I’m actually working toward. I want a body that works when I need it to work, with enough strength, mobility and balance to do what needs to be done when life doesn’t give me time to wonder whether I can.
The Moments
While the miles weren’t quite where I wanted them this week, the moments definitely were. I probably had more social interaction than I’ve had in the last two years, between visiting with family on my cousin’s patio Friday and Saturday, our big family picnic Sunday, and two dinner-and-a-movie nights with friends & Mom.
That’s worth noticing too. I don’t want to get so focused on miles, food and habits that I forget the moments half of Earned Miles, Earned Moments. Time with people I love and fun counts too
.
Going Into the Final 10 Days
Phil’s ungodly work schedule is finally going back to normal, so we’ll be able to take all five dogs together for a longer evening walk instead of me splitting them into two separate dog walk groups in the AM. That should leave more room in my mornings to get some miles in before work.
I’m still going after 90, but I’m not going to cram a ridiculous number of miles into a couple of days just to say I hit it. The point is to build something sustainable for life, not just for now.
Week Three at a Glance
Day/ Miles
Sunday 2.37
Monday 3.20
Tuesday 1.87
Wednesday 3.14
Thursday 1.84
Friday 3.00
Saturday 1.50
Week Three Total 16.92
September progress: 52.07 / 90 miles
Miles remaining: 37.93
Days remaining: 10
3-mile days this week: 3
Hourly movement breaks: About 50%
Homemade treats: Brownies & fruit pizza
Movie-theater loophole that is not actually a loophole: Junior Mints
Week Three wasn’t my strongest week for miles, but there was a whole lot of life packed into it…and that’s part of the lesson too.
This week, I’m borrowing a reminder from Elizabeth Benton of Primal Potential:
“Something is better than nothing every single time.”
Anyway—off we go. 
© 2026 Erica Shoemaker. All rights reserved.
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