July Monthly Recap

July is usually one of my favorite months. With the Fourth of July at the beginning – barbecues, ice cream, fireworks – and my birthday toward the end – cake, more ice cream, birthday candles – there’s always been a lot to celebrate. When I was younger, I was usually away at camp for most of the month. Later on, in high school and college and law school, I was studying or doing an internship. Now, I’ve spent most of the month doing the same thing I did for the first six months of the year, but like the rest of summer, it still feels a little different. If nothing else, there’s definitely more ice cream to be seen in my July monthly recap than there was in February or March or April. And that’s saying something because we all know how much I love ice cream…

 

 

 

The month kicked off with the Fourth of July as usual, spent at a barbecue at a family friend’s house outside the city with delicious food from the grill and some very patriotic desserts.

 

 

 

 

July was supposed to be my second month of marathon training, after a successful start with the first month of training in June. I started off strong with my first week of workouts, but began to feel some pain in my left hip during the second and third weeks of the month and ended up taking some time off from my training plan. I ran twice last week, just 5 miles each time, and this last week of the month I’ve run just twice again. I have a feeling I’ve strained my hip flexor again and am headed to the doctor the first week in August to confirm, and hopefully to begin physical therapy and get back on track with training.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve thought it’s probably okay that I need to cut back a bit on running for a few weeks, because the first word I’d use to describe this July is hot! There was a “heat dome” traveling across the Northeast that made both workouts and regular walking around a very sweaty proposition. It’s a good thing I’ve had a lot of ice cream to cool off, and also that for my birthday I received the perfect present of a pink ice cream maker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of my birthday, it was a fun five days of celebrating 25, what with my wonderful gifts, time with family, and lots and lots of sweet treats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whenever we get to the end of this month, I tend to remember a line from the Harry Potter books about how the wizard with the power to defeat Voldemort would be “born as the seventh month dies” and other than letting you all know that I’m a huge nerd who read every single Harry Potter book the day it was released, cover to cover, I’m not sure what that has to do with anything! Except maybe that every July I feel a little sad because I have premature nostalgia for summer. We’ve got a whole ‘nother month of it in August, so I shouldn’t, but for some reason I just do. It won’t stop me from making the most of the rest of the season though!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Highlight of your July?

 

What are you looking forward to in August?

 

How do you feel at the height of summer?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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