Summary of How I Did With My Cookies Summer Run/Walk Challenge

This year marked the fourth annual Cookies Summer Run/Walk Challenge--a checklist of 56 items to work on completing throughout the summer. The challenge start on the summer solstice and ends on the fall equinox. 

Each year, I say I am going to do ALL of the checklist. I start out strong and then just forget about it a month in. I've always done the running challenge (it's the same either way; but I always chose to run instead of walk).

This year, I chose to walk, and I think that is what helped me the most. I didn't complete the entire checklist, but I'm super impressed with how many of the walks I *did* check off! Here is my list:

Aqua Jog  - Walk/jog in a pool or lake (or any body of water you choose)

✔ Beach Walk  - Find some place that you can walk along a body of water

✔ Bridge Walk - Walk over a bridge of some sort

✔ Early Bird Walk - Start your walk before 6:00 AM

✔ Even Split Walk - Walk 3+ miles with mile splits of less than 5 seconds difference (I couldn't do this again if I tried! Look at how close these splits are)

✔ Evening Walk - Start your walk between 5 PM and 7 PM

✔ Explorer Walk - Walk in a city you’ve never walked in before

✔ Fartlek Walk - Vary the speed of your walk by “walking very fast to the mailbox”, “strolling to the tree”, “walking hard until you see a red car”, etc. Make it up as you go along—it should be spontaneous and fun.

Forrest Gump Walk - Walk without a predetermined distance—just walk until you feel like stopping. Arrange ahead of time for a family member or friend to pick you up when you’re done.

✔ Generous Walk - Leave a few quarters in random places on your walk for others to find (it’s always fun to find a quarter!)

Heads or Tails Walk - Flip a coin every 2 minutes during the walk. If it’s heads, walk fast; if it’s tails, walk slow.

Hilly Walk - Find a hill, and walk quickly up then walk down 6-10 times

Multi-City Walk - Map out and walk a route that takes place in two cities

Night Owl Walk - Finish your walk after 10:00 PM

✔ Opposite Walk - Walk your favorite circular route in the opposite direction

✔ Park Walk - Go for a walk in a park

✔ Penny Pincher Walk - Find a penny (or other coin) on the ground while you’re walking (I find at least a penny on almost every walk I do!)

✔ Photogenic Walk - Stop and take 4 scenic photos during your walk

✔ Podcast Walk - Download a new podcast and listen to it while you walk

✔ Progression Walk - Walk 3+ miles with each mile faster than the previous

✔ Race - Enter a race (any distance) and walk it (official virtual races count)

✔ Rainy Walk - Go for a walk in the rain

✔ Rover Walk - Go for a walk with a dog (if you don’t have one, call a local animal shelter and ask if you can take one for a walk)

✔ Walk in the Dark - Go for walk when it’s dark outside (wear reflective gear and a headlamp for safety)

✔ Fast Walk/Stroll - Do 50/50 intervals of walking very fast and strolling

✔ Lunch Walk - Start your walk between 12 PM & 2 PM

✔ Runventure - Map a route that you’ve never done before, and walk it

Scavenger Hunt Walk - Create a list of 8 items you must search for on your walk; then take a photo of each to document your findings.

✔ Scenic Walk - Choose a pretty place to walk, and walk slowly enough to really pay attention to all the views

✔ Selfie Walk - Take a mid-walk selfie (carefully, so you don’t trip!)

✔ Silent Walk - Walk without headphones or a speaker of any kind

✔ Stone Age Walk - Walk without any sort of technology (not even a watch!)

✔ Sunrise Walk - Start your walk before sunrise, and end it after

✔ Sunset Walk - Start your walk before sunset, and end it after

✔ Tempo Walk - Walk slightly faster than your easy pace—it should feel uncomfortable, but not miserable

Track Walk - Walk on a local track (indoor or outdoor)

✔ Trail Walk - Walk on an unpaved nature trail

✔ Treadmill Walk - It doesn’t have to be boring! Hop on the treadmill and vary the speed and incline for an interesting indoor walk.

✔ Zoo Walk - See if you can spot five different types of animal species on your walk

✔ **Solstice Walk - Start your walk in spring, and end it in summer (June 20, at 5:43 PM ET, marks the beginning of summer)

✔ **Creative Ice Cream Flavors Walk - Walk for ice cream on Creative Ice Cream Day (Wednesday, July 1). Share a picture of your most creative ice cream concoction!

✔ **Independence Walk - Walk 4 miles on the 4th of July, wearing red, white, and blue.

✔ **Buck Full Moon Walk - Walk on the night of the Buck full moon, which takes place on July 5 at 12:44 AM (ET). If the moon is visible, it counts! (Despite the time)

✔ **Chocolate Walk - Go for a walk on World Chocolate Day (Tuesday, July 7) and enjoy something chocolatey later to celebrate

**Embrace Your Geekness Walk - Wear your nerdiest outfit for your walk on Embrace Your Geekness Day (July 13)

**Emoji Walk - Describe your entire walk with nothing but emojis for World Emoji Day (July 17)

**Friendship Walk - Go for a walk “with a friend” on International Day of Friendship. If we are still practicing social distancing, give a running friend a phone call after you each walk and discuss how it went. (July 30)

**Watermelon Walk - Eat some juicy watermelon to refresh after your walk on National Watermelon Day, Aug. 3

✔ **RUN FOR COOKIES! - Celebrate with a yummy chocolate chip cookie on National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, Aug. 4

✔ **Beer Walk - Go for a walk on International Beer Day (Friday, Aug. 7) and finish with a cold beer; Or for an alcohol-free option, walk for a root beer!

✔ **Corn Full Moon Walk - Walk on the night of the Corn Moon on Sept. 2 at 1:22 AM. (If the moon is visible, it counts—despite the time!)

✔ **Book Walk - Listen to an audiobook on National Book Day during your walk on Sept. 6 

**Labor Day Walk - Put some serious “work” into this walk to celebrate Labor Day on Sept. 7

✔ **Rock Walk - Look for a pretty or unique rock during your walk on Collect Rocks Day (Sept 16)

**Appreciate a Friend Walk - After your walk, write a “real” letter (on paper!) and mail it to a friend for National Women’s Friendship Day on Sept. 20

**Fall Equinox Walk - End your summer by running into fall at 9:30 AM (ET) on Sept. 22.

So, as of today, I've checked off 41 out of 55! The final walk (#56) will be on Tuesday. That walk will count as the final walk for the summer challenge AND the first walk of the fall challenge!

Even though I didn't do all of the walks on the summer list, I'm pretty impressed with myself for what I did do. 

And I'm very excited to get started on the (three!) fall challenges! You can check out the details on this post--for the mileage challenge, you must sign up before tomorrow at 11:59 PM ET. I hope you'll join in!