I did it.
I ran every day from Thanksgiving until New Year's.
Thirty-six straight days of pounding the pavement and sweating it out.
I'll admit, I committed on a whim. I had been feeling rather burnt out from
an insane racing season and had completed my final half marathon of the year in early October. After that I got my exercise in other ways: Zumba and the Les Mills Body Combat workout series. I didn't want to lose my running momentum, but I also didn't want to stop completely. My unfortunate tendency is to only run with purpose - in other words, I always need something to train for.
Enter the Run Streak. It seemed simple enough, and it fit my needs. If all else fails, I told myself, I just have to do one mile. Oh, and I'll get a friend to do it with me!
So, on Thanksgiving Day my good friend Sandra and I braved the brisk November air and set out to run one mile before our evening Zumba class. Feeling triumphant and beastly, we snapped a selfie to document our efforts.
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| Day 1. We got this! |
A few days later I returned to Spain and began working through the implications of running every day by myself. Sandra and I sent screenshots and workout selfies to each other to stay accountable, and as the days ticked by I began to long for January first.
Most of my runs were uneventful. Most of the time, I just ran a mile to say I did it. I ran until my GPS chirped "one mile" and stopped. My heart just wasn't in it, nor were my legs. A majority of my runs took place under the cover of darkness due to the short winter days - either early before school, or late in the evenings after dinner. On the weekends, though, I took advantage of the chance to run in the glorious daylight and soaked up as much vitamin D as I could!
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| Day 11 - my first sunny run in days |
One morning I decided to run down a street that was in the midst of being repaved. This obviously resulted in me tripping over a huge piece of uneven concrete and ripping a huge hole in my brand new "smart phone" gloves and blowing out the knees on my best Nike tights. Of course this epic face plant also had to happen right in front of a super attractive Spaniard with a puppy in tow, and said super attractive Spaniard tried to help me up while I frantically barked at him in German! Not sure what else to do, I simply said, "¡Hasta luego!" and ran away.
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| Day 16, or the day I almost busted my (knee)caps |
I returned to Germany for Christmas break and had some of my best, most memorable runs in the
final days of the streak. On Christmas Eve, I have a tradition of staying up late to listen to a special radio broadcast that begins at 3:00 am. So, following the Christmas Eve service at church and dinner with some friends I laced up and went for a run just after midnight. The decorations were glowing, the bells were ringing in Christmas Day, and I had the streets all to myself.
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| Christmas Eve run |
A few days after Christmas, it snowed. I thought that maybe I was going to get by without a snowy run this season, but the snow fell for two days before letting up. The temperatures dropped and sidewalks became too slick to run safely, but I slipped and slid through one mile each day - again, just to say I did it!
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| The coldest run I've ever done. I wore three layers that day. |
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| The only thing worse than ice is slush! |
As January first neared, I toyed with how to end the Streak. I finally settled on a midnight run, like I'd done on Christmas Eve. Here in my little German village it's tradition to set off fireworks at midnight to ring in the new year. Yes, I decided that the best time to run would be at midnight, surrounded by intoxicated pyromaniacs shooting off loads of fireworks. I have never been more terrified in my entire life, but at the same time it was the most magical of moments. As I made my way around town I couldn't help but grin from ear to ear as a magnificent display was going on overhead. I finished my mile in the center of town, where my friends were waiting to congratulate me for finishing the Streak. After about twenty more minutes of watching the amateur pyrotechnics I made my way home, Skyped my family from the "future" and cracked open a tiny bottle of champagne to celebrate. It was finished!
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| I went out with a bang. |
Final Numbers:
- 36 days of running
- 45 miles completed
- 8 hours and 20 minutes spent running
- 9:55 fastest average pace reached
Final Reflections (pros and cons):
+ I didn't gain weight over Christmas
+ I had something to work towards during a time when the tendency is laziness
+ If nothing else, it kept me from spending the day in my pajamas!
- I was perpetually sore despite stretching, and my knees started to ache for the first time in years
- It made running feel like an obligation rather than a privilege
- I had to do a lot of laundry to accommodate daily workouts!
Many people say that after the streak they are so motivated that they just keep going, but honestly? I'm relieved that it's over. The bottom line is that while I am glad that I did it, I would not advocate running every day on a long term basis. Given my weight, my joints simply can't handle high impact workouts every day. I've worked hard over the last two years to become a distance runner while avoiding knee problems, but running every day brings the risk of increased knee pain and injury and I'm just not willing to take that risk.
Did you run the streak? What was if like for you?
