I had never done a streak before because - 1) I was afraid of getting injured, and 2) I had no desire to run every single day. But for 31 days I figured I could do anything (it actually ended up being 32 days because on day 32 I had a speed workout to do from my training plan).
I'm not acting all cool like I'm the only one to ever have done a running streak. I realize many of you have done streaks and for much longer than 32 days. High five to you, you person who is better than me. I just wanted to tell my story. My blog. My story.
Stats:
Days run: 32
Miles run: 134
Average miles per day: 4.2
Longest run: 7.9
Shortest run: 2.0
Days ran outside: 30/32
Coldest run: 8 degrees
Weight lost: No idea, I don't weigh myself. Probably one ounce.
Times squatted in bushes: 3
The Good:
When you know you are going to do something every day, you don't play any mind games with yourself. Despite colder than a witch's tit weather, the chili fries you had last night or the fact that you stayed up late watching the entire 9th season of Shameless, you will run. You will run because you said you would. Gotta say, there were several days that I would not have run if I wasn't on this "streak." So, yep, it was a good January motivator.
My calves got bigger. I know this because when I wear my skinny jeans my calves look like sausages busting out of their casing (I actually had to look up the plural of calf. I know baby cows are calves, but I didn't know if the plural for the muscly part of the back of your shin was calves or calfs. BTW, it's CALVES). I also got a vein on the front of my tibia. Not sure why, but I like that. Reminds me of this guy.
Dean "vein" Karnazes
I really feel like running for 32 days straight gave me greater endurance and increased my speed. I feel like I have a really good base going into this training cycle. My body feels great with no niggles pointing to injury.
The Bad:
Laundry. I tried to wear things more than once but found that I smell too bad to carry that off. I don't do the laundry in our house so here is my public apology: "Ken, I am sorry for the 32 items of running clothing you had to wash each week. I am sorry they smelled like ass and other things. I love you."
Like you, I've got certain running routes from my home. Sometimes I drive to run trails, but not usually during the week. I am so f'ing tired of every single one of my routes. I ran them backwards, I ran them faster/slower, I ran them with/without music, I ran them naked, I ran them jumping rope and doing cartwheels. I still got sick of them.
It got lonely. Ken and I run together 2-3 times per week and I love that. But I don't have any other running partners. I love to do some runs solo, but it gets lonely when you run almost every day alone. The truth is, I work from home so I don't have colleagues to interact with. I have friends, but not all of them run and most of them don't have the same schedule I have. Sometimes I get to feeling isolated. I'm an extrovert, so being around people gives me energy.
So, now what? Well, I'm deep into my new training plan for my 50k in June. I love this plan in that while you work out almost every day (there are some rest days and recovery weeks too), the plan incorporates cardio (like swimming/biking), strength training and speed work. And, guess what? I ran my longest distance in a few month yesterday. 10 miles.
My eyeballs are literally frozen. I was out there 1.5 hours
Truth: I didn't want to do it and it was 15 degrees. I had very low expectations for this run and it turned out fabulous because I found a friend.
This is my new friend. His name is Al Pacah. Get it?
Do you have a running buddy/group?
What are you training for?
SUAR
PS: I have a great giveaway/review coming up soon, so check back. Just the thing to spice up your January/February blahs.
