Running on Eddie: #RWRunStreak - Runner's World Magazine Running Streak Challenge Completed

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

#RWRunStreak - Runner's World Magazine Running Streak Challenge Completed

Normally, I am not a big follower of goofy workouts in magazines. Sure, I love a good speed work plan and have used many from two of my favorite magazines: Runner's World and Running Times, but unless there is something compelling to be gained from a workout, I tend to ignore them.

However, in a recent Runner's World magazine article they urged readers to try to run every day from Thanksgiving to New Years Day -- at least one mile (you can read about it here). My interest was piqued to say the least. I think the longest streak I've ever done has been about 7 days, maybe 10 at the most. I didn't have anything planned for this time of year and figured it might be interesting to try and see if I could do it.

While I do have one more run to do tomorrow, I have successful run every day. In fact, I've run - since Thanksgiving - a total of around 175 miles. My longest run was 14.5 miles, my shortest 1. I ran on the days I moved every one of my belongings from my apartment to a storage shed (and literally exhausted). I ran on snowy / cold days. I ran on bike trails, roads while dodging cars, in the smoggy Utah air, in slush, in the desert, and even on the accursed treadmill.

I am not sure I would do the streak again. Granted, I made a few twitter followers out of it. I found that while I enjoyed the challenge, it isn't something I would want to "do" every day and it would likely get in the way of normal race training. It also sort of screwed up my scheduled "downtime" that I was hoping to take this December. Normally I run 5 days a week (a normal week is about 35-45 miles), so it's not like I don't run enough. Also running 1 mile isn't worth the resulting shower that ensues.

Also, as the days wore on, I felt my hips and knees feel more and more sore. While my easy days were super easy, I was continually flirting with injury. The bottom line, the most important streak to me is staying injury free.

The experience is worth bragging about and I feel like I gained something out of it -- perhaps a little more mental strength than anything. The fact that I could run every day, without getting injured and still get in some quality runs was empowering to me. It also taught me to pay attention to my body and realize to take my easy days easy and hammer it on the days where I knew I had to make it count. It was fun posting my workouts on twitter and seeing other people and the locales they were running in as well, so the social aspect was a bonus.

I did capture a few pictures along the way and have shared them here: