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41 and counting

I've run a minimum of 30 minutes every day since December 13. That's 41 days so far.

I'm doing this as part of the Slowtwitch 100/100 Challenge. The challenge is to run 100 times in 100 days. The point is not necessarily to run 100 days in a row; you can skip days and do multiple runs on other days, but I set out to run on 31 consecutive days and then see how I felt. The 100/100 challenge itself is not so much the why as the what. So why am I running every day?

The main reason was to keep myself motivated during the holidays. Sure, I could have set a goal of running four or five times per week or doing some sort of workout six days out of seven. But honestly, that's not much fun to commit to. There's nothing like a simple, absolute goal: Run. Every. Day.

In theory, running every day, even doing mostly short runs, will prove that consistency is the most important aspect to training. My easy run pace is faster now than it was mid-December, and I can't credit that to weight loss or speedwork, because I haven't done much of either. It's just the running.

I have run almost exactly 200 miles in those 41 days. On two of those days I ran twice. My longest run was 14 miles in 2:15 and I've done several runs that were exactly 30 minutes, which is the minimum to qualify for the challenge.

My knees, hips, and back are holding up well, too -- no need to lecture me about how I'm begging for an injury. I am a pretty smart runner... most of the time. I did get a cold last week and I promised myself I'd run 30 minutes easy as long as the virus stayed out of my lungs. It did, and the running was harder than usual, but it felt good to keep the blood flowing. And running is like a natural decongestant, I swear.

When I got to 31 days, I knew I could stop but I didn't really want to. I got to 40, which is a nice round number with an Old Testament seriousness to it, and still didn't want to end my streak. I could stop at 44 in honor of our new President. Or 50 would be cool. Except that I'm running a half-marathon on what will be day 51. I suspect I won't feel much like running on day 52. We'll see.

January 22, 2009 11:33 PM