It was the middle of May and I stumbled across a post on Runner’s World website talking about the upcoming 37 Days of Awesome run streak. Now, I know what a streak is (not streaking, naughty one) but was intrigued by the nature of the challenge. The idea was to run at least a mile every day from May 29 – July 4th. Since this was a running challenge, it was only considered “eligible” if you ran. Surely I can do this.
So I mentally committed to participating.
Now, it’s no secret that I’m not the most consistent of runners. While I’ve come to sort of enjoy it (mostly) I’m still able to easily talk myself out of going, so I figured this might be a good way to really ingrain a running habit into my world and challenge myself a bit. Running every day would surely be a good way to keep building my rather tenuous base.
In preparation, as I’m wont to do, I created a nice little chart where I could mark my days off. I put together a few new playlists to listen to and eagerly awaited May 29th.
The day rolled around and I dutifully slipped on my Hokas and set out. Turns out the loop around my neighborhood is pretty close to a mile. With a few small additions, I was able to create a 1.1 or 1.3 mile loop that conveniently started and stopped at my front door. Cool. No brainer on the mile.
I plodded along and managed to clock in one of my fastest miles to date. So, that was cool!
The next few days went much the same way. My miles even got a touch faster, I was setting a mile PR! How awesome is that! I discovered that mentally, it wasn’t as tough coaxing my lazy self out the door when I was able to promise myself “it’s just one mile.”
Latter part of that first week, I went a few times early in the morning, a few times during a lunch break, and a few in the evening. With this, I found I definitely do best in the morning. Midday runs were second on my preference list, evening runs last. I also found that if I went out counter clockwise on the loop, the initial hill sucked, but most of the rest of the mile was easier. Switch to clockwise and it was mostly an uphill mile. Three guesses which one I preferred.
The first weekend rolled around and I went on a lovely hike with a friend of mine on Saturday, then a bike ride on Sunday. I had not been on my bike in years and had signed up for a fun night ride that was fast approaching. After the hike and the bike ride each day, I dutifully went back out and did my mile.
Midway through the second week, I was feeling pretty good about my progress so far. My miles were consistently staying in my faster range, even when I thought I was slowing down a little bit. I was starting to notice that my legs were feeling a little tired longer than usual. But hey, this was all part of it, right?
The second weekend arrived and my friend and I decided to tackle one of the 5 mile loops near my house. It’s a somewhat challenging 1.5 miles or so up, then a nice descent for the remainder. It was gorgeous, though I definitely felt a little tired in my legs. I knew I had to get my mile in at some point, so I told him I was going to go ahead and run some of the downhill in order to get my mile in. (It was a fun mile, which was the impetus of one of my fave runs to date)
I was really glad I did, especially since it was one of the easiest miles I’d done in days.
The next day, we went out for another bike ride then I immediately did my mile.
It was starting to feel like a chore and I was definitely feeling tired.
I had now reached the third week of this run streak and I had mixed emotions about it. On one hand, I was proud that I had run so many days in a row, on the other, I was tired. Not “oh I want a nap” tired, but a tired in my legs that wasn’t going away. Rather than my usual pace going upstairs, I was getting slower. As I sat at my desk I could feel my legs. They didn’t hurt, but I was very aware they weren’t overly pleased with the situation.
Another thing I noticed that became very pronounced the middle of that week was hunger. I’d eat my usual breakfast and an hour and a half later, my stomach would begin a loud, pitiful concerto demanding more. I’d have a little snack and a few hours later, it would begin again. I’d eat something and then hungry again. It became ridiculous. I could not seem to feel full.
Wednesday evening, I went out with some friends and we shared small plates from a number of local vendors which included a meat pie, red beans and rice, a fruit and cheese place, and a small fruit pie. And wine (of course)
While the band played and my friends sat there listening to music, commenting on how full they were, all I kept thinking was the hot dogs smelled really good and I wanted one.
Yup, still hungry.
As I was digging around in my bag searching for lip balm, I discovered a granola bar in one of the pockets. I have no idea how long it had been there, but it was food! I tore into the wrapper and started happily eating. One of my friends looked over and started laughing as I gave her a guilty look with a mouthful of the sweet chewy goodness stuffed in my cheeks.
Still could have easily eaten the hot dog.
The next morning I woke up and my legs felt like lead. The thought of slogging through a mile was just depressing. Even slowing down my pace the previous few days, there seemed to be no recovery for them. They were just tired.
As I sat at breakfast I talked with my roommate. I had my bike ride in a few days, along with a 5k just prior to it (both in the evening) and I was not sure how in the heck I was going to manage it feeling as I did at that moment.
I hopped online and posted to a few message boards filled with much more seasoned runners and asked for advice.
Would foam rolling or soaking in a tub help? Some sort of additional vitamins or supplements?
The responses were fairly consistent: rest was what I needed.
You see, while runners who were regularly clocking in more miles a month on a consistent basis might not have an issue logging one measly mile every day, someone who averages 2-3 runs a week, usually 2 miles or so (longer ones of 3-4 on the weekends) may not have the proper base to then up their mileage like that. Add in my additional hiking, biking, and dog walking, and it seems I was asking a little much of my body without letting it rest and recover.
I chatted with my friend (he used to run cross country) and decided to break the streak and rest up for the weekend. The bike ride was something I’d really wanted to do for a long time and while it was a fun ride and not very long, I was also not the distance rider I used to be – and I had no idea what the route was going to be like.
So I rested.
Not going to lie, waking up on Friday morning knowing I was not going to have to run that day was mentally awesome. I’d already had one day of not running the day before so day two felt rather luxurious. I was still wanting to eat most everything in sight, but the periods in between tummy growling were getting longer.
Saturday rolled around and I prepped my bike, loading it up with pink lights and colorful streamers. I finally received info on the 5k that was scheduled for that night and after a few too many odd communications about when you could pick up packets, conflicting start times, lack of location information, I decided to forego my 5k and focus on the ride. (SO glad I did!!)
My body was now rested and my legs were incredibly happy. The bike ride was insanely fun and I felt better than I had in days.
My streak was broken and I didn’t regret it.
I learned a number of things:
- It’s mentally much easier for me to get out the door when you only have a short distance to run. A few times, I added on some distance because I was having a fun time. The key was getting out the door.
- Rest days are important. VERY important. Muscles need time to recover, especially when you’re asking more of them than you usually do. Not resting puts you at risk of overtraining and the injuries that can result from it.
- Your body will give you clues. My legs let me know when they are happy, they let me know when they are tired. My body tells me when it needs extra nutrition, and when it needs to chill out. Always take a few moments to do a self assessment and see how you’re truly feeling.
- If you are going to challenge yourself in one sport, don’t add in others at the same time. Cross training is great, but if you up your running, your biking, and your hiking all at once, it might not be the best path to take.
- Training consistently will make you stronger. My lackadaisical approach to running isn’t helping me get any better. Sure, I’m not losing ground on how far I have come in my training, but I’m also not progressing.
I think the idea behind the streak is a good one, but I feel that it might be best to modify it for those not as seasoned as long-time runners. Challenge is good, but be smart about it. I will try another streak at some point, but it will be altered a bit to take my fitness level into account.
I also won’t be adding in other activities while doing it – except perhaps some stretching and arm days.
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