I survived the 100 day running streak … barely. Today I fell HARD. At 6km into an 8km run, I slid across the sidewalk like a baseball player diving for home base. Luckily it was 6:15 am and no one in sight. I hobbled over to a stoop, assessed the damage (cut knee and some minor road burn on my palms, shoulder and hip) but I was okay and lightly jogged the 2km home. Not a great way to end a streak but as they say: No pain. No gain.

Way back in November, Runner’s World kicked off a social media campaign encouraging people to try a running streak from Thanksgiving (American) to New Years day – Run at least one mile everyday. #RWRUNSTREAK:

The run streak is designed to keep you running through the holiday season, and to bridge the gap between fall races and training for the spring. It can be difficult this time of the year to keep your running on track—but it’s much easier if you have a goal and a plan. The goal is simple: Run at least one mile per day, every day, starting on Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 26) and ending on New Year’s Day (Friday, January 1). That’s 37 consecutive days of running.Myself and a few friends accepted the challenge and off we went. Actually, we started a few days early to round-up the streak to 40 days instead of 37 because 37 is such an odd number to aim for and we’re not American so it made sense. We did it and then Tim and I just kept going. Here’s what I’ve learnt from my 100 day running streak:

• It’s a lot easier than you think. 1 mile (or 2 km … which I did because again, 1.67 km seems like an odd goal for us metric-o-holics) can be done even when your day is busy, the weather is terrible, you are feeling like crap or all of the above – it takes less than 15 minutes to complete.
• There were days I only ran 2 km… I got sick, I was travelling, I needed a rest day… and there were days I dragged Henry along (old dog doesn’t run fast) so my pace was crazy slow but I still did it.
• It’s a good opportunity to work on hill training or speed-work because it’s only 2 km.
• It’s addictive.
• It bumps up your monthly milage in an unexpected way (I have run 549.99 km in 100 days = ~5.5km/day)
• Sometimes the stress of getting out for a run in harder than the run. Ex: Text from Tim day 96: “My flight was scheduled to get in last night at 9:15, so I thought I would have time to run when I got home. Ended up getting in at 11:00 pm so I had to run a mile, in my jeans, in the rain, in the wind, under surveillance by the airport security, on the top level of the airport parking lot. And strangely, it was one of my most fulfilling runs”
• It’s a good excuse to catch up on some podcasts.
• I am a morning person and get up early to take Henry out regardless so it’s not too hard to add at least 2km to the morning routine if it was not a scheduled run day.
• For fitbit fans, it will help give you your steps.
• It helped keep me active during my ‘off season’. (ha, that makes me sound like I’m legit). I had a half marathon in January but other than that, I’ve been pretty chill (lazy) with training.
• It’s not far. Really.

Why doesn’t everyone run a mile a day?

… Although I strongly recommend streaking, I am thinking about ending this streak. Here’s why:

• I’m an addict. Like I said, it becomes addictive (especially when you have a co-conspirator). If I don’t stop now, I may never.
• I can be obsessive and competitive about stuff like this (this may not be a shock to some) I wore a hand-me-down fitbit for a week and it did not go well… It was during the peak of marathon training and I constantly tried to out step my ‘friends’ and even got 50,000 steps in one day. I was way too aggressive for a friendly challenge.
• I’m tired. Maybe it’s winter, maybe it’s the daily 5:30 am wake-ups but it’s starting to get to me.
• I want to train for another marathon and/or work harder on speed-work and have read and learnt that rest days are as important as training days.
• I’m thinking I could try a new 100 day streak… like #plankstreak?

What do you think? Would you try a run streak? Have you? How many days count as a streak?

Should I keep going?

I will let you know what I decide. Below, Florida – when Tim and I took the Monkey Taxi with the families instead of running to the restaurant.psst. If you like what you’re reading, please subscribe and share. xomeg