Run Streaking

I’m the type of person that really needs a goal especially when it comes to exercise.  For various reasons: injury, time and laziness, I had slacked off on my running. I knew I needed to get back at it. I watched with a bit of jealousy as Lee and Andrew trained for the Rock and Roll Marathon events back in November.  I can also be a bit competitive so I was more than a little jealous of both Keith’s beer streak and Andrew’s running streak so I began plotting to start a streak of my own.

At first I thought I’d go with a 5K a Day run. A mile a day was the standard marker set by Andrew but I wanted to one up him just a little. After some thought I just didn’t think that would work. My work schedule doesn’t give me that much time two days a week. I was also out of shape and knew I had quite a build up before I could even get to a 5K so I dropped that idea.  I wanted to do a beer streak in line with Keith’s current one and inspired by our friend Tim the Beer Runner’s run and beer streak, but work again got in the way. In the end I settled on just a run streak thinking maybe I could tack on a beer streak while I was on summer break from teaching.

The day of the Rock and Roll Marathon I finally decided to get off my butt and go for a “sympathy” run. I logged a very slow mile but I was up and getting started. Like I said I wanted a goal so focused on ten days to start. I figured if I made it to ten days I would have the momentum to keep going. This weekend I made run number 100, so I guess my plan worked.

In the end the one mile rule was a good one for the way the streak developed. It allowed me to take it easy and slowly build up some endurance. It also opened up the opportunity to experiment some with my training. I used those short runs to work on my heart rate, pace and breathing.

I was worried I would have some hard days that would really tax my streak and I did have a few. Some unusually cold weather for Savannah was the biggest issue. I do not like running in, what is for me, extreme cold. I also don’t like running in the rain but I’ve had to do that a few times as well. In fact this is one of the more interesting things about the streak is that I can suck it up and go for a run, even when I don’t want to. Injury wise I’ve had some sore shins that were problematic but nothing I couldn’t handle. Keeping the streak going has not been that bad. The worst times have been due to location. For example I went on a camping trip and had to fit my mile in by running back and forth on a 1/8^th mile dirt road in the rain. I visited my parents  for the holidays and realized that the return drive was going to make my run difficult so I laced up my shoes and ran in blue jeans while my kids were saying their goodbyes. Despite those few days though and some odd routes I’ve had to take it’s all been a good experience.

I’d love to hear about any run streaks you guys have going on and issues I might need to know about.