This week, as I was trying to distract myself during a run I wasn't into, I started thinking about when I first started this streak and realized it had been 6 months.  There aren't many habits, hobbies, etc. that I have stuck to for 6 months straight in my life except the obvious like eating, brushing my teeth, etc. I think the closest thing would be horseback riding, but I took the summer off, and I am not sure it was really a full 6 months.  And, I certainly didn't do it 7 days a week ever let alone for weeks and months on end.

Some of the inquiries I am in...
When Will I Stop?
I don't know...I liked the idea of doing 100 days, but on Day 99, there were a bunch of people starting streaks (Labor Day to whenever), so I decided to stay on until Columbus Day just to get them going. 

But, on Columbus Day I decided I would go up until about the time of my race (November 17th), but I had no commitment. 

My eye was on the prize: hitting my best half marathon time on 11/17 (which I did).  I decided 11/17 would be a PERFECT day to stop.  It was a nice round number of days, 175,  and it was the day of my race. My raceplan was to run-walk, but I checked out the elevation map and decided if I DID run a mile, I would do from 5-6. Well, I got to 5, and I felt amazing.  The race was going so well, I couldn't see skipping the run.  It really helped that I ran into Alison D, Coach Jim P and Pamela H. all during that mile.  I was, I will admit, thrilled to walk when we hit the mile 6 marker.  

The day after the race, the question was: stop or keep going.  The biggest argument I could come up with for stopping was that 175 was a round number, and if I didn't stop then, when would I ever stop?  So, I said this, "If I am the least bit sore on Monday, after the race, which I better be given how hard I plan to push, I won't run. I will be done and happy."  

Well, I truly gave my race everything I had and covered an additional 5-7 miles that day on foot, but I awakened Monday feeling great...I debated long enough about stopping that the REAL runstreak, the Runner'sWorld holiday run streak was starting. I decided to do that.  I will go to New Year's Eve and take it from there. 

Is it fun? 
Well, this sounds so shallow, but the thing that makes it fun is all of you.  The attention I get from neighbors, strangers and all of the people in my life makes it fun.  The actual runs, I imagine, are like any runner's runs...there are some that are amazing and some that drag and kind of suck.  I am always glad I did it, but during it, and definitely before doing it, I am not always feeling it.  

Is it safe?
Um, I am always torn in how to answer this.  I think it is safe because of the way in which I approach it.  I didn't even look at my times right after the half. I take it slow the day after a long run, when I should be recovering, I push other days, I make it an interval workout others.  I am very tapped into my body and its aches and pains and when something isn't feeling 100%, I reel it way in.  This weekend, I was running with someone who said she didn't know how to pull back.  She is E3 or E4 on every run interval.  This is not my issue. I am often E2.  I am not doing this to get hurt. 

Oh, wait! By safe, you meant that I run late at night?  I hope so. I run on a street that seems to have a good flow of traffic and people, so I never feel alone and scared.  I feel safe.  If I didn't, I wouldn't run.  My safety and well being isn't worth a streak.

Do I think it helps?
I am not sure how people mean this, but I think the biggest way it helps me, is that I have felt like a wannabe runner for years, and I now feel like a runner that chooses to run-walk a lot (Maybe I will do an entry on that sometime). It helps alleviate my tension and emotions, and it helps me stay focused. I also think I sleep better.

With fitness?
There is no doubt it helps with fitness. I worked hard for this last half marathon, but I probably did less miles overall than I have in the past, and I felt by far the best.  I felt good race day, and I recovered faster than  ever have before.

With Speed? 
For sure.  I am now averaging about a min faster per daily mile than I was 6 months ago.  I have PRed in my 5K, 5 mile and half marathon times by over a minute a mile. 


Why don't I count walk-run? Why don't I count walk?
I can answer both of these at the same time.  When I first hurt my foot, I was doing a ton of run - walk. Then, when I got hurt, and I gained a lot of weight, even walking was draining.   

As I started to get back in shape, I was mostly walking and mostly walking slowly until one April day when I was alone during a GTS.  There was no one else around, and I ran about 10 minutes and felt good. I stopped because I didn't want to push it and get injured.  Later that week, I ran a mile on a treadmill. It was a big deal to me. I felt like I had reclaimed my health.  

When the streak started, I knew, even though it wasn't easy for me, I COULD do a mile and doing one running every day would be a big deal.  Walking wouldn't be a big deal for me. Walk-Run also wouldn't be a big deal.  Running would.  So, FOR ME, the challenge was about doing the run.   I don't care what other people do.  That is their thing, and if they are empowered, awesome!!  Don't get me wrong.  I think there were 2 days of walk-run I did count (and I am pretty justified about them, lol), but this is really about running.

I am 6 months in and have, maybe, only 1 to go. 

Let me know if you are streaking, if you want to join a streak or if you have more questions.  I like comments and questions. 

DAY 150!!!

Wednesday was a big day for me and for my streak. I reached the 150th day of my running streak.

On May 27th, I started what was supposed to be a 39 day running streak.  Here is the definition according to Runner’s World: From Memorial Day to Independence Day run at least one mile, every day. I haven’t stopped since.

It isn’t complicated, it isn’t tricky. There are no catches. People want there to be more to it, but there really isn’t.

A quick recap on my time before this streak – I was a walker turned walk-runner for a long time (started in January of 2007).  During that time I hurt my foot (Metarsalgia – swelling of the ball of the foot) and no one could figure out the cause for 18 months (tight calves, essentially, are at the root of it), I developed (or discovered that I had) hypothyroidism, and I gained somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 pounds. Winter 2012/2013, I was just coming back, was starting Weight Watchers, was super slow and was easily winded (although I could still cover distance, I wasn’t gaining momentum).  I had done a half and planned on more.  Sometime in the spring, I ran a mile on the treadmill.  It was slow, it was hard, but I did it.  I didn’t care how slow it was, it was the boost of confidence I needed to get me really going again.  Mind you, I do not ever want to be a full runner. I LOVE run-walk for so many reasons, but I decided I wanted to resurrect a bucket list goal of running a 5K.

So, when I saw the streak in Runner's World, I had the thought, “I will TRY that.”  I was in the mindset of that saying (I think Les Brown gets credit for it): Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you will land among the stars. I wasn’t feeling defeated, I just wasn’t sure I could actually run a mile every day for 39 days and not injure myself. And no streak is worth injuring yourself over in my opinion. 

I hadn’t told anyone my thoughts or plans. I was keeping it on the Down Low. I didn’t want pressure or publicity (lol, funny how things change, right?). Then, I saw a running acquaintance post a badge on FB that he was doing it. It reminded me that I had planned to do it.  After that, I sort of forgot about the whole thing. Then, I was in the Berkshires for Memorial Day, and I kept thinking there was something I was supposed to do, but I couldn’t recall what when I heard my pal Lisa talking about starting the run streak.  Suddenly, I remembered what I was supposed to do.  Well, I spent as much time mapping out my route as I did running that night. I learned another friend, Rachel was doing it too.  I, suddenly, was accountable. I would run late at night, and it would post to my Facebook page, a feature I couldn’t figure out how to turn off (even though I wanted it off). I didn’t post one night, and I got a couple texts asking if all was well. People were watching. There were debates about whether I could run 2 miles – 1 before midnight and 1 after and count it as 2 days of running.  I would do a long run-walk with someone and then mention running later and they would comment that I had just done it, etc.  It was part of my identity. People at work were talking about it.  People at TNT. Friends. Family. I was "out."

It wasn’t hard, for the most part, to complete the mile (well, if you read the previous posts you will see that wasn't always true, but after a couple of weeks it was).  I almost never wanted to start, but it was not too hard once I started.  There were so many times I was glad that I don’t drink because I would go out with friends, have a great time and come home and run. I am not sure I would be able to do that if I had had a beer or two or three or, well, you get the idea. There were some challenges, and there was even a missed day ( I excused the missed day because I HAD done the run where I ran a mile before midnight and 1 after, but later that second day, I felt guilty, like I needed to do one between sleeps, so I did another mile later on).  When I missed a day later on due to a flight being severely delayed, I felt like I had a little credit from that midnight split experiment.

There were some rough days. The entire July 4th holiday week, I was sick and felt lousy and was away. All I wanted to do was skip it, but I didn’t. The night I fell (which was 1 of 3 times I counted a run walk night) was one of my toughest days. I tripped and smashed up my knee pretty badly early on in one of my runs, but I walked it off and was able to run the last half mile.

There are all kinds of things I could write about, and maybe I will at some point, things like: how it has impacted my weight, my speed, my overall fitness or would I recommend that people do this or why did I keep going, but the number one accomplishment from my perspective is that I have motivated others.

On July 4th, I asked people to join until Labor day.  That was 61 days (making it 99 for those of us who started on Memorial day since you can only count labor day as one day). Several people joined. Rachel kept doing, and so did I.  Then on Labor day, we created 2 new options: To Columbus Day or to Thanksgiving.  People opted in for both. 

There are people who are streaking who were walkers when I met them and are running every single day now.  There are people who are walking or run-walking their miles.  There are people who have already started and finished a streak.  There are people who started a streak and got de-railed (I hope they will try again).  There are people who decided that that much running didn’t work for them and made up their own fitness challenge.  We have loosened the rules and really the only rule is that you declare what you are going to do at the start of the streak and stick with it. There is, even, someone who is doing 40 days for his 40th birthday. He may or may not have been impacted by me, but I have heard more talk about streaks in the past month than I have in the past 6 years of training.

I think that the number one thing I have gotten out of all of this is that sharing something that you are doing can help motivate others. 

There is so much more to say, but the most important thing is: Thank YOU!  
Thank you for telling me that the daily posts are doing more good than causing annoyance (I am not sure it is true and daily debate about whether to post or not). 
Thanks you for streaking. 
Thank you for celebrating my accomplishments with me. 
Thank you for asking what day I am on. 
Thank you for reading this even if it is the first you have heard of my streak.  
And, thank you for being in my life.  

I haven't decided if I will keep going.  I don't have an end in mind. Right now it is a day by day thing as I focus on my half marathon that is coming up soon, fundaising for that and fundraising for a suicide prevention walk.  

Thoughts on Streaking as I enter the last few weeks

Some of my thoughts on streaking, based mostly on the questions people ask me.  

We are now 33 days into a 61 day streak (or for some of us who did Memorial Day to July 4th, 71 days into a 99 day streak). 

Is streaking healthy? Shouldn't we take rest days?

I don't know if it is either healthy or unhealthy inherently, and I think it could be a bad idea depending on how you approach it. 

As a coach, I fully believe in rest days, but I do not think a rest day need equate sitting on the couch comatose. If you take your mile on your rest day super slow and easy and just focus on form and staying relaxed, I think you will be okay. The problem is, when you are "just" doing a mile, it is very hard to really fully hold back. I have no problem pulling back a little, especially for the first half mile, but as I turn around and head home, I always seem to pick it up. So, I do not think I am doing this the smartest possible way, but aside from a little IT Band tenderness, knock on wood, all is well. 

How is it going? Have you made progress? What are the results?

Hmmm, how do I answer that...it is STILL going, and that probably says it all. Just like anything you do repeatedly, there are good and bad days, but it is truly a habit now. I have also gotten much stronger. When I first started, I think it was Day 3, I had sworn I wouldn't run with anyone, but there I was at practice. The team had taken off & wouldn't be back for 40 minutes. Lisa convinced me to do my mile with her. We used the quarter mile markers in Prospect Park. Lisa was injured so was okay going my sloooooow pace. This is my only untimed mile of the streak. Off we went for a relatively flat mile. As we got about 1/3 of the way between the .75 mile spot and the mile marker, I thought to myself, "Lisa needs to keep talking & not ask me anything because I can't respond. I can barely move. I may pass out." Out loud, I tried to joke, "I think they moved the mile marker, I am dying." Lisa, in her supportive and compassionate voice replied, "Aw honey, you went out too fast." I couldn't imagine she could say that with a serious expression, we had been at a snail's pace the whole way.  I was glad I did my mile that night, but when the team got back from their 40 minutes, I looked like I had run just as far. I wished I hadn't told anyone I was streaking & could just call it quits. 

Fast forward to a Saturday, about a month later...I was at practice, as a participant, not a coach, and we were doing the 5 mile loop. I knew I wanted to get my streak-mile in there, but I left it until the last mile. Well, grrr, the last mile started on the North Hill!!!! I hadn't run many hills at this point, but I imagined what I would tell someone else, "Slow it down! Use good form! Remember your arms and try to keep your effort steady! Forget your pace!" I made it up the hill, but as I crested the hill, I almost walked. The only time I usually run the hill like that is during hill training when my favorite moment is the recovery. Well, I realized I would need to recover while running to keep my streak going. The next quarter mile was covered, and now I was heading to the end and to the team!!!! I did it! And, I bet it was faster than that flat mile Lisa and I did even though it was uphill and it was after 4 other good effort miles!!!

There are so many other milestones...running a 5k, running on tired legs, being able to really keep up with others on the team, doing one of my fastest miles ever as the last mile of an 8 mile workout, etc. 

I have been doing Weight Watchers throughout this whole thing too, and I have continued to lose weight. I think I have lost about 10 pounds since I started streaking. I had already been on WW for about 3 months and had lost about 25 pounds when I started this. 

Would I recommend streaking?
It depends why someone is considering it. For me, it has accomplished what I wanted, and I am thrilled I decided to do it.  I can't even remember when or where I saw the blurb about it and started investigating it, but here I am.

What's the biggest change?

When I started I spent the whole run thinking about if I could do it, and when it would be over. I now think about things non-running related or things like, "hmmm, how long can I run based on the other training I am doing this week? How is my form? Can I pick it up at all? Etc."

And, dare I say, I like it. I have even had to talk myself out of going running a second time in 1 day.

Do I have more goals?

Yes, I want to start to do at least 1 morning mile a week. I want to break the 12 minute mile barrier at least once. And I want to consistently be able to run under 13 minute miles. If I put in almost any effort now, I am under 14 consistently. And, my biggest goal of all...I want to do under a 3:15 half marathon. 

If you have other questions or comments, please share them in the comments section.  

Thanks for reading. 

Welcome to Streaking in the BK and Beyond!

No, this isn't about running naked, although that might make a more interesting blog. This is about running. 

As many of you know, there are running streaks around the world.  I recently heard about a woman who was 4.5 years into her streak.  The man with the longest streak, which started when I turned 1 day old, will end his streak after 45 years this summer. 

I am currently 35 days into my streak, the Runner's World Summer Streak. I admit I had a little blip in the plan the day my flight was delayed, and I missed getting home in time to run.  But, I am okay with it since I had done 2 runs on another day earlier.  

So, people ask me a lot of questions about this.  The basic rules are that:

1. You RUN a mile every day. For a walker/walk-runner like me this is a big deal.  I hadn't run more than a mile in years and had only just recently run any miles, and they were on the treadmill. 

Um, yeah that's about it.

Is it healthy to run every day?  My coaches answer: No, but if you are in pretty decent shape, you can do 1 every day if you take it super easy on your rest and cross-training days.  The Runner's World answer:
Running hard and long every single day will certainly lead to burnout. However, you only need to run one mile every day to keep this streak alive, and that mile can be as slow and easy as you want it to be. Per this Ed Eyestone article from 2009: "So is a little running on a rest day okay for mere mortals? It can be. As long as you keep the volume and intensity very light, you can still get the recovery benefits."

Here is a link to Runner's World other Streak FAQs.

I am starting a NEW streak: The Summer Heat Streak
July 4th - Labor Day.  That is a long time.  Much longer than this last one and takes you through the heat of the summer.  It will be 61 days.  If you are interested, post it in the comments, inbox me, etc.  I will start a FB group so we can support each other.  Because I am all about encouraging people and this is MY streak not RW or any other formal thing...I am open to Run, Walk, or Run-Walk Streaks, but declare it upfront. If you commit to Run - Run it is!!