Monday, February 5, 2018

I Did a 32 Day Run Streak and Here's What Happened

At the end of December I decided I wanted to do a run streak for the month of January. No real reason why except that life was kind of stale and boring and I wanted to do something different.

I had never done a streak before because - 1) I was afraid of getting injured, and 2) I had no desire to run every single day. But for 31 days I figured I could do anything (it actually ended up being 32 days because on day 32 I had a speed workout to do from my training plan).



I'm not acting all cool like I'm the only one to ever have done a running streak. I realize many of you have done streaks and for much longer than 32 days. High five to you, you person who is better than me. I just wanted to tell my story. My blog. My story.

Stats:

Days run: 32
Miles run: 134
Average miles per day: 4.2
Longest run: 7.9
Shortest run: 2.0
Days ran outside: 30/32
Coldest run: 8 degrees
Weight lost: No idea, I don't weigh myself. Probably one ounce.
Times squatted in bushes: 3


The Good:

When you know you are going to do something every day, you don't play any mind games with yourself. Despite colder than a witch's tit weather, the chili fries you had last night or the fact that you stayed up late watching the entire 9th season of Shameless, you will run. You will run because you said you would. Gotta say, there were several days that I would not have run if I wasn't on this "streak." So, yep, it was a good January motivator.

My calves got bigger. I know this because when I wear my skinny jeans my calves look like sausages busting out of their casing (I actually had to look up the plural of calf. I know baby cows are calves, but I didn't know if the plural for the muscly part of the back of your shin was calves or calfs. BTW, it's CALVES).  I also got a vein on the front of my tibia. Not sure why, but I like that. Reminds me of this guy.

Image result for dean karnazes legs
Dean "vein" Karnazes

I really feel like running for 32 days straight gave me greater endurance and increased my speed. I feel like I have a really good base going into this training cycle. My body feels great with no niggles pointing to injury.

The Bad:

Laundry. I tried to wear things more than once but found that I smell too bad to carry that off. I don't do the laundry in our house so here is my public apology: "Ken, I am sorry for the 32 items of running clothing you had to wash each week. I am sorry they smelled like ass and other things. I love you."

Like you, I've got certain running routes from my home. Sometimes I drive to run trails, but not usually during the week. I am so f'ing tired of every single one of my routes. I ran them backwards, I ran them faster/slower, I ran them with/without music, I ran them naked, I ran them jumping rope and doing cartwheels. I still got sick of them.

It got lonely. Ken and I run together 2-3 times per week and I love that. But I don't have any other running partners. I love to do some runs solo, but it gets lonely when you run almost every day alone. The truth is, I work from home so I don't have colleagues to interact with. I have friends, but not all of them run and most of them don't have the same schedule I have. Sometimes I get to feeling isolated. I'm an extrovert, so being around people gives me energy.

So, now what? Well, I'm deep into my new training plan for my 50k in June. I love this plan in that while you work out almost every day (there are some rest days and recovery weeks too), the plan incorporates cardio (like swimming/biking), strength training and speed work. And, guess what? I ran my longest distance in a few month yesterday. 10 miles.


My eyeballs are literally frozen. I was out there 1.5 hours

Truth: I didn't want to do it and it was 15 degrees. I had very low expectations for this run and it turned out fabulous because I found a friend.

This is my new friend. His name is Al Pacah. Get it?




Do you have a running buddy/group?

What are you training for?

SUAR

PS: I have a great giveaway/review coming up soon, so check back. Just the thing to spice up your January/February blahs.

49 comments:

  1. I have no running buddies/groups. I mean, I'm on a couple FB groups, but I have never met up. If my husband would run with me, that would be amazing. But his knees are all kinds of broken.

    I was going to be training for my first ultra (55k), but didn't get drawn for an entry. Sad face. So now, just for a half in April.

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  2. I did a streak in January too but I ended up missing the last day since my husband brought home stomach flu. I tried. Got a third of a mile on the slowest jog ever and blew chunks. It was bad and now I’m sad.

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  3. Congrats on the streak! Run buddies are so important! I became a better runner when most of my runs were with someone else. Plus there's times you run because the other person is there, and you know they are there, and would be waiting, and will call/text, wondering WTF. Or vise versa. I'll tell you a secret, it works for swimming too. Best Run Buddy Ever is versatile like that. After doing Ironman she wasn't feeling the run love, and it's been cold as WTF up here, so we've been taking a break. We'll be back, just not streaking.

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  4. nice job on the streak. could you share your 50K training plan?

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    Replies
    1. It's found in the book Running Your First Ultra. It's 24 weeks long, so too much to share here - but the book is awesome - on amazon I think it's $16

      Delete
  5. Wonderful stuff - well done, but BE CAREFUL (it's addictive!) - in 2016 I set out to to a 100 streak, forgot to stop and decided to go for a year; got to 348 days and got a golden staph infection - 3 weeks on an IV drip. Started again at day one currently on day 361, so very nervous and excited. 50Km wow that's big - have never run that far so respect to you! Keep at it, love the inspiring story. Shut up and run - I like it. :)

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  6. Way to go! I did a month-long streak once, also in the winter, and it does serve to motivate your ass out the door on those super cold days. I'm training for my first ever Boston Marathon right now (!!!!) so it's 6 days of running per week. I did 17 miles on Saturday, all alone, which sucked balls! I have a regular group of buddies with whom I run every Saturday, but they're 25 miles away, and the roads were too bad to drive...not too bad to RUN on, mind you, just too bad to DRIVE on! The solo miles were not easy, but I'm hoping it will somehow improve my mental toughness, as I am a known wussy and need to harden the eff up. I'm also training for a 12-hour run in May, but I don't plan on doing any extra training for that one, beyond the Boston training. Ultras are awesome, b/c mostly you just eat your face off, and then run a bit, and then eat some more. You'll be GREAT!

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  7. Good work! I am not a streaker--the laundry itself would do me in. Plus this time of year, it takes me longer to get ready to run than it does to actually run. I did that scam, I mean Lululemon/Strava challenge and if nothing else, it made me get outside and run. No excuses. I had to get that 50 miles done in 2 weeks. So there's that.

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  8. why did you stop... it's so easy to just keep running!

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  9. Great job on the streak! I do run solo during the workweek, and that makes me very thankful for my group of friends I have to run with on the weekends. I'm now separated from my husband of nearly 20 years, so the friendship is my lifeline at this point, and I'd be lost without my mainbitches!

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  10. Congrats on finishing your streak! I run alone a lot too but I definitely prefer running with other people, it makes the time go by faster.

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  11. Yes, I have a running group - the West Coast Road Runners! AND I'm training for Boston!!!!! Woohoo!

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  12. Congrats on the run streak, Beth! Just glad to hear you say it wasn't a RUNS streak, that would be horrible! Lol Glad to know someone else uses "witches tit" (we say it with "wearing a brass bra doing push-ups in the snow"). Of course, you may be just using the abbreviated. Regardless, this is why I continue to read your blog - along with your bluntness (which is appreciated), you still inspire and encourage others at whatever level they may be in their journey! Keep it up!

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  14. You didn't even know you inspired me, but you did. I read about your running streak in a prior post and I thought "What the Hell?" I can do that too! So I did, I ran most of January and averaged 1.9 miles per day. I am happy with those results but now I want more. I want to run 2.5 miles per day in February. Oh, and I hate running with others, I can't stand talking and running. I would prefer to listen to a podcast or music or NPR. Talking interrupts my breathing. My husband would rather run with me and talk and talk and talk. I usually give him my Librarian shhhh- he gets mad and runs ahead...mission accomplished. ☺ I should add, in the past I have run with partners and it does serve to motivate, and I was able to breathe and hold small conversations- but I prefer my running time alone.

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    Replies
    1. Way to get it done!!! Let me know how February goes!

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  15. Hi! I've just recently gotten back into running and have been devouring your blog since recently. I run with my local Running Room run club, and it does make things easier. If things go as planned I will be starting a job that will require me to work on Sundays, so I will need to run my long runs all by myself, unfortunately :(. How do you do it?!

    I am training for my first half marathon at the end of May in Calgary, and am dreaming of running a full next year. So far my runs have maxed out at 5.6 miles, but I'm moving into the double digits if you use metric.

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  16. I am in the process of running the Myrtle Beach Half at the beginning of March....can you say flat? I live in a rolling hill area so I'm hoping for that to help me tick away at my time. I run with several running groups. They are what get me out on the road and keep me accountable. And of course, all of them are base out of beer shops and bars. Beer after the run!
    I manage the Wednesday night group run out of Wine and Beer 101 Wake Forest. If you are ever in the state of NC, come on out!
    I finally found a runner comparable to me so she and I have been doing our long runs together.
    I do occasionally wear headphones when I just need to bite the bullet and get it done.

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