Highlights from week 1! (Yes, I ran in a cemetery- very peaceful!)

Last week, I decided to join the Runner’s World holiday streak, pledging (just mentally, of course, not in blood or anything like that) to run at least one mile a day from Thanksgiving day to New Year’s.  So far, so good, and today I just finished up my 9th day in a row- wow!- power to the streak!!!

I’m no Mark Covert but even just these 9 days have been very interesting and I can say that I’m really learning from this commitment and hope to make it all 40 days.  Here’s how its gone so far…

Some days, I can only manage one, but I’m still getting it done!

Day 1: 3.12 flat road miles, 9:29 pace

Day 2: 2 flat road miles, 09:18 pace

Day 3: 5.02 hilly trail miles,11:06 pace

Day 4: 1.08 flat road miles, 9:22 pace

Day 5: 3.61 flat road miles, 9:43 pace

Day 6: 1.01 hilly road miles, 10:21 pace

Day 7: 3 tempo treadmill miles, 8:49 pace

Day 8: 3.75 hilly trail miles, 10:05 pace

Day 9: 1.5 tempo treadmill miles, 09:09 pace

TOTAL: 24.09 miles in 9 days!

You think I would be tired, but somehow managed to pull this off!

This streak is teaching me that it’s actually a LOT easier to know you are going to go for a run every single day than it is to plan to go just 3 or 4 days a week.  Other than being hyper-aware that my Garmin and iPod are always charged, I haven’t really been thinking too much about where, when or how long I’ll go.  I just trust I’ll run no matter what and figure the rest out when I get there- no advance planning needed. For someone like me, who plans every last second and detail of my life, that’s really freeing.

I’m also breaking out of my running rut- how weird is that?! Honestly, I was getting a bit bored with running but the past 9 days, I’ve gone somewhere different and that’s really a lot of fun. There are so many different trails here in the Bay Area and I want to try them all- I could never do a streak like this with the same routes over and over and over again. I really look forward to running someplace new. Every. Single. Day.

I am also learning that it FEELS GREAT! Surprisingly so! I thought I would be tired running day after day but, on other other hand, I’ve had a few really great, speedy runs in the middle of this streak and have noticed how easy it is for my legs to get going than it is with even just a couple days off.  My muscles are getting tighter, so I’m having to stretch and roll a lot more but all that is just gravy and it is sure is paying off!

Lake Merritt in the Winter (my regular route + cold + wind + rain = UGH)

Now that the rainy season is upon us, my sense of adventure may be relegated to just running faster on the treadmill at the gym but that’s okay, I don’t mind too much.  Running fast on the treadmill is really easy so I hope that my speed work (yeah, I know! ME doing speed work?!?!?!  That’s the streak talking, I swear!) on the treadmill will result in some better skill on the road- with the combination of this streak and the arrival of Winter, I can actually commit to treadmill work!  Something I NEVER thought I would say!

Are you participating in the Runner’s World run streak? How is it going?  If not, you can get started anytime- GO FOR IT- and let me know how it goes!  And fellow treadmill runners, any tips for me???

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