I’ve never really been good at keeping challenges going, such as quitting coffee for
a month, or quitting coffee for a day. Needless to say, I was just a wee bit hesitant to hop on the Runner’s World Holiday Running Streak train. What this challenge entails is to run at least one mile every day starting on Thanksgiving through New Years. One mile a day?! I know there are going to be days when I don’t feel like running, but this was something I’ve never done before, and didn’t even really think about doing before. Somehow it sounded like a lot of fun. And so with that, I was up for the running streak challenge!
I’m already a week or so into it but here’s a summary of it so far:
Day 1: Tofurky Trot 5k
Day 2: 2.36 miles
Because I get up super early and I don’t particularly care to run alone in the dark before or after work, I take my running to the gym and tackle the super handy dandy treadmill. Some people hate the dreadmill treadmill. I am not one of them. It serves its purpose well at 4AM.
Day 3: 9.18 miles
I have been itching to run with my group the LA Leggers for awhile, but every week there’s been something going on…races, fighting off illness, or volunteering for the Griffith Park Trail Half Marathon. So when I had a Saturday morning with none of those things happening, I couldn’t wait to get out to Santa Monica to join my fellow Leggers.
And it was a beautiful day for a 9 mile run! This would be my longest run since the end of October so I was kind of wondering how I was going to feel during and afterwards. Much to my surprise I felt great! My energy was pretty steady and consistent throughout the whole run so I felt good when I finished. And it was just really good to be back running with the Leggers again.
Day 4: 3.13 miles
Today I got on a trail for a short run and it was tough. Trails are tough. It’s just those darn inclines! Why aren’t there any flat mountains?! I had to keep this run short because I had things I needed to do but I hope to increase my time on trails this month, and especially in January since I’ve got another trail race coming up at the beginning of February.
Day 5: 1.03 miles
I was supposed to run before work with a colleague but she never showed up. She told me her excuses reasons and it was fine. Really it was. She had a long Thanksgiving weekend and pretty much forgot about our pinky promise of getting to work early to run a mile. I waited for a few minutes and then took off for my mile and yeah, I’m so happy I did! The reason I wasn’t upset with her forgetting is that had I waited and waited and not got my mile in, I would’ve been. But because I made this a priority of mine, I got my mile done! So all’s good!
Day 6: 3.2 miles
This is when I start to have trouble sleeping which makes waking up early that much more difficult. I woke up sometime around 2:30AM and couldn’t fall back asleep. Eventually I dozed off, but then when my alarm went off at 4AM, my eyes just did not want to open. I finally got them to and made it to my training partner…the treadmill.
Day 7: 3.0 miles
Today I woke up just around 1AM and couldn’t fall back asleep quickly enough. The same drill happened as the previous day. I struggled with being awake for this run. Really struggled. I always seem to think of other times to get my run in and none of them are as convenient as first thing in the morning — even if it is super early and I’m super tired. I really wasn’t awake the first mile. I was semi-awake for the second and finally woke up during the third.
Day 8: 2.6 miles
Probably the most difficult morning to get out of bed for. The weather became very chilly and my bed was warm and cozy. It seriously didn’t want me to leave. I played all the scenarios in my head…I’ll run on my lunch break or I’ll run in the dark…no, I don’t want to do any of those things so I just pried myself out of bed and got this run done.
Day 9: 2.5 miles
Even though my alarm clock was set to 4:30AM, I managed to wake up automatically at 4AM. I think it may have had something to do with the fact that it was Friday. 🙂
I got ready and made it to the gym. Initially, I was only going to do a mile because I knew I was going to be running a lot longer the next day, but I felt really good and most importantly, I felt awake so I did a little extra. It was a good run.
And the holiday running streak continues!
Thanks for reading and Happy Running!