I am Planning to Run Every Day in 2013

I meant to announce this earlier, but I didn't I didn't want to announce it in January when I decided to try, so today is the day. I have run 82 consecutive days, January 1st to today March 23rd.

Why run every day? To see if I can.

What will be the greatest challenge? I plan to run a marathon in October and I know from experience that training for and especially recovering from a marathon is extremely difficult. If I am too tired or incapacitated to do at least one mile, then I won't run. I am not doing this to tear myself apart.

What kind of previous experience do I have trying this? In the fall of 2010 and winter and spring of 2011 I ran 174 consecutive days. The end of the streak was after my debut marathon at Green Bay. I was in serious pain for like two weeks! Other than that my last three years have consisted of taking about one day off per month during training when I am in shape (maybe 6-8 months a year).

What happens if I get to 2014 without taking a day off? Well, inevitably I will end up in the middle of a mountain range at 17,000 feet of elevation on a glacier and frankly, running is not practical or advised in that situation. I may be crazy but I do have some limits.

Again, why run every day? Part of it has to do with motivating others as well. I am exposed to quite a few people that for better or worse admire the physical achievements that I do. Some of them want to be more physically active or run races faster. However, I often hear, "blah, blah, blah, I didn't run because [some excuse]." Okay, I know there are reasons not to run, and my physical fitness is a huge gift! Some people actually cannot run. Other times people need to take a break from the drudgery of intense training. I am not taking this gift for granted, but running every day is hard for me too. Sunday and Monday together I only ran a total of seven miles. My hope is that if people know that when it is 40 degrees and raining, I will go running that day. When it is 90 degrees and sunny, I will go running that day. When I am tired the next few days because I just had the best 3x2 miles workout of my life this morning, I will still go running. Then maybe they will be motivated to go out and run, or bicycle, or take a walk after supper even when the weather is not perfect.

Life is hard. Fortunately, there is a lot of satisfaction in throwing some toughness back at life. Plus, a little proactive healthcare might just help you achieve some goal wether that is setting a new personal record on the track or lowering your cholesterol.