The Rundown -- Thoughts on The 39-Day Streak

Hello all! V here again. Well, we did it. M and I made it through 39 days straight of running -- through heat, wind, rain, chill, on treadmills, separately, together, with a bear, through refinery fumes, one port-a-potty stop, one time after a margarita, early in the morning, sometimes at night, sometimes right before midnight, on vacations, through the woods, during 5K personal-best times, during legs-like-lead times, and even as part of a 3,000-mile cross country relay.

I'm reflecting on completing the 39 days, and I realize that there were positives and negatives to undertaking the endeavor. On the pro side, this was a great way to build up a solid mileage base. Obviously, it forced me to be consistent. I also am a lot better about just getting outside and getting a run done -- the streak made me cut back on procrastination in that I learned to be ALWAYS ready to run. My gear was always ready, and running every day helped ensure I didn't misplace the things I need to get out the door (headphones, gum, armband, shoes, socks, CLEAN running clothes). I can also take photos while "on the run," which I'm sure will be a valuable skill someday -- say if I'm being chased by a giraffe while on safari somewhere. I also am glad to have run so often because it gave me a chance to explore new areas in which to run, rather than just doing the same-old, same-old path. A new location definitely keeps me engaged while running.

Negatively, I didn't really have time to actually "work" on things I wanted to. Speed work and hill work pretty much went out the window because I didn't have adequate time to recover from them. Those are two key elements to getting faster in a 5K, and while my 5K time improved, it didn't go down by that much from the Memorial Day race (21:59) to the July 4 race (21:38). I'm not complaining about going deeper into the 21's though, mind you! It was also hard to deal with injury and soreness that arose. The metatarsal pain I experienced about midway through the streak finally did go away, but I really had to baby my foot and discontinue wearing any kind of heeled shoe (I still haven't worn heels since June 12) and I used a foot pad for a week or so. Not streaking might have fixed that sooner, but it did give me an opportunity to be more OK with running through pain. I learned that I have to maintain my muscles better between runs, as well. The Stick became my friend -- otherwise my calves were like rocks for the first 2 miles of every outing.

The summer run streak was a great learning experience, and I'm really glad to have taken it on and accomplished it. That being said, I'm really looking forward to my 14-week marathon training program, which has both massage and rest days built in! I'm also looking forward to NOT making a collage every. single. day. Thank you for bearing with us through this streak, and here's to more fun runs and interesting blog posts to share with you to come!

On Day 40, I rested with a whole-wheat English muffin, Biscoff spread (jars of it were given away at Day 39's Starr Spangled 5K,) and watched "Million Dollar Baby." I'm back on the run tomorrow!