Yesterday, I scored a huge milestone! I ran or walked at least one intentional, uninterrupted mile a day for 1000 days! Applause! Applause! How did it happen? How did it go? And how does it feel to be at one thousand days? I’d love to tell you! Let’s chat about it!
How Did I Start The Journey To 1,000 Begin?
For several years, I’ve been an enthusiastic participant in the Streaking With The Cool Kids running challenge. It’s an event where people commit to run, walk, or jog one intentional, uninterrupted mile per day for the thirty days of June. If things go well, you can opt to just continue and go for as long as you like. And so I did.
I’d love to tell you that reaching the big One Kay turned me into some fitness cheerleader who leaps out of bed at dawn whistling with the birds. That’s not the whole truth (although I am very much a cheerful, morning person!), but it’s also not too far off.
The Death of “I’ll Do It Tomorrow”
The hardest part of working out isn’t the workout. It’s the 45 minutes you spend convincing yourself to get up out of bed or off the couch to get out there. It’s too humid. My schedule is packed. I don’t want to. The excuses are endless, but once you’ve committed to a daily streak, you’re in, for better or worse.
One mile takes somewhere between 8 and 20 minutes depending on your pace and how much your legs hate you on a given Tuesday. Once you accept that you can find 15 minutes in literally any schedule, the excuses just kind of fall apart. You don’t need a solid 90-minute window, or perfect weather, or even a good attitude. You just need to tie your shoes and step out the door.
Walking Is What Saved The Streak
There’s a misconception that a run streak means sprinting until your lungs burst each and every day. If I tried that, I’d be writing this from an orthopedic surgeon’s waiting room. The streak I joined allows for walking as well as running. Walking isn’t a shortcut or a cop-out. It’s the entire reason this streak is still alive. Even when streaking, one needs to make room for recovery, and that’s when it’s time to pull in run-walk intervals, or just outright walking. Not every outing will be a personal record, and that’s just fine.
Some Days It’s Great. Most Days It’s Just A To-Do Item.
I like to romanticize running. It would be amazing if every outing was a scenic, golden-hour journey where you find yourself skipping among the trees. The truth? A lot of streak miles are so very unglamorous. You’ve got miles logged on hotel treadmills at 9:00 PM after a travel delay or in airports waiting on a plane. There are miles done in a light drizzle because you waited too long to leave the house. There are quick neighborhood loops squeezed in right before you start work meetings..
Treating those miles like brushing your teeth, just another routine thing you check off your daily list without making a big production out of it, makes it easier to keep going when the initial excitement wears off.
Why I’m Still Going
A thousand days later, my pace hasn’t magically qualified me for Boston, my laundry basket is permanently overflowing, and I still complain when the Florida humidity hits 90%. But what I did gain is proof that I can keep a promise to myself, even when it’s inconvenient, boring, or hot. No matter what’s going on in my world, those 15 minutes belong to me.
You don’t need a 1,000-day streak to be a “real” runner or stay healthy. But if you’re looking for a way to build a habit that sticks, start small, leave your ego at the door, and just keep moving forward, one single mile at a time.
Have you participated in any kind of fitness streak? How is it going for you?
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CONGRATULATIONS JENN!!! 1000 days is seriously impressive! This is such a good goal and the way you are doing it seems to be very sustainable and healthy.
Also, I really like your point that not every mile has to be exciting or fast. Sometimes it really is just another item on the to-do list, and that’s what makes the habit stick. I also love that walking is part of the streak. It takes the pressure off and makes it much more realistic to keep going.
Cheering you on for the next 1000 days!