Day 3: With a little help from my friends

I woke up to a beautiful sunny morning. Because of yesterday's rain, the air was so clean and fresh. 

Because I had a little knee pain (bad shoes, I think) I decided to run a recovery one mile run. I asked if anyone in my family wanted to go with me and my second daughter said, "yes."

Last May,as a practice run, I did a Bubble Run, where you run through chutes filled with colored bubbles. It was fun. My daughter decided a month or so ago that she wanted to run in the next Bubble Run so when I do small runs she'll come with me. She's slow but dedicated.

We headed out through the camp ground, got trapped at a dead end, had to exit the camp ground and keep running on the highway. 

As we turned around to finish the last .12 miles, a nice walker-lady yelled out to us (but really to my daughter) "Good Job! Keep going!" When you run sometimes the encouraging stranger is the friend you need to keep going. 

We turned back into the campground. My daughter was getting tired so we held hands and she commented that that was helping her. Finally the mile was finished and we cheered and hugged and clapped at our accomplishment. 

Sometimes when you're running the friend is the person who holds your hand so you can finish. Whether a stranger friend or a family friend, all runners need a friend and I was glad to have a few this morning. 

Day 2: Metaphor

I suppose if running is a metaphor for life I should say that day 2 of my streak was uphill both ways in the rain and let you infer the kind of run it was. 

But you'd be wrong. 

The weather was cool and crisp. I have been wanting to run in rain for so long and it has always alluded me. Today, cool drops fell on me and I loved every minute of it. 

Yes, the uphills suck.  If I go back to the metaphor, uphills in life suck too. But during this run I was prepared, I knew they were there and I just put my head down and ran them as fast as I could. 

And even though the run ended on an uphill, I was charging it and I felt great. 

I guess running is a metaphor for life and some uphills and rain do tear you down. But sometimes they make you stronger too. 

Day one: Be Thankful

Today was my first day of my Holiday streak. All week long I have been so excited for this challenge. 

I decided to start with a long run- 6 miles. We are camping and in a new area which makes running more difficult for me because I don't have any mental mile markers. 

The first 2.5 miles was along the main highway. Many people were out for their version of a Turkey Trot. I even saw some kids and parents with homemade number bibs running. But the highway gave way to downtown city area and then it was more difficult weaving in and out of people getting their morning cup of coffee. 

I turned down a side street, then an alley, and ended up at the sand. Perhaps unwisely, I thought to myself, "why not do a mile or two ON the beach?" That was a hard almost two miles. Slow and even slower in some areas depending how soft the sand was. 

Once I was off the sand and back on the highway, it was a straight shot back to camp. 

Now as proud as I was to finish, I did not feel good on this run. Forgot to bring water so I had some cramping in my calves and felt overall dehydrated when I was done. But, even through all that uncomfortableness, I felt thankful. Thankful that I partook of this new sport. Thankful I had support to do this streak. Thankful I have a healthy enough body to run. Thankful for all the good in my life. 

The genesis

I started running last May as a challenge to myself. I had always said that I couldn't run, I had bad knees, it was boring, it was too hard, excuse, excuse, excuse. I also had no hobby I could call my own. I saw a 5k challenge and I decided to take it.

I surprised myself. In my first few weeks of training it became apparent I could do way more than I thought. I was able to run a mile. It was a slow mile but it was a mile nonetheless. From there I was able to build on a 1/2 mile per week and eventually a full mile per week. I still remember the first 3 miles I did. I was running straight into the wind and it was so long and so slow. But when I was done I was amazed at myself.

I had taken a 5k challenge and I hit the mileage months before the race. So I decided to sign up for a 10k instead. Doubling those three miles was a challenge. How could I do it? They same way I hit those first three miles, by adding on a mile a week.

The week I was supposed to run 5 miles was mentally a block, just not sure how I was going to do it, but because of a miscalculation on my part, I ended up doing 5.5 miles. Defeat and reward in the same run.  Six miles came the next week and then I rotated between 5-6 miles until my race.

My first race -a 10k was finished!

With some motivation from my aunt, a devout runner, my next race was a 10 miler. I trained the same way as before, adding a mile a week with rotation (6-7-8 miles then repeat and then 7-8-9 miles and repeat). I had mental block again at mile 8, thinking there was no way I could run 8 miles. But as always with mind over matter I finished those 8 miles and my second race a 10 miler was also finished!

The next three races I have planned are all a few months into the future and are all 10k's. This created a problem when I went out to run my long run. I had no more desire to run 8-9-10 miles. Mentally I had no reason to run that far, so physically my body didn't want to cooperate. Henceforth, I had to create new goals for myself.

I decided to focus on my 10k performance. I am going to chase a PR.

The same day, I also read an interesting article in Runner's World about holiday streaking. It was decided. This is how I would train for my upcoming 10k's. By streaking. I decided to run everyday from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day- 35 straight days of running. This is challenging because I only run three to maybe four (on the rarest occasions) times a week. Now I will have to run everyday, as much as I want, but at least one mile per day.

I am so excited. I cannot wait for this streak. I am so excited, I decided to blog my progress of this streak. And if I love streaking, I will pick a new set of dates and streak again. No commitment and and no promises.  Like all my running, I'll streak one mile at a time.