[Written Thursday, although not posted until Friday, in case the references to yesterday and this morning are confusing.]
I've run every day for the last 20 days in a row now. In the world of running, this is called "streaking." And yes, I wore clothes.
It's funny, fascinating, and frustrating how easy it is for something to become a god, of sorts, something to serve. I guess there's a reason why the first commandment came first. If you can keep that one, you're doing pretty well, and the rest of the commandments will be a lot easier.
I never meant to start a streak, in truth. I just ran for the sake of running. On the day that I usually take off, I needed a quick easy run to center my head, to start my day, to wake up my body. It felt good, and I felt surprisingly good all day. I felt rested and refreshed. Plus, I'll admit, the mileage looked kind of good on my running log, even though that wasn't the original intent of the run. So the next week when my usual day off came around, I remembered the week before. I ran slow and short and easy, and it was, again, like resting. It wasn't meant to even be a run, but it was a run, so I wrote it down. And then I noticed that, huh, I'd run for 14 days in a row. And as soon as I made note of that, as soon as I told a friend about it and it was named "a streak," it changed.
I've been running a good amount. For about four weeks I held my running mileage in the mid-thirties. Then I had a couple of weeks at 38.5. Then I ran 46.5. Then I ran 50. You don't get to 50 miles a week just by adding in a little 2-3 mile run on your traditional rest day, but it doesn't hurt either. So the numbers started to take over.
I started "the streak" just wanting to run because I love running. I ran to improve my running, to relax my spirit, to enjoy the outdoors and the time alone. I ran for the joy of being able to run. Some runs I ran to spend time with other runners. I ran because, to me, running is a great multi-sided gift. I think these are all good reasons to run. Running for numbers is not.
I've been doing the Jack Daniels' Blue Plan for advanced runners, and I'm currently half-way through. [Note to non-runners: Jack Daniels is a running coach who has written a much-cited running book; he is not a form of adult beverage--at least not in this context.] It's been going smoothly, and up until yesterday I felt like my body was handling it very well and improving gradually but steadily. Most running coaches and experts and training plans demand at least one day of rest. Daniels does not. The blue plan requires five to seven days a week. Yesterday was an optional run. I always run on Wednesday evenings, but yesterday I had a meeting scheduled just after the usual Wednesday night run, so I planned to run in the morning. I woke up at 5am yesterday morning to cold and impending bluster, but worse, a body that really really didn't want to run. A body that was heavy and slow and really really wanted to go back to bed. Upon checking my e-mail I saw that the evening group run had been moved up half an hour, so I could theoretically go back to bed and run in the evening and still make my meeting. So that's what I did.
When evening came, it was still cold and damp and blustery, but I always run on Wednesdays. And I had run 19 days in a row! Yes, Jack Daniels would have allowed me to stay warm and dry and go to my meeting after a nice warm dinner, but my streak wouldn't allow it, so I went running anyway. I'm not sorry I did. Running outside is a good way to make peace with the kind of weather we had last night. Walking from house to car, one gets cold. Running six miles, if dressed appropriately, one can sweat. The other people who showed up were men, and since I was conscious of time and my upcoming meeting, I ran a little faster than Jack Daniels would have wanted me to run. And finally, after 20 days of running and not resting, of speedwork and tempo runs and long runs and just regular runs, my body told me to knock it off.
I started out tired, but after five of the six miles, my right leg went back to its old tricks and wasn't working. I was trying very hard to make it work again and still keep up with the fast men I was running with, but I found myself working harder and harder and yet falling further and further behind. When one leg is not-quite-responding to the neural impulses, no amount of guts or effort is going to produce an admirable pace. And so I stopped. I stopped with only a quarter mile to go and stretched and got the leg turned back on enough to run me back to the parking lot.
Once home after my meeting, I gritted my teeth and got down on the floor to do some of the exercises my physical therapist had prescribed when I was regularly losing control of my leg. They have, over the past couple of years, become rather effortless. Not last night. Every muscle in my body begged to stop.
And so this morning, when I could have run an easy two or three miles, I allowed myself to sleep in. I could have run while my daughter was at preschool, but I did not. I could have gone down to the treadmill while she was taking a nap, but I also curled up for a nap. My legs are still tired, and I feel it every time I go up a flight stairs. Today would have made my streak a nice even three weeks, and I'll admit it was hard to let that go, but it was the right thing to do. I realized, just in time, that had I run, although neither my body nor my spirit were going to benefit from it, what started out to be a blessing and joy would have become, instead, my master.
So the streak is broken, and I am free from it. Tomorrow, when I return to my training plan I will be back in charge of my running, not being required to pay homage to the numbers any more. Free to remember that I run because I can, because I love to, because of all of the benefits I receive from running. I will not be tempted to serve the numbers instead.
It's funny, fascinating, and frustrating how easy it is for something to become a god, of sorts, something to serve. I guess there's a reason why the first commandment came first. If you can keep that one, you're doing pretty well, and the rest of the commandments will be a lot easier.
I never meant to start a streak, in truth. I just ran for the sake of running. On the day that I usually take off, I needed a quick easy run to center my head, to start my day, to wake up my body. It felt good, and I felt surprisingly good all day. I felt rested and refreshed. Plus, I'll admit, the mileage looked kind of good on my running log, even though that wasn't the original intent of the run. So the next week when my usual day off came around, I remembered the week before. I ran slow and short and easy, and it was, again, like resting. It wasn't meant to even be a run, but it was a run, so I wrote it down. And then I noticed that, huh, I'd run for 14 days in a row. And as soon as I made note of that, as soon as I told a friend about it and it was named "a streak," it changed.
I've been running a good amount. For about four weeks I held my running mileage in the mid-thirties. Then I had a couple of weeks at 38.5. Then I ran 46.5. Then I ran 50. You don't get to 50 miles a week just by adding in a little 2-3 mile run on your traditional rest day, but it doesn't hurt either. So the numbers started to take over.
I started "the streak" just wanting to run because I love running. I ran to improve my running, to relax my spirit, to enjoy the outdoors and the time alone. I ran for the joy of being able to run. Some runs I ran to spend time with other runners. I ran because, to me, running is a great multi-sided gift. I think these are all good reasons to run. Running for numbers is not.
I've been doing the Jack Daniels' Blue Plan for advanced runners, and I'm currently half-way through. [Note to non-runners: Jack Daniels is a running coach who has written a much-cited running book; he is not a form of adult beverage--at least not in this context.] It's been going smoothly, and up until yesterday I felt like my body was handling it very well and improving gradually but steadily. Most running coaches and experts and training plans demand at least one day of rest. Daniels does not. The blue plan requires five to seven days a week. Yesterday was an optional run. I always run on Wednesday evenings, but yesterday I had a meeting scheduled just after the usual Wednesday night run, so I planned to run in the morning. I woke up at 5am yesterday morning to cold and impending bluster, but worse, a body that really really didn't want to run. A body that was heavy and slow and really really wanted to go back to bed. Upon checking my e-mail I saw that the evening group run had been moved up half an hour, so I could theoretically go back to bed and run in the evening and still make my meeting. So that's what I did.
When evening came, it was still cold and damp and blustery, but I always run on Wednesdays. And I had run 19 days in a row! Yes, Jack Daniels would have allowed me to stay warm and dry and go to my meeting after a nice warm dinner, but my streak wouldn't allow it, so I went running anyway. I'm not sorry I did. Running outside is a good way to make peace with the kind of weather we had last night. Walking from house to car, one gets cold. Running six miles, if dressed appropriately, one can sweat. The other people who showed up were men, and since I was conscious of time and my upcoming meeting, I ran a little faster than Jack Daniels would have wanted me to run. And finally, after 20 days of running and not resting, of speedwork and tempo runs and long runs and just regular runs, my body told me to knock it off.
I started out tired, but after five of the six miles, my right leg went back to its old tricks and wasn't working. I was trying very hard to make it work again and still keep up with the fast men I was running with, but I found myself working harder and harder and yet falling further and further behind. When one leg is not-quite-responding to the neural impulses, no amount of guts or effort is going to produce an admirable pace. And so I stopped. I stopped with only a quarter mile to go and stretched and got the leg turned back on enough to run me back to the parking lot.
Once home after my meeting, I gritted my teeth and got down on the floor to do some of the exercises my physical therapist had prescribed when I was regularly losing control of my leg. They have, over the past couple of years, become rather effortless. Not last night. Every muscle in my body begged to stop.
And so this morning, when I could have run an easy two or three miles, I allowed myself to sleep in. I could have run while my daughter was at preschool, but I did not. I could have gone down to the treadmill while she was taking a nap, but I also curled up for a nap. My legs are still tired, and I feel it every time I go up a flight stairs. Today would have made my streak a nice even three weeks, and I'll admit it was hard to let that go, but it was the right thing to do. I realized, just in time, that had I run, although neither my body nor my spirit were going to benefit from it, what started out to be a blessing and joy would have become, instead, my master.
So the streak is broken, and I am free from it. Tomorrow, when I return to my training plan I will be back in charge of my running, not being required to pay homage to the numbers any more. Free to remember that I run because I can, because I love to, because of all of the benefits I receive from running. I will not be tempted to serve the numbers instead.
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