UPDATE: OK, the streak died at 23. I underestimated the challenges of transatlantic travel and a packed holiday season seeing family and friends, and while I did run a number of times over the holiday period, the streak did in fact end prematurely.

So I’m 20 for 20 on my mini quest to ‘run the holidays’.

As I wrote about here, I set out on Black Friday (Nov 25th) to run every day through to New Year. So far, so good, although no doubt I’ve been bailed out a couple of times by having access to a treadmill at home when time and circumstance have defeated me during the day.

It is certainly harder than I thought it was going to be. Day in, day out, day in, day out, the simple act of maintaining a daily physical commitment, however fun, rewarding, and in this case, self-inflicted, is actually a little tough, and I can totally see how that adage of needing to do something 21 times before it becomes a habit has come to pass.

I’m actually a bit more tired than I expected to be at this stage. I’m surprised by this because although my goal was to hit 35 miles per week during this streak, I regularly run much more than this when in full training (anywhere from 40 – 60 miles at a peak), and at least 20% of my runs at a much more aggressive pacing level than I’m doing right now.

The main difference is I get no days off (that’s kind of the thing that makes it a streak dontcha know), and I’ve learned to substitute short and slow treadmill runs in lieu of rest days. In addition, I’ve had to remind myself to run more slowly generally, which is a good thing as everything I’ve read and been told (thank you Leah Kangas) about the development of aerobic fitness, (not to mention injury avoidance), lends itself to running at an easy pace for around 80% of one’s workouts. 

Finally, I had also hoped that daily running during this festive period would lend itself to a better and more balanced diet. And you know what? That hasn’t happened.

Streak to date by the numbers:

Keep moving and stay festive my friends.

Rob