Day 294

My standard, normal run in the morning before heading to the zoo. Up early and moving slow, but I made it through it. 3 days on pavement was noticeable.

Day 293

A long day of running around, and finally back to the hotel at 6:00pm. I decided to grab a quick run, pounding through the neighborhood again. It felt OK, but a little rushed. I wanted to hold back, but ended up going harder as things felt good.

Day 292

On my standard trail here in Columbia, MD. Felt OK, despite this being day 2 on the pavement.

Day 291

A not-so-pleasant surprise at the hotel. No health club, no facilities nearby, despite that description when I booked it. With little kids in the room, I was worried about going too far. However I made do, a short run this morning through the neighborhood, sidewalk and pavement, and I felt great. Strong lungs at sea level, no pain in the ankle.

Day 290

A quick one as we get ready to head out of town.

The ankle felt great, no pain at all. I didn't go that far, but it was good. I think it should be 100% for baseball in two weeks.

Day 289

I missed running before lunch, with work jamming me up. So I came back in the afternoon and went out there for a short one, trying to get one before it started raining. I wanted to get more grass cut, so I was pressed for time.

The ankle felt great today, but I didn't push things.

Day 288

I actually felt pretty good today, maintaining a good pace, and wanting to run more, but with work to do and karate tonight, I reigned myself in.

Day 287

With no karate, and a little time, I went a little further today. Things felt OK, though the ankle (right) is still sore. Amazing how much it bugs me after baseball and then two days later it's much better.

Day 286

Sore ankles, both of them, and karate tonight. Just a short, easy one.

Where’s My History? (Nike +)

I noticed the last week or so that when I sync up my Nike + with iTunes that my history and workouts disappear. The next time I go to run I need to create a new working, but my history is gone.

It’s annoying, and I was concerned that my iPod or sensor were failing. My data was still getting uploaded, but something was wrong.

Then I found this post on the Nike+ forums saying I should reset my iPod. I swear that I’ve done it, but I was at my desk, did the reset, and all of a sudden my workouts and history appeared.

Crazy.

Day 285

A short one before heading out to baseball.

Day 284

On the treadmill, supervising Delaney cleaning up the basement while I ran. Not the most focused run, but a nice, steady one.

Day 283

I went down for a lunchtime run on the treadmill, despite the nice weather. I had a DVD I wanted to get through, so that pulled me down.

It was a good run, moving steadily through a mile, then slowing a bit as the ankle started to feel sore. Not much pain, but I noticed it, and that was enough to get me to take it easy. I got through the 20 minutes and then walked, feeling good, but wanting to get on to other things in my day.

Day 282

A quick one today before running out to get some errands done and my daughter from school.

Catching Up

I’ve been wanting to get all my run data in one place, and MapMyRun seems like the best place for that right now. Nike+ doesn’t allow me to enter runs, of which I have over a 100 before I got the sensor, so that’s out and a spreadsheet isn’t fun, or online.

So I’ve tried to enter a few here and there, but it’s mind numbing work. So today, while on a conference call that doesn’t always have a lot of input from me, I decided to cut and paste from the blog over to mapmyrun.com. I’d gotten all of 2009 done recently, rounding out Jan and today I managed to get down to Dec 11, 2008. That’s day 93, and it’s a good portion of my streak. I have 4 or 5 in there already from earlier days, but I’ll keep working and try to get them all in there before I hit one year.

Day 281

Back to 20 minutes!

I wanted to run before my 10:00 call. It was 9:30, but with the treadmill and no need to shower before my 10:00, I went for it. I went slow, 5.7mph, and the ankle felt OK for about 10 minutes, then it was slightly sore, but not much. Star Trek kept me interested and I just ran to 18 minutes, walking the last 2.

It felt great!

Day 280

I felt good, even with a gimpy ankle last night, it didn't really hurt today. Ice, rest, must have done some good, plus it's healing.

Could have run more, decided to speed the healing process by not pushing things.

Day 279

I was feeling run down this morning, a cold sapping energy. However I went down there after Kendall got home and powered through it. And you know what?

I felt much better afterward. The throat is still sore, the nose burning a touch, but I felt more energized and healthier than before I ran.

Inspiring Others

My martial arts teacher asks me periodically how the running's going. He's told me a few times he's impressed, and he thinks it's great dedication. A few weeks ago he asked if he could use my story on his web site and if I'd like to write anything for him.

I was inspired by Jim Garrett, and I hope I can inspire other people. Not necessarily to run every day, but to commit to something, to put yourself into it, whether that's getting into shape, eating better, working at something you love, just push yourself into it each day.

I'm not sure what I'll write for his web site, but I hope that I can inspire someone.

Day 278

Glad I ran before baseball, a short one, despite feeling a cold in my throat and nose. I twisted the ankle again slightly and would have struggled to run after.

Day 277

This was the first time in a long time that I didn't have any pain the first few minutes. I went a little faster, 6.4, and then around 11 minutes I could feel some soreness, so I backed off, slowed down, and ended the run quicker than I might have in the past.

Day 276

I felt better today, but I decided not to push it. The idea is to get better, not keep up with the pain.

How Far?

Someone asked me the other day how far I'd run on this streak, and I honestly have no idea. I have the data spread out on this blog, some in a spreadsheet, some in Nike+, and a lot sync'd to MapMyRun.com.

I'm slowly going back and trying to add a few runs to the MapMyRun profile so I have some totals, but I'm not even through with 2009 so far. To get to the start of the streak might not come before one year is up.

However I do have a few totals:

• Jan 2009 - 35.64 mi, still about 10 miles to enter
• Feb 2009 - 41.36 mi
• March 2009 - 48.29 mi
• April 2009 - 51.03 mi
• May 2009 - 55.91 mi

As of today I have 15.5 miles in June, so my estimate for 2009 is 257 miles so far. I'd guess that I managed to get 140 miles or so last year, so that puts me in the almost 400 miles with 90 days left.

Very cool.

Day 275

The ankle felt pretty good today, but not great still. I ran a nice steady pace for about half of it, then slowed a bit and cruised to the end. I could go more, but I am still trying to heal. I think that I will end up with about 2 or 3 months of some soreness when I run.

Day 274

Took it easier than I could have today with karate tonight, but I still got back to 1.5mi. I ran a nice steady pace for most of it.

Day 273

Went a little longer and harder today today, the ankle feeling better. Still a short run for me, but better than I've done in a week.

Day 272

A long day traveling. I wasn't sure I had time this morning, and so I waited until we got home. The kid shuffle had me going, but with Kyle working, I missed karate and came home to run on the treadmill.

This was the first day that my ankle didn't hurt at all when I got up and walked around. However it was tender as I started running at 6.2, so I slowed down. No sense in pushing too hard.

Advice on a Streak

I hit a milestone recently and when I noted this on Twitter, someone asked me if I had any advice. I joked that my advice was "run every day." :)

I do have advice, however, for anyone that wants to start the streak. I'm not a professional runner, or even a great runner. I can't tell you what shoes to wear, how to swing your arms, or anything else, but for a 40 year old, I'll give you a few things about just running every day.

Start Slow
One thing I kept hearing early on was when was I going to run more? Run further? Run some races? I ignored all that, sticking to my 1.2-1.3mi daily for the first 4 or 5 months. I wasn't using this as my only method of staying in shape, and I didn't want to overdo it. Sticking with that low number allowed me to run through injury, through tiredness, and it let me run at 10pm a few times (or 5am).

Start easy, and then build up to longer runs. I'm up to about a 1.5mi avg a day after 250+ days, and I'm not in any hurry to raise that.

Get a Treadmill
The weather will suck sometime, and you'll need to run. If you dont' have a way to do that inside, you'll get stuck. For women I'd make this a requirement since running late at night (it will happen sometime) isn't something you want to do outside.

MapMyRun.com
I think mapmyrun.com is a fantastic site. A mile isn't far, but it's nice to know what a mile is so you can tell if you're pushing hard or not. It's also inspirational to see how far you've gone.

Run Early
My wife tried to do this streak a few times and stopped for various reasons, but I think one of those was constantly waiting until 9, 10, or 11:00 at night to run. Eventually that will catch up to you. I've had to run at 10:30 at night, but rarely. In fact, waiting until 5 or 6:00 was a problem for me a few times. I have karate, and kids errands at night, so I don't want to get in the way of those, or resent them for getting in my way.

I tend to run at lunch, or right before lunch. It's a good time for me, and it lets me move on with my day. However whenever you run, don't wait until after the kids are in bed, or everything else is done for the day. Pick a time, morning, lunch, early afternoon, and try to stick to that. Things will come up, and don't get too annoyed when they do.

A streak of any sort, writing, running, working, whatever works for you, is a bit of an obession. That can be good or bad, but be sure that you keep it in perspective. I'm sure my streak will end some day, and I can't be too worried about it. If it ends, it ends.

But not if I can help it.

Day 271

A short one in the morning as we were packing up in Pensacola. I took it easy again, trying to heal that ankle.

Day 270

Gonna be a busy day, so I ran before Kendall woke up. A quick one, the ankle almost not sore when I started, but still I was careful. I had a little pain in the middle, and then it numbed up again near the end. I shortened the run again, trying not to push more than I need to.

Day 269

In Pensacola, but we're staying near the airport, just Kendall and I, and with rain threatening, my dreams of running on the boardwalk are dashed. Plus I need to entertain a little girl. So a True 700 treadmill in the hotel works out fine. It matches up very well with my calibrations on the Nike +, so that's good. The ankle is wrapped, but slightly sore.

Still better than yesterday.

Day 268

A quick run today before picking up Kendall and heading out of town. The ankle was a little sore, and I ran lightly, but it's definitely getting better.

Day 267

The ankle is better, but still hurts. I ran slightly faster, but didn't go longer. I know my form is off, and it's a tottering, side-to-side run for now, and I don't want to push too hard.

Made it through, 14min, 1.3mi.

Day 266

Another run with some pain, but not as much as yesterday. I went slightly faster, trying to cut down the time a little and still get the workout done. As with yesterday, around 8 minutes or so things loosened up.

Icing the ankle again.

Day 265

The ankle ached, and was sore. I had trouble walking, and a constant pain while trying to jog at 5.5. I slowed to 5.3 for awhile and powered through it. It started to feel better eventually, better meaning less pain, not none. I thought about going for 1.5mi, but I bailed early.

Better to be conservative and take it easy.

The Danger to The Streak

My running streak was in danger, and I guess it still is. However it wasn't from baseball. Not from karate, not even from running.

I was almost done in by cutting grass.

Actually to be fair, I slipped getting off the tractor yesterday in the rain and slightly twisted my right ankle. I knew it was hurt last night, and it was even more sore this morning when I first got up. I definitely had a limp getting Kendall to school.

However at 10:45, I felt like a run, and decided to give it a try. It was hurting, but not a sharp pain, more a constant, nagging ache. I stayed slow, a nice 5.3-5.5mph pace and managed to get through it. It warmed up and felt better around 10 minutes in, and I considered going for 14 minutes when I hit 13 at that pace, but decided on rest. I slowed, and walked the last minute.

Now it's time to alternately ice and not ice.

200 = 500

According to Nike +, I will make a 500 mile goal. When I synced my iPod recently, I crossed the 200 mile mark on their site. I have probably 20-30 more miles that weren't logged there this year, but I can't add them there.

Their popup said that if you get to 200 miles, you're likely to get to 500. That's encouraging since I think if I can run every day this year I'll hit 500 miles. My pace is up to 1.5mi a day, and 2 on many days, so that puts me in a nice spot.

My goal on Nike + is to run 31 miles a month, at least 1 a day (they don't have a daily goal) and I've hit that every month except Jan. That's because I didn't buy the Nike + until mid Jan, so I only ended up with 16 miles. That's one more thing I'd like to see changed. I'd like to have the resolution show me how far I exceeded it, not just stop when it is met.

I have a daily challenge as well, with 30 some people joining me. I'm #8 pretty consistently now. I used to be 11, but the steady gains have lifted me. Not sure I can catch 6 as that person is about 50mi ahead of me and runs 10-20 miles at a time. I might catch #7 as she's 29 miles ahead of me, and not moving every day.