Day 447

A quick one today, thinking I might not make karate.

16:00

1.65mi

Julia & Julie

I’m not sure why I watched Julia and Julie on a recent airplane trip, but I did. It’s not really the kind of movie I usually watch, but I found myself enjoying it.

What does this have to do with running? The story is of a lady whose life is a bit of a mess. She’s not happy with her job and is looking for something to give her life meaning. She enjoys cooking and Julia Child is a bit of an idol for her.

So she decides to work her way through The Joy of Cooking, the famous cookbook of Julia Child. It has about 540-some recipes in it. Her husband says she needs some type of deadline as motivation, and suggests a year. She’s a little flabbergasted, but she agrees and decides to blog about it.

As you might guess, it’s a struggle, but she perseveres, documenting her journey through cooking something every day. And along the way she discovers what I did:

It’s the act of doing something every day that gives you meaning. It sustains you, and it’s a huge accomplishment. It provides a lot of mental satisfaction and energy.

Julie goes on to a cooking show and some success (it’s based on a true story), and while my running isn’t likely to give me any material success, it’s an accomplishment that I will treasure forever.

Day 446

An early morning run, this time before skiing. Again on the streets of Copper Mountain, where it was cold and the sunny weather, while pleasant, didn’t dampen the 15F temp.

14:45 

1.41mi

Day 445

A full day of skiing, another beer, and then a run at the health club. Kendall wanted to swim, so we headed over there. I had no headphones, the wrong shoes (mocs instead of tennies), and Kendall wanting me in the pool, so a quick one.

12:00min

1.18mi

Day 444

Another outside run, this time in the streets of Copper Mountain Village after skiing. (and eating)

14:53  

1.39mi

Day 443

Thanksgiving. After skiing all day and then a Wendy’s Thanksgiving dinner (not turkey), I needed to run. No treadmill in the hotel so I headed out for a cold run around the streets of Frisco. It was very cold.

13:24 

1.39mi

Day 442

Felt good and picked up the pace a little today.

16:00

1.54mi

Day 441

A good steady run today.

16:00

1.45mi

Day 440

Kind of a cool milestone, 440 days.

I was a little rushed to fit this one in, but it felt great. A breeze to run through 1.3 miles.

Listen To Your Body

The best thing about this running streak was that I've learned to listen to my body. I've learned to really pay attention to how I feel, and then adjust my activity as a result. I don't stop running, but I do alter things based on the way that I feel.

Day 439

I didn't have a hard day skiing, but being up on the slopes and moving all day still had me tired. This was a bit of a struggle to get through this one.

Day 438

I wasn't at all rushed today, a bunch of downtime between morning and evening events. So I decided to run a little longer, getting a nice long run before the evening.

Day 437

A steady easy run today. I was feeling a little out of it, so I didn't push too hard.

Day 436

A nice lunchtime run inside, away from the wind and snow.

Day 435

I ran late today, fitting a quick one in after snowboarding and before kid stuff. I was surprised that I wasn't that tired trying to get this one done after a day of snowboarding.

Day 434

I went early to karate and then pounded out a run before around the pavement. It was cold, and I had to work around the snow and ice on the sidewalks, so I went a little slower than usual. It felt good to be outside, and not be rushed to get it done.

Day 433

Just another run on the treadmill.

Throbbing

I spent a whole week recently at a business conference in Seattle. It was colder than I expected a few days and I was busier than expected other days. As a result I ended up running early in the morning every day and on the treadmill on the top floor of the Sheraton downtown. Not a bad view, but at 6:00am, not much to see.

I thought the treadmills up there were nice, but they must be harder than mine at home, which has impact adjustment. By the time Thur hit, day 4 running, my right knee was throbbing a bit as I walked around. I felt it walking up stairs, and actually started to take elevators where I could for that reason.

When I got home, I decided to take it easy, and spent 3-4 days running less, and slower, on the treadmill here. I also added the cho-pat strap. That has seemed to help, but I'll keep an eye on it.

Day 432

I felt better after a good night's sleep, and ran a touch longer, but didn't stress anything. I'm still trying to make sure the legs are healing nicely, especially after a few hard days at karate last week.

Day 431

All day at scouts, chores outside, and my chest tight from something. Tonight's run was a struggle.

Day 430

Cruising along, a nice run today.

Day 429

A nice easy run, with a beat up body after karate last night.

Day 428

Felt good, but with a karate test, I took it easy. Surprised when I looked down and was 13 minutes in.

Day 427

Pounding one out before karate. I tried to take it easy, but I was beat in karate, so I bet I went too fast. Felt fine while running.

Day 426

Sore legs from the conference still, trying to take it easy. The left ankle and right knee throbbed a little before warming up.

Day 425

The knee is still sore, and for some reason, the left ankle is also sore. That one is strange, but I get the knee from being at the conference for a week. So I'll be taking it easy for a week to try and let it heal.

Day 424

A struggle to run tonight. I woke up in Seattle, couldn't run, flew home, went to the hospital, and then finally ran late at night. A struggle to get it done.

Day 423

Up again early, knocking out the run before leaving the hotel. Another easy one, trying to let the knee heal.

Day 422

Pounding away in the morning before heading to work at the conference. The right knee is a little sore, so I tried not to go too hard.

Day 422

Pounding away in the morning before heading to work at the conference. The right knee is a little sore, so I tried not to go too hard.

Day 421

Felt much better this morning, woke up at 6, and had a nice run on the treadmill again on the top of the Sheraton.

Day 420

I was tired. My legs were tired. I struggled up to the roof of the Sheraton in Seattle, the health club, stretched for 5 minutes while I waited for a treadmill to open up and tried to take up. It was 6:20 in the morning, and after a long day traveling and hosting a party the night before, I was beat.

I got a treadmill, walked for a couple minutes, and then started to run at 6.2mph. A minute later I was ready to call it a day and maybe run later.

It was the first time I've really felt like stopping mentally. I wasn't that tired, and so I forced myself to keep going. It ended up being a good run and I felt invigorated, but this one was tough.

Keeping Motivated

When I was a week away from a solid year of running, my ten year old asked me what my next goal was. He wanted to know if I had something else to shoot for after completing 365 days of running?

I told him I wasn’t sure, but I wanted to aim for 400 days. I had an event that I needed to travel to, and I’d be there for day 400. That was a good goal for me. I had also heard about someone else shooting for 1000 days, but I didn’t want to aim that high.

Now I’m past day 400, aiming for day 500, but it’s not a big goal. Right now running tends to be a day-to-day thing, just seeing if I can do it every day.

I don’t know if that’s sustainable, especially when I start to have busy days. I think that a goal of some sort, trying to get to some level of accomplishment is what really keeps you moving forward.

So I’m searching for a new goal, and in the meantime, I’ve found that this blog, my Nike + and mapmyrun.com trackers help me to keep pushing forward by looking back at what I’ve done.

Day 419

Up early, getting in a run before leaving for the airport. I had a hard time sleeping, so the run woke me up. Cruised easy through this short one.

Day 418

The Nike + didn't register, or I didn't start it. Not sure. However with a trip tomorrow, and likely a short one, I decided to do 20 today at a good pace. I even did a couple minutes at 6.6mph.

20:00min
1.99mi