Run streaks are all the rage now. Since we humans tend to favor the “all or nothing” mentality, it makes a lot of sense.

But as far as streaks go, a running streak isn’t a half bad idea. It’s perfect for those struggling with getting out the door or those with no races on the horizon to keep you motivated. It’s a completely different challenge than your average training plan. Whether your relationship with running will change for the better or worse I can’t say for certain, but I can guarantee you it will change.  I did one of these trendy streaks a year back and picked up some knowledge along the way. Granted, these may not be the same lessons you’ll learn, but these are the ones my 450 running streak left me.

Getting out the door was way easier

I had committed to running at least a mile every single day. Since I’m not one to give up on a challenge, I knew that I had no choice but to get out there every day. In this spirit, excuses no longer held weight. It didn’t matter if I was sick, if it was -10 degrees outside, or if I had to run at 11 PM. I had committed to this and I had to follow through. After a while, I stopped the excuses altogether and realized how easy it is to fit in at least some semblance of a daily run every day with the right attitude.

It’s more about quantity than quality

Since I wasn’t training for anything big during my run streak, I couldn’t care less how fast I was going or how I felt during a run. All I had to do was get in the miles. This took a lot of pressure off my daily runs, but that pressure is what shapes a more successful runner. During this time, I maintained a steady fitness level. Never sinking below or rising above it. Training during a run streak could be tricky, considering full rest days aren’t allowed. It worked for me because I needed another source of motivation other than an upcoming race. I may not have been fast, but at least I got out there.

 

Stopping wasn’t easy

My run streak was only supposed to last a year. When the year mark came and went, I had no plans of stopping. I was too sucked into the challenge and I wanted to see just how far I could go. Fortunately, I flew to China at the 400-day mark, literally skipping over an entire day while in the air. It took being thousands of feet above land for me to finally call it quits. If you’re not the competitive sort, this may not be a problem for you. But I’ve yet to meet a running who isn’t the competitive sort… so good luck with that. But I’m glad I did stop because when I came back, it was time to focus on marathon training. A totally different beast than a run streak. I traded in my half-hearted, yet enjoyable, arbitrary 1-15 mile runs for speed work and rest days. Mentally, it was a real weird transition.

My goals were achieved daily

Instead of having every run and every workout building towards that one distant race, it was like every day was a victory. When your goal is to run every day, you get to celebrate that achievement every time you run. It gave me a sense of accomplishment without fail. It didn’t even matter if my run had been crappy because I reached my goal just by running. A daily victory like that was really nice to have.

I feel in love with running again

Since all I had to worry about was getting in the miles, everything else about my runs was fair game. I could run on trails, run with friends, or run on a treadmill and watch a movie. I could run a mile or twenty. My pace could be conversational or an all-out sprint. So although I had to run every day, I could choose how I ran, and that made the whole thing so much more enjoyable. I was able to use running as a stress reliever again because it was no longer a question of whether this run would make me good enough. Just running made me enough. I started to look forward to my daily runs because they felt less like a task and more like a daily escape. I would decide how far I would go and where my feet would take me once I was out the door. In the end, it caused me to love running again not because of the achievements it brought me, but the happiness and freedom I felt with each step.