I ran every day in January, sort of on a whim... which for me means I thought about it for a few weeks beforehand. I convinced myself it would be a good idea, fun even, and maybe I'd learn some things. Plus, January always needs a little help in the motivation department, right?
I'm generally not a fan of run streaks. In fact, if we’ve ever talked about running I’m quick to point out that I don’t run every day, I don’t aspire to, and I generally don’t recommend it. I’m a firm believer in alternate running days, especially as I’m coaching new and returning runners. It’s so important to build slowly and allow time for recovery. And last year, a huge part of the major shift in my training focus was prioritising rest and recovery between and before running days. Then there’s the issue of the limited daylight and colder-than-I'd-prefer weather. This was way outside my lane on a lot of levels.
But y’all know I love a good streak! Back in 2012, I started walking a mile a day and it changed my entire life. So when my friend Mimi was posting about running a mile or more every day last year, I was intrigued. I mostly see Mimi on Instagram (@getfitwithmi22) and at running events during the year, and watching her run streak all last year really spoke to me. I started thinking at the end o f December that I’d like to give this a try. I was in a mood to shake things up in my routine, and seeing Mimi in person at our Inspiration Run New Year’s Day felt like affirmation!
Plus, there’s a widget that helps track daily progress.
I do love a catchy visual!
Day 1 was easy… 2.5 miles at Fleet Feet's Inspiration Run and Garmin confirmed I was off to a "Strong Start!
ONE EASY MILE
Because I wasn’t training for a race, I had no goal other than running a mile or more every day. I didn’t have any plans for speed work or distance sessions… this was simply about running however I was feeling each day. That was such an important factor in doing this without winding up injured. Of the 31 days, I had that one fun run on New Year’s day, which was 2.5 miles, a race mid-January that was just over 3 miles, and then 3 runs with our 10K training program that started at the end of January, so only 5 total scheduled runs that were more than 1 mile. The other 26 days I ran just a bit over one mile at whatever pace felt good that day.
CONSISTENCY IS KEY!
I know this, and yet I usually fall out of my routine during the holidays. I still walk every day, but without a specific race goal, my running routine can easily become haphazard this time of year. A streak was a terrific way to kick off the new year and (re)establish consistency. What we do every day is so much more impactful than what we do once in a while. And this little experiment paid off in both mindset and physical progress!
FEWER DECISIONS, MORE FUN!
Decision fatigue-- we've all been there. My daily mile quickly became the easiest thing I was doing every day. I didn’t have to decide IF I was going to run, I just had to figure out when. Because it was such a short run, I had way less concern about what I was going to wear. In fact, many days I enjoyed my run in a cozy pair of joggers and a sweatshirt, gear I wouldn’t usually choose for a run. For one mile, I didn’t have to think about dressing for warmer temps as I would on a longer or more intense workout, just lace up and go in whatever felt comfortable.
I ran the same route most days, familiar, simple. While I might play around with my cadence, mechanics, and form, overall it was still an easy mile. It was fun to approach each run this way, without any specific plan. I might just run the whole mile at a comfortable pace, or throw in some strides or drills, depending on my mood and what popped into my rambling mind. A cool bonus was noticing the benefit of varying each run slightly. This is such an important component in training and injury avoidance, but an element that’s often missed when we get focused on training plans and mileage goals and the calendar.
With each day, the motivation got easier (or, perhaps, lack of motivation became a non-issue?) The truth is, when it comes to any kind of workout, pretty often you’re not going to feel like it. I love to run, but I still find myself arguing with myself about getting out there. “Today’s so busy, tomorrow’s forecast looks nicer, “ Knowing it’s non-negotiable every day eliminates that mental exercise and the associated decision fatigue.
STILL NOT A FAN OF MY TREADMILL
I went into this knowing I’d likely have to do some treadmill miles, and I was kind of looking forward to getting more comfortable with that as a backup for training. I did run into a few treadmill days, and I was happy to have the option, but I still do not enjoy the treadmill. At all. Not even for one mile.
HIGH MILEAGE
I always encourage my athletes to focus on one goal at a time. We can work to improve speed or endurance, for example, but it's tough to try and improve both at the same time. For this challenge my goal was consistency, and as a result my mileage for January was much higher than it typically is. I never ran more than 4 miles, yet I ended the month at 50 miles running plus 12 walking, 32 activities total. By comparison, in 2023 I ran 8 times, 36 miles total. That included a half marathon, but still ONLY 36 miles. Looking back over the past 10 years, I typically run 20-30 miles total in January, fewer than 10 runs all month. I can't say I'm surprised at these numbers, running every day in a month that felt like it was 728 days long, but it still feels like a huge win!
ADAPTATION HAPPENS EVEN WITH AN EASY DAILY MILE!
This was an unexpected outcome. For the first several days, Garmin's suggestion was REST. I expected that. And while I pay close attention to my Garmin data and suggestions, I was confident in ignoring this one. I wasn't planning on a "workout" per se, just an easy mile. It is not lost on me how strange it would have sounded to 45 year old me to hear 58 year old me say that running a mile is "not a workout", yet here we are. This, too, began with a mile a day streak.
What surprised me was that as I got into the second week, I no longer got the REST recommendation, and my recommended recovery time dropped from 30 hours to 24 hours to 8 hours-- basically a good night’s sleep! There are so many ways to measure progress, and recovery time is a huge metric we often ignore. It’s an important indicator of overall wellness, and I was excited to see this one improve, especially during my "hibernation" season!
MORE RUNNING, MORE HYDRATION
An unexpected benefit was that I drank MUCH more water than I typically would on any given January day. It’s so important to stay hydrated when the winter air, both indoors and out, is so dry/drying, and yet I often don’t drink as much as I do during humid summer months. When it’s cold I tend to reach for coffee.
But every day in January, I finished this 18oz. bottle on my run, plus a refill, and found myself drinking more water throughout the day. This helps with my running, my energy level, my skin, my sleep quality, and overall just feeling really good!
RUNNING STRONGER As I mentioned, my recovery time improved noticeably during this streak, and while I wasn't following a formal training plan, I was running faster and feeling stronger. I was finally seeing the results of heart rate training I’d started almost a year ago! Training with a focus on my heart rate helped me improve my base pace, and run more comfortably over longer distances as I prepared for two marathons last fall. This month, one mile at a time, I’m running at faster paces with surprising ease. It's especially fun to see this in a month that usually finds me trying to build back ground I've lost... not this year!
Serendipity! I had decided to aim for a 10K PR this spring, and training began the end of January. Our first workout was a Cooper test– basically a one mile time trial– and I was fully ready for it!
The most amazing thing, when I step back and think about it, is the fact that I can just choose to go run a mile every day. There was a time when I would not have believed I’d ever be doing something like this. I am acutely aware of how fortunate I am to have this choice. That’s a big reason I keep doing it.
While I’ve enjoyed this experiment and seeing some interesting results, my main focus was doing this simple thing for myself every single day. It was about carving out a little time and showing up for myself. It’s so easy to set aside my goals, to push things off, especially this time of year.
If you've read this far, I'd encourage you to choose something you can do every day, a way to show up for yourself, a quick win you can repeat until it becomes second nature. It doesn’t have to be anything difficult. In fact I wouldn’t recommend an activity that’s a huge stretch, because the streak IS the stretch. Get started, stick with it, and watch where the journey leads! I'd love to hear all about it!
