Welcome to everybody who’s trying this for the first time; welcome to all of you who are returning. The December Run Streak can be a little hard to talk about. If you’re returning to The Streak, you might know what I mean. It’s easy to describe: run, at least a mile, every day for the month of December. It’s hard to explain: there’s no proof required, share your experiences on our Facebook group if you want to help inspire the group, but don’t share if you don’t want to; there’s no penalty if you don’t complete it; there’s no big prize at the finish line, no medals or belt buckles; I can only explain why it’s important to me.
I’ve been running for a long time. I picked it up in 2000, with the help of an Idiot’s Guide and the encouragement of my husband. I’ve had lots of wonderful running experiences, but I’ve had some challenges too. Injuries for sure. You name it, I’ve hurt it. Like most people, I can trace those injuries back to my training habits. For me, the biggest challenge is being consistent with my running practice.
Before trying The Run Streak, I would typically pick an event, train furiously for it for a couple of weeks, get hurt or burnt out, then train on and off until race day. I’d promise myself I’d do better next time. The Run Streak was the first time I had committed to running every day. The idea seemed scandalous (don’t you need recovery time? I never miss out on recovery time!) and also deceptively easy. Is a mile even a run? How hard can it be?
I’ve learned a lot over several Streak attempts, and one successful year. I’m sure that everybody that tries it will learn something about the practice and themselves. Are you ready? Here’s the framework:
- Commit to run at least a mile every day. Tell your friends and family. If you don’t, they’ll start to wonder about you.
- Share your experiences. Our Facebook group is a nice, supportive place to do it. You don’t need to post every day, but if a run is important to you, we want to hear about it. Photos are great. Who doesn’t like pups in sweaters or frosty eyelashes?
- Don’t give up! If you miss a day, you can still get value from the remaining runs. Your comeback story might inspire others too.
- Do not increase your overall weekly mileage by more than 10% per week. The goal of The Run Streak is to increase your consistency, but not make big changes to your distance or intensity. There’s no quick way to increase mileage safely. We all need to stick to that 10% rule.
- Keep an eye on my blog. I’m taking over the Brainsport blog (https://community.brainsport.ca/blog/). I’ll be sharing run ideas, equipment advice, tips and tricks from local experts
Are you ready for December 1st?
– Lisette Schermann
