Running Every Day for a Year
It’s that time of year, but I wouldn’t call it a resolution. After all, I started on a whim on December 11th just to make sure I maintain cardio throughout my holiday vacation.
The idea was simple: run at least one mile every day. I told myself it’ll help keep the extra holiday pounds off. I also figured it would be a good warm up for my regular weight training.
I could run longer if I want. If I was feeling good on the run, or if I was not weight training that day, I could go a little further. Maybe just a 5k or so. But I had to run at least one mile in every 24 hour period. I couldn’t just run seven miles on Monday and call it good for the week.
It worked. I kept running, and weight training, throughout my three-week vacation. I even ran on Christmas Day. Just one mile. No sweat.
But here I am a month into the new year, and a few weeks into returning to work, and I’m still going at it. Wake up, run a mile as fast as I can (my times are getting pretty good!), and then go lift for about an hour.
Being an old Airborne Paratrooper I have achy knees. You would think that running more would put more stress on my knees and cause more joint pain. Much to my surprise, I’ve found that isn’t the case at all. Sure, my knees still ache sometimes, but overall my joints actually feel better. So I think I’ll keep going.
I’m going to run at least one mile every day throughout 2018. I even bought new shoes.
It’ll be tough. I have a big move this year. I still have to train for the Army APFT. And I still have to maintain my weight training. I guess I’ll just take it as it comes. And run a mile. Everyday.
Will you join me?
Let’s make this year about commitment to disciplined initiative. Instead of just following what the Army has laid out for us in PRT, we will experiment, test, and discover how our mind and body responds to exercise.
