Today, my run streak (i.e., running every day) reached 2001 days (just under five and a half years). People have different definitions of what running every day means; for me, it means a minimum of 3km (just under two miles).
Today was a good running day, I participated in the Carsington Trail Half-Marathon. Unlike a regular road race, a trail race tends to be slower. Today, the trail was pretty good, mostly gravel paths, but that does not give you the same rebound efficiency that a road gives you, and the number of ups and downs is not great for speed either ???? . I was pleased to complete the race in 1 hour 51 minutes 54 seconds. Overall, I finished 50th out of 237 finishers. In the runners in my age group (men aged 65 to 69) I placed 1st. However, as the image below shows, my clubmate Keith Robinson, who is in the age group of men 70 and over, was just over a minute faster, but equally, I was ahead of all the men aged 60 to 64 ????. (I enjoy looking at the age grade results, but I will not take it too seriously.)
This run came at the end of a couple of really busy weeks where several of the runs had been ‘streak savers’, 3, 4, or 5km runs, squeezed in before or after work, sometimes before catching planes. The benefit of the run streak is that it makes me think about my plans and ensures that I find some time. However, even when my schedule is packed, I can often squeeze in some sightrunning (a cross between sightseeing and running). Two weekends ago, I was in Barcelona (with meetings on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday), but I managed to squeeze in a wonderful 24km run on the mountains overlooking Barcelona. Last weekend, I was in Chicago again, where meetings were held on Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays. I managed to squeeze a great 9km sightrunning trip through Millenium Park and back along the shore of Lake Michigan.
My run streak consists of lots of regular runs (8km to 15km at a steady pace), some sightrunning, some races (like today), some social runs in the countryside, and some run streak savers. During a typical year, there are probably five to ten days where I don’t really want to run, which is pretty good out of 365 days.
