On Saturday, I completed this summer's RW Run Streak. I ran at least one mile every day between Memorial Day and the 4th of July. That's 41 consecutive days of running.



I've never done a run streak before, and I found this experience to be interesting. It was definitely a good challenge, and it forced me to approach running in a way I never have before.

I'm used to more typical training plans that have set running days, cross training days and dedicated rest days. They're typically more structure than a running streak and sometimes the workouts can be really prescriptive (a speed run vs a tempo run vs a long run).

During this run streak, I didn't pay attention to any of that. My goal every day was to just go outside and run. I didn't have to run a set distance or go at a certain speed.

In fact, I actually think I probably ran fewer miles at slower speeds during the run streak than if I had been on a regular training plan. Part of the reason for that is I was trying to really hard to avoid injury. When I have regular rest days built into my schedule, I worry less about having adequate time to recover between runs. But during this run streak, I found myself intentionally working in shorter runs and slower runs to ensure that even though I wasn't getting a true day off that I wasn't pushing myself to the point of injury.



I think the biggest positive takeaway from the run streak is that even a one mile run is better than nothing on some days. In the past, I'd often skip a workout if I couldn't set aside at least 30 minutes or muster the motivation to do something that felt like a more quality workout. During this run streak, that notion went out the window, and I found myself embracing the short and sweet 1 mile run days. Even on the days when I had no motivation to run, I could talk myself into something that would only take 10 minutes.

Like being on any sort of training plan, I struggled with motivation at different times during the run streak. The difference with a run streak was that if I gave into my lack of motivation and just skipped a day, it would have ruined the whole thing. So I dragged myself out the door no matter what, even if I really, really didn't want to run that day. And of course, I always felt better after finishing the run.

Now that the run streak is over, I thought I'd really be looking forward to some true rest days. But when I woke up Sunday morning, I was itching to run. I didn't let myself though. My legs have been exhausted, and I know my body functions better when I actually let myself rest. So on Sunday, instead of a run, I did an upper body weights workout.

This run streak certainly cemented a habit and a desire for daily movement, and I'm going to be taking that into account as I figure out what my next training cycle looks like.

Here's how week six of the run streak played out.

Monday -- 2 miles. My legs were dead after my long bike ride the day before.

Tuesday -- 3 miles. My legs were still feeling the bike ride, but they weren't quite as heavy as Monday.

Wednesday -- 1 mile. Ok, apparently my legs really just needed a true, easy recovery day.

Thursday -- 3 miles. This run was slow, and mentally I was looking forward to the end of the streak.

Friday -- 2.5 miles. I slept in a bit because Friday was the holiday, but that was a poor decision because by the time I got outside for this run, it was pretty miserable out.

Saturday -- 3.1 miles. I thought I'd wrap up the run streak with a 4th of July 5K. This was a super hot and steamy run. Not my fastest, but I was proud to have stuck with the run streak!

Total: 14 miles.

I'm really glad I did this run streak. It was a fun distraction during these strange pandemic times.