My 30 Day Running Experiment – Challenge To Myself
Encouraged by the Past
Ok so having finished February strong with my first complete nonstop one mile (and even then some!) run, I was stoked to hit the pavement (or treadmill membrane) in March to see what I could do to up the ante on my 5K prep and weight loss goal. To put a little extra pressure on myself (and also to avoid extended conversations with my wife about my workout antics because although very supportive, she was at times overly generous to offer constructive criticisms, which my strained psyche did not need), I deemed March as a personal challenge to be my “30 Day Running Experiment”. My goal/plan was to run every day (starting on the 2nd as I was traveling on the 1st, but it still gave me a full 30 days), doing as much as possible to make some type of improvement (distance, time, both, etc.) on not necessarily every day, but consistently over the weeks and eventually on the month. And if/when my wife asked how my running thing was going, I could just tell her, “The experiment is ongoing, no results to discuss yet.”, which was true.
Tempered by the Current
On to the nitty-gritty of experimentation. After my celebratory/enlightening finish to February, I had convinced myself it would get much easier as both the days and miles (minutes and neighborhood blocks to be honest) went by, and I “improved” (physically as well as mentally) over the course of my 30 day running experiment, but that was definitely not the case (for me anyway) with distance running. As days turned into repetitious weeks, I conceded to the understanding that although (based upon my stats) I got minimally/marginally better, maybe it wasn’t ever going to get easier. Every run it seemed started out with the same weight, the same resistances, the same (albeit varying) questionable hinderances, and the omnipresent overhanging shadow of impending exhaustion.. it just wasn’t fun, or most times even seemingly worthwhile. But I was not going to quit as I desperately clung to the belief that if I just kept going, eventually the struggle would fade. I expected a turning point, a moment when everything would start to feel natural, even effortless, but that moment didn’t come. The work stayed hard and the routine (and my psyche) never stopped testing me, and I continued to question myself even more- was I doing something wrong or was I simply not built for this? My only recognizable reward (aside from perhaps an occasional new Personal Best) was the finish of my run, knowing that I at least had some new numbers to add to my spreadsheet. Well, that and the sweat soaked clothes I finished every run with- and I mean drenched.
The Sweat Factor
I considered sweat to be the most obvious indicator that my body was reacting to my efforts- because it was. Sweat poured off me like I was Richard Gere getting sprayed with the hose in An Officer and a Gentleman (GREAT movie BTW). I got so used to sweating profusely, that after a while I could functionally gauge approximately how far/long I’d been running when the spigots turned on. I actually began to anxiously wait for the sweating to begin, in part because it was proof that my efforts were having an impact on my body, but also because I considered that moment in the slightest way to be where I flipped the script so to speak, as though I turned the tables on my bemoaning body and complaining psyche. Every drop of sweat I equated to a tear that my body was shedding in protest to what I was putting it through, as I was forcing it to change from something it had become far too comfortable being, and into something that I now wanted to be, i.e better. Sweat baby sweat. Cry body cry. Sweat in my eyes, didn’t care. Sweat in my mouth, didn’t care. Sweat up my nose (don’t even know how that’s possible, but yeah), didn’t care. Bring it on.. I’m running through it. Sweating was/is coincidentally one of my Cardinal Rules– high on the list in fact, and that goes way back to almost the beginning, well before it became such an individually motivating factor for me.
The Run Directive
As the seemingly countless drops of sweat spattered around me as I trudged onward, one other thing that I could never escape was the raspy sound of my shoes as they hit either Mother Earth or the treadmill. And while I have never been accused of being silent like a ninja, I honestly can’t comprehend the sheer noise that my feet make, regardless of where I am or what they’re running on. On the treadmill, every step sounds like screeching car tires, and when I’m outdoors, it’s as though I have cinder blocks chained to my ankles and I’m dragging them through gravel. At times the sound is deafening and it’s all that I hear. What I started to do, in an attempt to “deal” with it (i.e. to avoid driving myself mad)- was to use it like a metronome, where the sound of my shoe was the “tick” and the pendulum was the meter that became my strides. Automatic, repetitive, never ending, thought no longer required. My mind quickly expounded upon that perception, enhanced with visualization from arguably some of the best television ever, and in my mind’s eye the Run Directive was set, and it was out of my conscious control. All I had to do was to listen to the sounds of my feet for the Run Directive to be engaged, and like an automaton my body was running, allowing my mind to wander- which it began to do more often.. typically thinking about things I should try to write about in this blog.
Baby Steps – Huge Results
Ok well not baby steps, but definitely smaller steps. This was a “breakthrough event” that I mentioned in my previous post, where I simply took shorter strides, and by doing so it enabled me to run longer distances before my intermittent (fatigue driven) walks. I can’t begin to express the significance of this “simple” modification to my running style/method/form (whatever word properly equates to that I just ran slower), but it opened up a whole new world of running to me- in a very short timeframe. Within a week on the treadmill I was running two miles nonstop. I certainly wasn’t setting any speed records (other than PB’s), but every run set the standard that once established, I used as my benchmark to not fall behind. Confident that on the treadmill I could achieve two miles nonstop (and even up to 3.25 miles with a run/walk), barely a week into the month on the first Saturday I could run outdoors, I set out to see if I could make it through a complete 5K running. My plan was to start on a familiar route which I had run before, but to go until I was 2 miles out, and then turn around, hoping to make it through 3.1 miles (5K) on my way back before walking (as needed) home. Using my phone and the MapMyRun app as my guide (it announces each mile when achieved), I optimistically took off running for what I deemed to be a true test of my running mettle. I’m still honestly not sure if I faintly heard the first mile’s notification or not, but at the time, the lack of a clear confirmation definitely contributed to me thinking that the volume on my phone was either off and/or that the app had somehow paused (which is an option), because heading into what certainly should/could have been over 2 miles (I could tell by the exorbitant sweating), it was radio silence.
Inspiration from Above
Now inspiration comes in various ways for different people, but on that day, at that moment, just when I was beginning to consider walking, I happened to look up and see in the sky ahead of me a bald eagle soaring effortlessly, circling in a beautiful blue and white sky. A little thing I know, but it was a huge spark for me- so much so that I quickly grabbed my phone out of my pocket to take a video (it’s a bit shaky as I was about to pass out). It was literally seconds after I stopped filming that I heard the 2 mile notification chime out, and I turned around and headed back home on my way to finish what would be my first full nonstop 5K run (PB).
Knowledge is Power
After my “Eagle Run” where I ran 5K (completing over 4 miles total on the day, walked/ran to finish), my mindset changed. I knew I could finish a 5K Race (although I still had to officially find, enter, participate in one, etc.), so the motivation to “clear that bar” was somewhat diminished, however at the same time I knew I could not let up on the work ethic and/or overall goal. And while I had actually lost a few pounds, I was far from being anywhere near close to pool ready. From that point on.. although every run was still torture, and I was certainly no marathoner- I now had a confidence knowing that when I laced up my shoes and started a run, even though I would have to push myself (every time) I had it in me to cross the finish line. The question I had to ask myself now was- what kind of finish lines was I going to set for myself?
My 30 Day Running Experiment – Completed
With a goal of basically not giving up (or giving in), for thirty consecutive days (call it a month), I hoped to chart a course for success while achieving a personal challenge. And while a 30 day running experiment might sound like a big commitment, broken down it’s really just thirty small commitments. What truly helped me get through each day’s run was knowing that if I could just finish the next/final few minutes or the mile I was working on (FWIW lol at me, at the time it seemed like FOREVER, even though it was literally minutes) I would be able to carve that statistic into my permanent personal history (i.e. my spreadsheet), each record of which I considered to be like blocks of the Pyramids or bricks of the Great Wall- that I had to continue to amass if they were ever going to amount to anything worthwhile. One step at a time, one outing at a time, one day at a time, etc. rinse repeat. Although not without unexpected challenges (and not even of my own making- at one point we thought the household had Covid) I pulled it off in March and made it through my thirty days; here are the results of my efforts:
Month 3 – (aka 30 Day Running Experiment) Training is in the Books.
Quick recap- Month 3 (March) completed- along with a successful “30 Day Running Experiment” where I ran for a consecutive 30 days without missing/skipping a single day. With 30 outings (vs 19 last month/28 total on the year), and a total runtime of just under 19 hours (18:54), I covered 87.72 miles (vs. 7¾ hours & 36.15 miles last month/10½ hours & 47.98 miles on the year). Following up on February’s big accomplishment of my first full nonstop 1 mile run, in March I completed my first full 5K run (6 total in the month, 4 RW + 2 TM), as well as an “extended” 5K that turned into my first nonstop 4 mile run. In addition to notching what I considered to be some respectable running times/distances (and satisfying a personal challenge), over the course of the month I lost over 10 pounds- and while I figure it was mostly just water weight, the numbers were trending in the right direction. My hopes remain high and my sights are locked in on one thing for sure now.. my goal for April is to get my official 5K medal!
