I’M BACK! Happy New Year! I hope you all had a joyful and restful (at least a bit) holiday season.
The new year means that I’m done with Run 366. That’s right - I ran at least 1 mile every single day of 2024. Yeah, I don’t know how I did it either.
The last quarter of the year was especially challenging. With cold weather and nothing to train for, it got harder and harder to motivate myself to get out and get my mile done. Thank God for my girlfriend, Bridget, and her consistent encouragement and planning.
As the final weeks of this journey approached, I began reflecting on the year. It’s wild to me that I could barely run one mile and now my favorite distance to run is four miles. I learned that I’m far more capable than what I give myself credit for. I learned to love the routine and time to myself. I learned to appreciate the world we have. I learned to tough it out through rain and cold and wind and fog. I learned that, like most things in life, running is better with people you love.
About eight days before the challenge was over, I realized I was about 25 miles away from hitting 800 miles for the year. So, obviously, I made that my new goal. That was the most I had run in a week since my half marathon in October. And it honestly felt so good. For some reason, running longer distances felt better than when I would just do a mile? Either way, I hit both goals - 366 days and 800 miles.
So, what’s next? That’s a great question that I have gotten so much. And, thankfully, I do have an answer for you. I want to continue to do a mile a day in 2025, but I am now incorporating intentional walks. Running every single day kind of turned it into a chore that I had a hard time enjoying, so I’m thinking this will help with that. And then… I plan on doing something I never thought I would do. I am planning on running the 2025 Chicago Marathon. Training for that will start in the spring, but, until then, I will be running and lifting to try to keep in shape (at least a little bit).
If you’re thinking about doing something like this - whether running or otherwise - and have questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to me. I am happy to help!
Thank you all for following along on this journey and encouraging me along the way. It’s not an exaggeration when I say that I wouldn’t have been able to do this without the people supporting me.
Here are my final stats:
January:
Total Miles: 43.52
Fastest Mile: 12:05
Slowest Mile: 17:34
February:
Total Miles: 50.4
Fastest Mile: 11:24
Slowest Mile: 14:20
March:
Total Miles: 59.3
Fastest Mile: 10:57
Slowest Mile: 13:11
April:
Total Miles: 69.2
Fastest Mile: 10:08
Slowest Mile: 12:49
May:
Total Miles: 78.1
Fastest Mile: 9:46
Slowest Mile: 12:41
June:
Total Miles: 74.3
Fastest Mile: 8:47
Slowest Mile: 12:08
July:
Total Miles: 98.1
Fastest Mile: 8:50
Slowest Mile: 11:48
August:
Total Miles: 101.6
Fastest Mile: 8:55
Slowest Mile: 11:52
September:
Total Miles: 75.6
Fastest Mile: 9:32
Slowest Mile: 12:29
October:
Total Miles: 50.1
Fastest Mile: 8:57
Slowest Mile: 12:14
November:
Total Miles: 44.4
Fastest Mile: 9:31
Slowest Mile: 11:59
December:
Total Miles: 54.9
Fastest Mile: 8:55
Slowest Mile: 11:51
Write ya next Wednesday!
