On January 1, 2020, early morning and still lying in bed, I came up with a crazy idea. I don’t usually make a New Year's resolution, but at that exact moment, I needed to do something. I remember thinking that I needed to set myself a goal that would allow me to spend time moving myself forward. So, I set a goal to run 366 miles in 366 days. Well, to be fair, I said 365 in 365, until I realized that 2020 was a leap year (because why not?) and adding that one mile was just the first of many surprises 2020 has thrown my way.
Fast forward to today. It’s October 24-day 298 out of 366- and I just finished my 148th run of the year and my 366 mile. I did it. I actually, seriously, 100% did it. I’m not going to lie to you, either. The emotions I’m feeling as I type are stronger than I thought they would be. I don’t know if I can fully explain it in words, but let’s be real, you came here to read this blog post, so I’m going to try my best.
Now that I can sit down and look back, let me tell you the two main things I’ve learned.
First, I can do amazing things.
I did something I NEVER thought was possible and yet, I finished 68 days ahead of schedule. As crazy as it sounds, I don’t even really ‘love’ running, so I’m not sure why I picked it- and I can honestly say running is still hard for me. Every single one of the 148 runs was hard in some way. I joke that, honestly, it never got easy. But that’s okay. Because I can do amazing things- and they can be hard things- and I can do them anyway.
Second, I did not do this alone.
Yes, it was my body that was running. And yes, on many of the runs I was “technically” alone, but it never felt that way. I have never been more certain about this one fact, and that is, you do not accomplish amazing things all by yourself. At least I didn’t. I have the most amazing support group of humans who, with confidence that I didn’t always have, knew I could meet this goal. I didn't always know that.
Truth moment- as I was approaching 200 miles, I nearly quit. I told myself that 200 was a huge number and it was a ton of miles and that I could just stop there and be proud of myself. This was the only moment of doubt I had in these 366 miles, and you know what kept me going? My son. He’s 9 and joined me on probably at least 20 of my runs this year. He would ride his bike (although, to be fair, it's because he runs so much faster than me that riding was easier to stick with me…kids, am I right?) and would never leave my side. I always told him he could ride ahead (we had a set path so he memorized the route pretty quickly) and to just never leave my line of sight.
I literally encouraged him to enjoy his bike ride and not stay so slow with me every single time he would come along. And yet, every single time he never left me. He didn’t just stay with me, though. He encouraged me. He told me how amazing I was doing- even when I felt like I was practically walking. He told me he was proud of me and that he loved me and that he knew I wouldn’t give up. Well, that’s funny, because even I wasn’t sure of that- but he was. I don’t know if you know this, but when your 9 year old pulls this kind of wisdom out, it hits you right in the feels. Seriously. Right there.
And it wasn’t just my son. My daughter (7) came on a few of the runs- but as she explained, 366 miles is a lot, so she’s just going to stay home. Preach, kid. I know the feeling. Remember that 200 mile slump I hit- well, my friends were there, too. They encouraged me and met me for early morning runs to make the whole thing suck less- and it worked. They got me through. Like I said, seriously, I could not have done this alone. And as always, my husband never left my side. He pushed me out of bed when I wanted to hit snooze for a 3rd time. He rearranged his schedule so I could always find time to get in a run. He even ran with me sometimes. He parented, cleaned, cooked, worked a full time job, and did literally everything so that, when I needed to, I could focus on myself. More important than all the ‘stuff’ he did, he never doubted me. He honestly knew I could do this. Even when I didn’t. If that’s not what a life partner is all about, then I don’t know what is. I mean, seriously. I know this is a long section- but I cannot stress enough. Life is so hard (and so is running, lol) but the people you surround yourself with make it easier. They believe in you when you forget to believe in yourself. They make it possible to be the best you.
I’ve been joking for about 2 months now that, as soon as I hit 366 miles, I’m never running again. And truthfully, I’ll probably take a few days off. But I don’t think I can just stop. I’ve changed. And I’m not talking about my body-although my leg muscles are killer right now. I’m talking about my mindset. Accomplishing this goal has reinvigorated me. It reminded me that I’m worth it. That I’m allowed to grow and shine and be amazing.
And, in case you’ve been living under a rock, it’s still 2020- so we seriously never know what’s in store for us. If we treat my journey with running as a metaphor for life- remember that we know two things to be true. In life, you can do amazing things-and when you’re worried that you can’t, let the people around you build you up and keep pushing along. One step, one run, one mile at a time- we can, we will, and we must just keep going.
To finish, here are some fun stats detailing exactly how I reached 366 miles:
Overall Stats:
Total runs: 148
Days to complete: 298
Total time: 81 hours and 43 minutes
Longest streak: 62 days (that’s actually current)
Average Pace: roughly 13:05
Things I’ve run through this year:
-a freaking pandemic
-all four seasons (including snow, rain, sleet, scorching sun, and more)
-3 cases of strep throat
-2 ear infections
-after a torrential rain that flooded our basement
-followed again two days later by an even worse flood
-after a tornado hit us- considering we were in the actual path- we only lost our trampoline and everyone is fine, but I’d like to never experience that again.
-a few ‘officially virtual’ 5k’s
-everyone in my household had a birthday- and only Olive’s wasn’t taken by Covid.
-farthest run from home: the hotel fitness center in Washington D.C. while visiting my sister at college
Things that got me through these runs because any distraction is a good distraction:
Audio (for outside runs):
-the Hamilton soundtrack- probably at least 40 times….it was a great distraction trying to memorize the words…
-Bobby Bones podcast-he used to be on the radio but they took the station away, so finding this helped pass the time.
-The Piketon Massacre podcast- ugh….just don’t…
Visual (for treadmill runs):
-Hamilton- at least 3-4 times….I know, I can't help it though...it worked!
-Disney+, specifically all the NatGeo documentaries (think Titanic) and shows like Brain Games, etc.
-The Great British Bake-Off- don’t knock it until you try it
-Basically anything trashy that made me forget I was running
*And to my cheering section that came to celebrate my last run today....you are amazing humans and I appreciate you more than you know.
The final word: Thank you for reading this. Writing this ‘I met my goal’ blog-post was a huge motivator for me along the way. So just by reading this, you may not have known it, but you played a part in my accomplishing this goal. I appreciate you and I hope you remember that you, too, can do amazing things. I promise I’ll help.
