On The Road
530 miles. 365 days. 365 runs.
I ran every day for a year. Here is what I learned.
On March 12th, 2020, my senior year of college lacrosse ended in the blink of an eye. The cancelation of the season was completely unprecedented for the sport, leaving everyone in shock. When the reality of the situation set in, I knew that I needed to find a way to remain fit as well as protect my general well-being. I went from a demanding schedule of exercising three hours a day to no structure at all. With gyms closed and only limited access to dumbbells, I needed something to stay active so I decided to hit the road.
In the past, running had been a hobby of mine, but only on occasion. Conditioning for lacrosse required me to run, but for a specific athletic reason. In the off-season, it was critical to run so that I had the endurance to compete at the highest collegiate level when I returned to training with the team. During the season, my body adjusted to the demands of the sport and the running allowed me to maintain my endurance levels during the season.
After reading about Tim Cieglske’s one mile and beer a day streak, I knew I could take on something for myself. I set out to do a similar challenge (minus the beer).
I have learned so many things throughout this journey but a few takeaways are:
- Start your day with a sweat
Schedule permitting, I complete my run at start of my day, but always before my lift or other workout. While navigating ways to stay active as a former collegiate athlete, I find it extremely beneficial for my overall health to start my day with a sweat. Even when I am not feeling it, I always run to get a sweat in. My mood and productivity increase knowing that I finished my workout in the beginning of the day. I encourage others to do the same as they look to stay active following their competitive athletic careers.
2. Running does not have to suck
When training for lacrosse, I usually dreaded running because it was under someone else’s conditions and reasons. It was something that I just had to do to prepare for conditioning sessions as part of the team. In the off-season, I often did sprints or pushed the tempo as fast as I could while running. It was really difficult, and I always just looked forward to when the conditioning session would be over. However, when running this year, I changed that mindset. I usually ran at a leisurely pace to enjoy my run more. I was pushing myself to go longer distances than I had ever gone before but enjoying the run while I did it. I even hit a 6.5 mile run, 1.5 miles longer than my previous best when starting this challenge. My mindset changed from “when is this run going to be over” to “I enjoy this” while taking in the scenery as I ran. This change of mindset allowed me to think of other things during the run.
3. Running drives my creativity
Working in the creative industry can be challenging to continuously think of new ideas each day. Running this year has allowed me to free my mind and I have found that a lot of my great ideas have come from my daily runs. During my runs my mind would be free and my creativity is endless. When I am not just freely thinking, I have found myself listening to more podcasts when I run. With many new podcasts popping up this past year, there has been an abundance of great content. I would have never actually predicted that this once grueling activity could actually help me continuously learn and help me in my career.
4. Do not give up if something is uncomfortable
Not every day was easy though. Over the past year, I lived in three northern states where snow was frequent and endured being quarantined twice. However, I still got my run in whether it was rain, snow, inside or outside. I knew in the end it would be worth it and I wanted to finish the goal I set out to complete.
In the future, I may be a little easier on myself if I cannot get a daily run in. However, this has been a great learning experience for me and I look forward to incorporating these lessons into my life each day. I cannot wait to see where my run journey takes me next.
