Have you gone streaking?  Run streaking that is.  With clothes on.

I participated in a run streak challenge last year, but didn’t quite meet my original goal of 30 days.  I believe I made it to day 21 and although that was the longest consecutive streak I’d accomplished to date, it fell a bit short.

This year, I attempted to streak from June 4th to July 4th… and I did!  I just finished 31 days of streaking, running a minimum of one mile per day.  I ran in several states (Florida, Georgia and Ohio), different terrains (beach, road, trail, track, treadmill) and all different times of day. Somedays were easy rest days and I only ran the one (slow) mile.  Other days were more challenging and I did long runs or speed work.  Some runs were solo and many were with running buddies or family (my little guy tagged along for several!)   Regardless of the details, I always ran at least one mile.  And most days, I enjoyed it!  I talked myself into an “I GET to run today” mentality and embraced the task.

I really enjoyed the challenge and thought of a few reasons you should consider taking one on for yourself.

1. It helps make running habit forming.  And I’m not talking about that 21 day myth thing.  I just mean getting out there, everyday… it gets you into a daily routine.  It forces you to make time for running.  Time for yourself.
2. One is rarely enough.  One mile that is.  Most days, even if I was tired and had told myself, “I’ll just go run one slow mile,”  I would end up running more than one.  Its like, you get dressed, you get your playlist going, you get out the door… and then adrenaline & endorphins kick in, leaving you running for 20-30+ minutes instead of the “one slow mile” you’d talked yourself into.
3. Be a part of the awesomeness of the streaking community.  I loved checking the #runstreak and #RWrunstreak hashtags and seeing what others were up to.  I felt good about taking on a new fitness challenge. And now, of course, I have run streak bragging rights… if that kind of thing is impressive.  We runners are a strange breed.  If you are one, you get it.  If you aren’t… well, you’re probably not reading this anyhow!

This year I missed the Runner’s World challenge start date of Memorial Day, but hopefully I’ll hop on one of theirs someday.  Popular streaks I’ve heard of are Thanksgiving to New Years, Memorial Day to July 4th and then the longer one of Memorial Day to Labor Day.  I’ll surely partake in one in the future!

I’ll leave you with this quote from one of the #RWRunStreak Instagram posts by @RunnersWorldMag.  “Everyday is a good day when you run.” Its true.  So I had 31 good days in a row.  Don’t you want to say the same?