Will It Make You Happy? A New Years Question to a Run Streaker
Welcome to my blog! I’m an ACE and TRX certified personal trainer, who used to be an educator and educational writer. I am also a mom and loving wife. Athletic and interested in fitness my whole life, my passion has long been running. It started when I was a broke graduate student, unable to afford anything more than running shoes and pita bread. These days were a stark contrast to my collegiate racquetball years when I could trounce around athletic clubs fancy enough to hold the real estate for indoor courts because the coach happened to own them. To be honest, it wasn’t hard to ditch the court shoes and all of the other stuff for simple running flats. Running is truly the people’s sport, approachable to anyone and everyone. Despite lavish holiday gift guides in the running magazines, the editors will devotedly espouse the simplicity and accessibility of running. This is why I love to read things written by runners. Save a very few physical limitations, anyone can be a runner, there is no shape or size or height. There is no socio-economic preference and no experience necessary. The guy who has trained his whole life and runs a four minute mile on the track is no more of runner than your aunt who is going out to her first 5k this year. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise. That guy I mentioned on the track will be the first to support me on this statement, and he probably has a book published on the subject.
I’ll start with my run streak story, after all, most people wonder why I run every single day. What if I’m sick, injured, need rest, have a family function? When you think about any exercise regimen, every one of them has wiggle room to miss a day because you have to get the house ready for your in-laws visit. Running streaks don’t seem to fit otherwise normal people who seek to be balanced about life. But, runner or not, the run streak is a fitting narrative for the New Year and it’s resolutions. Throwing limits to the wayside, dreaming big dreams, looking so far off into a distance that you realize there might not be an end. Since I’ve been run streaking, I’ve found this reach motivating instead of rigid or scary, perhaps a mindset to apply when concurring other life assignments.
It all begin along the beautiful California Coast at Sea Ranch on December 30th, 2013. We have a long tradition with close friends, spending New Years together in the cozy Third Bay Tradition style homes situated along the rugged landscape. The quiet patience and perseverance of the wind-bent Monterey Cypress trees provide a perfect metaphor for a quiet New Year, away from the big city parties we attended in our 20s. We play on the beach with the kids, cook fantastic meals with even better wine, and go for runs along the coast.
My friend, Susan, is a perpetually disciplined person who makes New Years Resolutions and actually adheres to them. Real and meaningful goal setting resolutions. At times she has written them on ceramic tiles, and she has collected a massive list of accomplishments along the way. Even better, her motivation is completely for her inner growth and what she appreciates to be for the enrichment of her family and faith. By contrast, I tend to fly by the seat of my pants each day, goals apparent yet still a bit loose and disorganized in my head. It’s not that I have no drive or beacon, but nonetheless, she gave up on encouraging me to focus these disparate thoughts into actual New Years Resolutions years ago. Until.
It was New Years Day 2014. We had already solved all of the world’s problems on our runs the two days prior. So out of nowhere I toss it to The Universe, and to Susan, “I’m thinking about running every single day in 2014.” Susan replies in no way that surprises me given the kind of supportive and reflective friend she is, “Will it make you happy?”
Will it make me happy? The mansuetude of the question was agitating all at the same time. Her question was a limpet mine, the kind of question that won’t ease hold on the mind. How was I supposed to know if a run streak would make me happy? Now I had to find out, and she smiled because she knew just what she had done. Of what worth was my goal? If Susan had simply asked me why I’m going to run at least one mile every single day of the year, I am really not sure what salient argument I could offer in response. It’s certainly not always fun. Any sort of kudos from others are usually mitigated by words like “crazy,” or even “stupid” and “dangerous.” Would the act of running each day, and setting aside, or finding the time, to put on proper running clothes and do the deed each day, transcend something of usual enjoyment, gratification, or purpose? A greater knack for discipline? Had the question been posed differently, I would have given up before I even began.
The first true test to this running bliss concept came a week later. We were boarding on an early morning flight to go skiing in Colorado, and the only time I would realistically get in my run was at 3am. Yes, I just used ‘realistic’ and ‘3am’ in the same sentence and I am surprised too. It was dark, cold, and silent, except for the rustle of unknown animals in the bushes along my remote street, barren of lights and sidewalks. My husband and I love to travel, so I’ve had many pre-flight 3am runs since, most of them just a mile. However, on this first 3am run of my streak, for that matter my first 3am run ever, I ran 3.5 miles. I just had to get down my hill and into civilization where it might be reaffirmed that I’m not the only one awake. I saw two cars on the road that morning and it’s all I needed for the reassurance.
However the test was not over. The next day I found myself at 8,000 feet. I decided to skip the morning run and give it go after skiing, as if the afternoon sun would bring more of the oxygen that I love to breathe. Later in my run streak I would run the day after a marathon, but at this point I can say with quite certainty that I had never run on such tired legs in my life. My husband and 2 boys were in the hot tub while I dusted off the treadmill at the condo. I’m fairly certain that no one has ever used it before, and the front desk attendant looked at me like I had utterly lost the plot when I, still dressed partially in ski garb, asked for the key. Friends at the condo that we’ve known for years seemed to parade by that evening, all with beautiful après ski beverages in hand. As if to test me further, many of them wore slippers.
On the second day of the ski trip, easing into hot tub after my run, my husband affirmed my fledgling run streak by admitting he was a little jealous of this otherwise hair-brained effort. My boys joined in with declaring my super mom status and another condo owner chimed in that it was pretty cool. Despite the situational disconnect of ski vacation and run streaking, no one called me crazy, stupid or dangerous that evening. With my family’s support and the validation of surviving this ski holiday test, my run streak was anointed. I was happy, but what was I happy about and would it last?
Well, here I am, entering into 2017, and organizing ski details again for our annual trip to Colorado. I’ve kept a random inventory of my run streak facts, like that I’ve run at 3am several times each year, but only after 10pm on 3 occasions. So far I’ve run in 46 different cities, 13 states, the District of Columbia, 9 countries, and on 2 cruise ships. I admit that when planning vacations I add priority to a location if I haven’t run there yet. I've suffered the most in the week after marathons, before and after skiing 27,000 vertical feet, in below zero temperatures and in terrible heat waves. Runs on snow shoes make the altitude seem less painful. It’s been a little rough jet lagged and immediately after international flights, but circumstances have never dictated a run in an airport. I’m always in run clothes but once I had to run in my husbands shoes when our bags were lost in Dublin. I have participated in 5ks and marathons and just about every race distance in between, heading straight to the med tent a couple times, but thankfully more often up to the podium. I have visited a few sketchy neighborhoods, beautiful forests, cliffs along coastal waters, beaches, and treadmills looking at a wall. I’ve run on everyone’s birthday, every holiday, and after the Yom Kippur Break the Fast, which is the most difficult one to manage. I’ve only run hungover twice, so you can take that to mean I never party, or I’m really good at partying. I’ll let you decide. Best of all, I have run with my dearest friends, my fabulous twin sister, my sometimes complaining kids, and my patient soulmate.
Running happens regardless of my mood or what is going on in the world. It’s easy to fall into a funk about the state of affairs in our own homes or within the greater community. Committed to my mile, I have found that running can solve many problems, at least temporarily, in 10 minutes or less. When I am annoyed with my kids, or they are annoyed with me, it’s been universally beneficial to declare my obligation to run. I tell the kids that when I get back they will be dressed, have the dishes put away, and speak respectfully to each other and to me. Reciprocally, I tell them that when I return I will be in a better place too, not yell, not make demands, ease up. It’s a cathartic exercise for all of us that has helped us find equanimity every single time. A peaceful home can not be underrated, and I hope the practice is slowly teaching my kids to learn how to take a step back from the perceived agitations we encounter in daily life.
As it turns out, our positive commitment to goals and resolutions that otherwise don’t seem to be about anyone else, almost always does go beyond ourselves. When setting goals and New Years Resolutions, it is empowering to know that they can actually affect others in a positive way. The happiness of normal running took on new look with this run streak. As I sit here again at Sea Ranch on the anniversary of my run streak, I can look at Susan across our flutes of champagne and tell her that, yes, the run streak makes me happy.
