When it’s 48 degrees in January and the first thing you think is “I need to lace up my running shoes and get outside,” you might be a runner. Even if you’ve spent the last year insisting you’re really not a runner.
This is “new year, new me,” so I’ll just put it out there: I am a runner after all. Not a particularly fast one, but a persistent one, and when it comes to long-distance running, persistence counts for more than you know. Somehow over the past two years, I became a person who runs, and if you’re curious how, it literally started with me putting one foot in front of the other. (Read my other tips for getting your miles in from a reluctant runner’s perspective for more.)
On New Year’s Day, flooded with other people’s goals and resolutions on Instagram, I stumbled across the #runtheyear2019 challenge. My interest was instantly piqued. I love a solid goal to work toward.
But then … I did the math. Running 2,019 miles in 2019 is 5.5 miles per day, 38.8 miles per week, 168.3 miles per month.
That’s amazing. But also completely unrealistic for me. I don’t, can’t, and won’t run every day. Even getting that many cumulative miles in during a week or a month is just not going to happen for this busy mama. Not to mention that I’m not certain my ankles and knees could handle it.
But I do want to focus on long-distance running this year, so I set an extremely scaled-down version of this challenge for myself: 365 miles in 365 days. And then to break it down even further: a marathon a month.
OK, not an actual marathon a month. (Obviously, since I’ve never even run a half-marathon yet, much less a full marathon.) But 26.2 miles minimum each month. Preferably outdoors but we’ll see what Chicago winter brings in February.
I like the marathon-a-month concept because it’s very doable even for novice runners. My typical run distance is 3 to 5 miles, but let’s just simplify and think of it in terms of a 5K (3.2 miles). If you break a marathon into 5K races, that would be eight 5Ks (with a tiny bit extra). Eight or nine distance running workouts over the span of 30 days is achievable while still being challenging for this busy mom who also includes HIIT and yoga as part of her fitness routine.
If you complete the marathon-a-month, you’d log 314.4 miles over the course of the year. That leaves 50.6 additional miles to get in somewhere to bring you to your goal of #365days365miles.
The best way to accomplish a goal is to break it down into manageable pieces. I may never be able to #runtheyear2019 … or 2020 … or beyond. But I’m going to give it all I’ve got to get a minimum of 365 miles in this year, and we’ll see where the year takes me.
Now: To commit or not to commit to a half-marathon in May …? Tell me what you think in the comments below or on social media. What’s your favorite distance to run?
