She Runs by the Seashore

I ran every day of June, completing my first real attempt at a run streak. I actually ran 32 days in a row, as I also ran the last two days of May.

I logged 92.21 miles during June, an average of about 3.07 miles per day. This included at least one mile per day, and while I’m nearly positive those one-milers were done without any walking, some of my other runs included some walking because of the heat. During some runs, I took breaks instead.

Here are some of my takeaways.

1. I completed one of my running goals for 2015. I wanted to run every day of any one month during 2015: Now that’s done. To meet my other two goals, I’ll have to run 1,200 miles this year and run a 10K in less than 50 minutes.

2. A run streak provides some real motivation. Once I had already run 22 days in a row, I wasn’t going to pass on getting at least a mile in on June 23, even though a storm had recently started when I arrived home from work. Worried about the lightning, I was encouraged to run faster, and logged the mile in about 8:01. This made me get out there every day.

3. However, I was not motivated to run long. Knowing that I had to run every day to meet my goal did not encourage me to do any long runs. I did plenty of short runs, with the longest run of the month being just under 6.5 miles. I did do seven 5-milers/5-point-something-milers.

4. I did a lot of short runs. Normally, I won’t bother going out if it’s just for a mile, but that’s part of the streak. There were seven days that I just ran one mile.

5. I did a lot of laundry. Running every day plus not having endless running shorts plus hot weather equaled a lot of laundry. If you’re going to embark on a streak, you’ll have to work this into your schedule.

6. My legs started to get tired. My legs seemed to feel a little more sluggish at times.

7. June worked out well. It was certainly a hot month to embark on a run streak, but it staying light out so late was essential to being able to run every day.

8. I ran about the same amount as I would in a normal month. Although I came up with the additional goal of trying to stay at an average of 3 miles or higher per day, which encouraged me to run a little more, I did about the same mileage as I would in a normal month. My 92.21 miles for June was in between my totals for January — 91.67 — and April — 93.5. March was a higher-mileage month, while February and May brought fewer miles.