I Ran Every Day in 2021 and This is What Happened...

Sorry. As a web developer who loathes clickbait titles, I had to write one of my own. While I can't say I gained 50 pounds of muscle mass or feel 20 years younger, it’s worth noting a few observations for others pursuing a run streak goal.

Physiological Changes

My weight was almost the same (maybe five pounds less) from 1/1 to 12/31, but here are a few physiological changes I did observe:

Blood Pressure: My gene pool has a history of hypertension and my blood pressure has always run slightly high - usually 130/85 and a few notches higher when a doctor is in the room. During my annual checkup in August, my blood pressure was 110/75.
Stamina: This was probably where I noticed the most difference. By the end of the year, unless I was feeling like total garbage, running three miles on my normal terrain in Columbus became something I could do in my sleep. My average number of miles steadily increased after the heat of the summer (see below). I also noticed on a few backpacking trips this year that hiking up long hills became considerably easier.
Speed: I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to running. I almost never carry a phone nor time my runs. However, even without speed workouts, from the few times I did run with someone who was timing our runs or take observation of the clock after returning home, I observed that my casual pace improved from about 8:00/mi to a little over 7:00/mi for most runs.
Injury Resistance: My biggest fear was that I'd get to day 350 and have a streak-ending injury. Thankfully, that never happened – actually, the opposite. While there were still some aches and pains after several longer runs in a row (see below), and you can't prove a negative, I felt as though my resistance to injuries increased by year’s end. No torn ACLs, broken bones or destroyed knees. Woo-hoo!

Conclusion

If there is one thing I’d say about my 365-day streak, I felt as though I fully experienced the year 2021.

I have three children and am in my early 40s. Time passes at breakneck speed. Somewhat ironically, running every day helped slow down and take stock of the passage of time. My little daily routine created 365 waypoints and a window to reflect on every single day -- whether good or bad.

I ran in two countries, nine states and during every season; there was no escaping the elements. I experienced sweltering heat, frigid cold, sun, pouring rain, snow, sleet and seemingly everything that 2021 had to offer. I saw beautiful sunsets and sunrises, ran by moon or starlight at midnight and saw streets, paths, views, people and wildlife that I know I never would have seen otherwise. I experienced the peacefulness of running down forest paths with no highway noise or people around for miles as well as the excitement of running through bustling city streets. In summary, like the bittersweet feeling of finishing a good book, I was elated to reach my goal, but I was also very sad to see it end.

Goal for 2022

So, given the joy I experienced in 2021, why not continue? I considered extending my streak into 2022 but decided to end it because I really miss running longer distances (8+). I love seeing new places and the freedom of extending my max-radius. By the end of the year, I’d often stand in front of my house for a minute or more deciding which route to go that would be the least boring! Finally, I learned (often the hard way) that it is rough on the body to run 8+ and not take a day or two of rest in between. To be honest, one of the reasons for finishing the year with an 18.5 mile run was to force myself to break the streak on January 1, 2022. Even though I was sore and could barely walk down stairs, it was very weird going to bed that night having not run! My love of running has grown even more after this year, and perhaps because of that, I’m ready to change it up.

Thanks to a kind woman at Fleet Feet who was helping me with some new shoes in late December, I have come up with my goals for 2022.

A soft goal of 20+ miles per week.
A hard goal of running a half-marathon distance (or greater) once per week.