31 Runs & 31 Planks in 31 Days

We did it! I ran a minimum 3.1 miles 31 times for 31 days in a row in January to celebrate my 31st birthday! Possibly more miraculous is that Asia and ran all but 4 of these runs together! We also took a photo every single day. Some photos were pretty awesome – some were pretty mediocre, but they all documented a tiny bit of this adventure.

Most days we ran in the morning, meeting at 6:15 AM (the sun is up by then thankfully) and running 3.1 miles. Some days we made it to the Kook and back for 4.2 miles. I added in a few longer runs on the weekends (up to 8.4 miles) but nothing crazy. There was  little variety – we ran a 3.1 mile fun run with a group to kick off the Carlsbad 5000, we did a Oiselle Team meet up run one day, we met friends for a trail run one time and one night I ran around Mike’s work parking lot after I joined him and Brooke for their ACTIVEx strength workout. But other than that, there was a lot of Encinitas coastline to take pictures of. Luckily, it’s pretty freaking beautiful.

I kept the planking up but started getting lazy about pushing it past 1 – 1.5 minutes each time. So ultimately I didn’t go for the 5 minute plank (but did make it 3:30 on an ambitious day). The planking became a habit within a few weeks in – I may have to make this a new post-run routine. I can always spare at least a minute to plank!

Final Stats: 

• Miles Run: 119
• Average Miles/Day: 3.84
• Minutes Planked: 40
• Average Plank/Day: 1 minute 29 seconds
• Solo Runs: 1 (on the days Asia couldn’t run with me I either ran with Brooke or Mike or both!)

This was a fun challenge! It was nice to get out and move every day without feeling like I was waking up super early to do so. It also helped having Asia there to motivate me! After over a year of always training for something – Phoenix, RnR SD and then CIM, it has been nice to run just for the joy of it. The challenge has kept me motivated to continue running but the pressure is off. As long as I get in my 3.1 mile run, the goal has been achieved. I always feel better after the run, no matter how tired or unmotivated (particularly on those days we ran after a long work day) I felt before.

So how am I going to celebrate!? By running a half marathon! Tomorrow I’m running the Surf City Half Marathon. It’ll be for fun clearly – I took 3 weeks off for New Zealand and then ran every single day for a month….. with no speed work of any kind. My Dad and Step Mom are running the race (it’ll be their 2nd half marathon), it takes place in my home town and a bunch of Oiselle teammates are running as well. It should really be a fun race! Mike is going to run with me and we plan to high five, cheer and take fun photos through 13.1 miles.

1 month of 2015 down, 11 to go. Still thinking about goals for the rest of the year, but for now, I think I’m off to a pretty good start!

Have you ever done a Run Streak or PlankaDay challenge? What is the minimum amount you’ll run to feel like you got exercise?