When I signed up to run at least 1,000 miles in 2016 through ilovetorun.org, I thought it would be easy!
After all, I ran a marathon, four half-marathons, two 10-milers and a bunch of other shorter races this year—not to mention all the training that goes into preparing for those races.
But actually, it wasn’t that easy to reach that milestone. I love to run and train for races, but I don’t do it every single day, and 1,000 miles is… well… a lot of miles!
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But as of Dec. 30, 2016, I have hit 1,002.3 miles. And the year isn’t over yet!
I know I wasn’t the only runner taking on this type of challenge. I saw other runners on Twitter and Instagram who posted about running 1,200 miles in 2016 and even 2,016 miles in 2016.
This is the first time I ever logged my miles, month after month, and there were several benefits to doing so.
Logging my miles on a regular basis was really satisfying. Maybe because it’s because I like to make lists and check things off those lists, but I felt a real sense of accomplishment every time I logged more miles.
I was able to see exactly how much I run. I’m only strict about following training plans when it comes to marathons, so I’ve only had a rough estimation of how many miles I run in a given week or month. It was nice to see a hard number, if only for my own sense of pride.
Bragging rights! Totally going to buy a 1,000 miles sticker and put that on my car. Are you really a runner if you don’t put stickers that show off how far you ran on your vehicle? (Kidding.)
While I don’t plan on obsessively logging my miles for a whole year in 2017, I have committed to run at least 100 miles in January as part of a challenge with a group of my friends. Since my next marathon is a few months away, I should be able to hit that number in 31 days.
What are your fitness goals for 2017?
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