Running Streak – Catch Up

I realize I have failed in my ambitious plan to run everyday and blog about it frequently. At least I have kept the running bit up as our twitter followers may have noticed from my daily #RunningStreak tweets. I have been running for 26 days in a row now (haven’t had a chance to dash out yet today) and it is definitely starting to show in the good as well as the bad.

The good: I live on a bit of a hill (readers from Switzerland and Colorado insert condescending snort here ;)) and it can be quite cruel to run up at the end of a run. Thanks to my frequent neighborhood dashes it is getting easier and easier though which has to be good for my cardiovascular fitness and certainly my ego. I tend to get a bit of a stiff neck when working as I am mostly crammed behind a laptop or staring at the small screen of my Lumia 521. Running shakes up the neck muscles nice and proper and although it feels quite rough at times, my neck is in a much better condition generally. My body is clearly melting fat and turning it into muscle – admittedly one of the reasons I started running in the first place. And lastly, I get to see beautiful sights like this frozen pond for as long as I can stand running in the cold. 

The bad: All the muscle building comes at a cost. Muscle ache, stiffness of legs just short of cramping – you probably know the drill. One of my toes is not coping well with the constant use (maybe I should have a gait analysis at some point?). Plus, running every day can be a source of stress. It takes time (which is why I often dash out in the night) and the weather requires constant planning and reconsidering plans (will it be warmer in 2 hours? Do I prefer it warmer and snowing or colder and not? When is the sun setting? Wearing the right outfit according to temperature etc.). I have to do laundry every other day which again takes time. And sometimes I just want a break. But then…

The ambitious: Giving up now is not really an option. Pulling through for not even a month is just sad. And I can’t really make my mind up about an “exit strategy” that does not feel like failure. It is also undeniably useful in terms of bug-fixing to run and test every day. We are working on a bunch of awesome features right now, some already in beta and some to be released within the week. And it is a pleasure to see the app grow and progress and make it better by own experience. So, we’ll see how far I get. At least with live cheering in beta, I’ll always have some nice company. :)

The bottom line: I do not regret having started the challenge and most of the time, the good things far outweigh the bad. So, I’ll just crack on and see how it goes, And maybe I even inspire some of you to do the same.

So, take care and keep it up!

Sarah