This pandemic has turned the world upside down. It has taken so much energy and motivation in so many ways and from so many things. I have definitely lost motivation to write much of anything. I’ve been telling myself for months I was going to get back on top of posting again…. oops. But there is one thing this pandemic has not taken – my runstreak! Today is my runstreakiversary, and I am so grateful!

As I wrote in my first blog post, I started my streak because I was tired of being lazy. I was tired of having a day totally free, being able to run, planning to run, then not making it off the couch. And while it was not the reason I started my streak, I also had weeks or months at a time when I’d be so busy, I wouldn’t find the time or make the time to run. If the option was get up early to get the run in, or get the extra sleep, I’d tell myself I needed the sleep.

In this past year, I have had multiple months at a time that I could look at and know, if not for my streak, I wouldn’t have run. At the beginning of the pandemic, I lost all motivation. I hated running outside because there were too many people and not enough of them were wearing masks so I didn’t feel safe, and I hated running inside because it was boring. But at the time I was doing minimum 3 miles a day, so I was able to push through at least that every day just to keep the streak. Then later in the summer, my job got super busy and I was working 12 hour days plus a 40 minute commute each way. If not for my runstreak, I know I wouldn’t have run, I would have said I needed sleep, needed to relax, and not recognized how much a run would help. How much it kept me sane. And I’m so grateful that my runstreak kept me going.

I have also learned to get the twinges checked out. Rather than wait for something to get bad, if I feel pain, I call my PT. Luckily I haven’t had to do it much, but in May, when I went to my parent’s country town for a bit and suddenly jumped into hills, my calves and shins screamed! Unfortunately that time I did let it go long enough to drop the 3 mile minimum I’d gotten up to for the prior 6 months back down to 1. But I was able to keep my 1 and therefore able to keep my streak! And mid October I was able to come back to 3 miles a day and hopefully I can stay there!

It’s been so sad to not have races, and to have so many races cancelled. But I am looking forward to when they can be resumed safely and I’m excited for all the beautiful places I’ll get to see. Everyone staying healthy is so much more important.

I have been lucky, so far, I have not contracted covid. My parents and my sister stayed healthy as well. While my brother, sister in law, and 2 of 4 nieces did get covid, they seem to be fully recovered and we’re hoping it stays that way. Hopefully the vaccine will be widespread soon and we can all resume normal running. For now, I’ll keep my streak. But most days will sadly be minimum days as running with a mask is challenging. No complaints though! I want to do my part to keep everyone safe.