Run the Year 2018

Late last year I was looking for a new challenge. I've been walking at least 10,000 steps a day, and not really interested in upping my daily goal. Instead I was looking for a cumulative goal. When I saw friends signing up for Run the Year, I knew I found my challenge. 

Their motto is to "Run, Walk, Crawl..." 2,018 miles in a year. That works out to an average of 5.5 miles a day. I thought walking 10,000 steps a day should equate to about five miles a day, so figuring 2,000 steps equates to one mile, this would be easy peasy lemon squeezy. 

Only that logic failed me in practice.

The days I walk 10,000 steps (a challenge in and of itself), my phone would say I traveled 3.9 miles. Ugh.

There were many winter nights I worked my way up to 5.5 miles by doing laps around the dining room table and throughout the house. No reason to injure myself by slipping on ice.

Every hundred miles I would get a message to say I reached a new goal. One month I was able to get three of those certificates because the first one came on the first of a month. I always had over 200 miles logged in each month, and never had 300 miles.

I wondered how landing a job would impact the necessary time commitment to this project. Then I landed a six-week temp job at Princeton University and between the 12-minute walk from the parking lot and pulling books off their shelves for co-workers, I often had 10,000 steps by noon.

A couple of weeks ago I realized I was in the home stretch.

I wondered which day it would happen. I was estimating Thanksgiving, but then I walked more than usual.

Turns out I reached the goal on November 19 -- 43 days ahead of December 31.

Now I can flip a hinge on the medal to say FINISHER.

Now I'm thinking about a new goal for 2019. After running two half marathons this year (and hating both the training and the actual day of the event) aiming for a marathon is unrealistic.

May you achieve your fitness goals this year and always.