tl;dr I run at least one mile every calendar day #StreakRunnersInternational #UnitedStatesRunningStreakAssociation

*Background* It was April of 2020, and we all know what was going on. I teach at a public high school in classes that are also Dual Credit (meaning the students can receive college credit) and AP (meaning the students can take a test to receive college credit). Pre-Calculus and Calculus I, if anybody was curious. So, there was no easy way around it: I couldn’t stop teaching and give a project or review or something (these things aren’t bad at all—they just weren’t an option for us). The kids and I would have to figure out this new landscape together, and they’d have to learn without being with me every day. I absolutely lost sleep worrying that I wouldn’t be able to give them what they needed and praying every night that I did. Let me fast forward a bit: each day, I would go to the school and film lessons (this worked best because many of my students used this time as an opportunity to get jobs…and a lot of hours); then, if it were a dance day (I’m also a ballet instructor), I’d go to the studio to either film or do a live class on Zoom; after that, I’d go for a daily run for fresh air and sunshine. This was the daily grind. A friend of mine figured out I had been running every day and that it was at least a mile. She told me about something called Streak Running and that there’s an organization (and even a registry) for people who run every day without skipping any days. I found the website www.runeveryday.com and looked up the rules. You have to run a mile (or more) every calendar day and cannot skip any days. You can’t skip today and do two tomorrow, and it has to be running (not walking or skating or swimming, etc.). If you make it to a year, you get to be on the registry.

As of writing this (7/12/24), the beginning of this endeavor was 1,536 days ago. It’s been an entertaining adventure—my students (at school and dance) will even inquire about my progress from time to time. Here comes the cliché part that, let’s face it, most people come to expect from a blog: I’ve learned a lot in this journey of taking the whole “one day at a time” thing more seriously than I could’ve imagined, and such journeys are fantastic for the perspective. This blog will have some older things I’ve written (and shared on the Book) as well as things I add in real time.

I’ve run over 2,100 miles during these 4+ years, but I always say the same thing when I’m describing it: I haven’t run many miles; I’ve run one mile many, many times.