How I'm Going To Get Back In Shape Challenge

I have a crazy plan/challenge that I'm going to set out to do.  It's called Colleen's Base Building 30-Day Challenge, or CBB30DC for short.  I like to make things into acronyms.  So what is CBB30DC?

Run every day for 30 days for an hour each day.  That's it.  Pace doesn't matter, just get in 60 minutes of running every single day for 30 days.

And so far I've completed Days 1 and 2!

Day 1 - 7 miles in 61:00 - average 8:43 pace

I played a game with the pace settings and my music, like I usually do on the treadmill.  I started at 6.7 and every 2 songs, I increased the speed by .2, then decreased by .1, then increased by .2, etc.  The entire hour was all between 6.7 and 7.2.  Actually I did the last 2 minutes at 8 minute pace just to cruise on in to the finish.

Day 2 - 7 miles in 60:10 - average 8:36 pace

I read my Kindle for the first 15 minutes while the speed was set at 6.7 and 6.8.  It wasn't the easiest to do so (it's way easier to read on the bike - treadmill and elliptical are pretty bouncy).  So then I switched to music - an awesome new playlist I created.

Unfortunately, it's a whole lot harder to not worry about pace/distance when you're on the treadmill with those metrics staring you in the face.  I even ran over my prescribed 60 minutes just to get in a full 7 miles.  Who wants to log 6.87 miles or some obscure decimal that when you can log 7.00?  But I know I should just adhere to the challenge, so I will try to in the future.

I do cover the display board up with a towel while I run on the treadmill, but I also peak every so often.  Even if I didn't peak though, I know exactly what pace I'm running/how far I'll make it (plus or minus a few hundredths of a mile haha).  Really, what else is there to do on a treadmill besides math in your head?

I can't wait to run outside again to truly do this challenge not worrying about pace/distance!  I'll just wear my watch and run around until I hit 60 minutes.  When I run on my own outside, I am sure I will go closer to 8 minute pace, as that is my usual normal run pace.  I tend to really like to know my exact mileage though, especially for my logging purposes.  I'm sure I'll end up going straight to www.mapmyrun.com or even just using my Garmin (I got it for Christmas - I can't NOT use it).  But I guess what I'm trying to do is not get beat up over having a "slow" run because in all actuality, they are necessary and I'm not in good enough shape right now to be doing under 8 minute pace runs.  So while I'm on the treadmill, which is a mental battle every minute, I'll keep the pace nice and easy so it's not as much of a physical battle as well.  I'll save that for the REAL marathon training cycle...I can try to enjoy this "base-building" time :)

So, some general thoughts on this challenge I made for myself:

- Realistically, I know running 30 days straight for an hour a day is probably not going to happen.  Heck, running 30 days straight for any length of time probably wouldn't happen.  I know myself.  But that's why I made this CHALLENGE to see if I can do it.  And now that I'm telling all of you about it, I have to do it.  Hopefully I will do all 30 days though and then treat myself to a really relaxing week/something special.

- I know that running 30 days straight for this period of time may not seem like the healthiest thing to do.  They (the running gods) say you should only increase weekly mileage by 10% per week to avoid over-use injury.  Well, my weekly mileage has always been so inconsistent that I obviously have never followed this rule.  I try to.  I make training plans that encourage this.  But then I get lazy for 4 days straight one week, super motivated the next, etc.  If I were to run 7 miles a day for 7 days, I'd get 49 miles.  Honestly, that would put me at one of my highest mileage weeks ever (I think my highest was 52 in 7 straight days of running during the summer before senior year of college when I was training to try-out for the cross country team.)  Most other weeks that summer and through the fall season were also consistently 40-50 miles.  So I know I can do this mileage.  I also think I can do even more, but I'll share why in another post soon enough.

I'm going to increase my stretching and foam rolling during this time and also keep up with weight training and core work!  And then, by the end of February, I should have a solid base to continue building off of as we head into the spring.  Although right now it feels as if spring my never come.

Have you ever made up a difficult challenge for yourself?

What is the longest number of days in row you have run?