Howdy folks, it’s “downhill slalom week” on my 365-day runstreak. Just reached 183 days today so only 182 days to go to 365. Finally over the hump, past the 50-yard line, seeing the shrinking side of the rest of the year. It has been difficult. Digging deep to find my running core. Above Julia Mancuso, American multi-medalist and Olympian, demonstrates how to actually do the downhill slalom. Of course I know nothing about skiing since I never have. But anything past the halfway point of a goal or challenge is downhill slalom in my book.

But I know something about momentum and just making one consecutive running day stick to the next. After a while, my runstreak takes on a life of its own and doesn’t want to die. That seems to be the common experience of run-streakers as reported to me. Exhaustion and fatigue have become more common but I’m handling those with better sleep and nutrition. And naps! And experimenting with EnergyBits. (Review coming in a later post).

Consistency has been a struggle for me in the past, I tend to go hot-and-cold with running and haven’t been able to find a strong groove that is deep enough to “ride” if you will. But perseverance seems to be working. Undertraining on alternate days seems to be working. Even miler Mondays.

So the streak plan is to go only until Nov. 18, day 365. If possible, I could extend that to Dec. 31. Hypothetically. But after running a 50K in October, I will need some rest and recovery time. Sometimes I feel like I’m getting the rest but not always the recovery time I need now.

A secret tip on lengthening your runs (so simple it’s going to sound crazy): take the LONG WAY home! When you are faced with twists and turns, decisions in your run that you must make whether to extend the run or “bag it” (shorten it), try to extend whenever possible…limited exceptions: when conditions prevent it, you are pressed for time, or you get sick or exhausted while running. It works a lot of the time. Sometimes I even tell myself “bag it” and sometimes my legs will override my brain. There’s that mind:body connection and mind:body conflict sometimes on which part of you wants to run on and which part may not. To make this very simple for you, listen to this classic song below (Long Way Home by Supertramp). When you are faced with forks in the road, always take the road less traveled. Sometimes this means the opposite turn of what you usually take (try running an entire run taking the opposite turns sometime.) RUN LONG, then run home. Take the long way home. Long way home. Long way home. Welcome home!

Here’s the Supertramp live video from Paris 1979, reliving my childhood hearing this.

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