A year of running every day :)

[Stolly]

Some time around now one year ago I decided to run everyday and now, one year on, I'm still plodding on. I'm not sure of the mileage for the full year as I've only had a garmin since last Christmas but, so far in 2012, I'm averaging getting on for 6.85 miles a day with 1,285 feet of climb. Some interesting feedback from my (first ) year:

1. Running daily is a doddle

2. Having a dog to run with is a prime motivator, especially with pretty much all of my weekday running in the winter being headtorching in the hills around Settle

3. I haven't run to any particular plan but just run as I feel like - sometimes ploddy, sometimes fast(ish), sometimes long and sometimes short

4. It may be a coincidence or it may be down to the running but I haven't had a cold or a sniffle all year. Once or twice I've felt like I might be going down with something but its almost been like my body has rejected it flat and next day I've been fine and dandy

5. I'm not sure its improved my racing completely - sometimes I've just raced on the back of too much running (Borrowdale a week after a failed Bob Graham attempt with daily running in between was never going to be my finest blast) but in other races I've definitely raced really well

6. I've probably lost about 20 pounds in weight

7. 99.9999999% of my running has been in the hills and off road

8. I haven't had much in the way of injuries - the odd minor ankle twist and one (probably fractured) little toe injury that still flares up from time to time. Tempting fate I know but I have less niggles now than I pretty much ever have had

9. The quality versus quantity of running is (for me) completely irrelevant. I run better the more I run. Full stop.

10. I'm now on my fifth pair of Walshes for the year

Quite possibly the best thing I've ever done from a running point of view

[Cliveybaby]

Well done. I need to lose weight so might need to bridge that gap from 5 days plus 1 day of crosstraining to the full 7 days.

Keep going and you will be the next Ron Hill

[Sasquatch]

Well done Stolly. Do you have a minumum time/distance rule?

Im currently trying to run twice on 2 days of the week tues/thurs and 5 days overall. I got a book on how to run quicker (by Julian Goater) and he says mixing sessions is what its all about even if some are just 20mins very steady in am and then intervals/quicker for an hour at night. Hope it might speed me up a bit (and I'm too fat!).

[Stolly]

Well done Stolly. Do you have a minumum time/distance rule?

I did have a sort of minimum, more time based than distance, of say 40 minutes but nowadays I'm not especially bothered. I think my shortest distance run has been just over a mile, which I did the day before a really long and mental run - the shortness of one was more than compensated for by the mentalness of the other. To be fair I think I've only run such a paltry one miler a couple of times with otherwise quite a variation of distances, depending how I feel and what I'm planning for the weekend. My running in the last 7 days for instance has been:

Tuesday 5.2 miles (624 ft)
Wednesday 3.8 miles (586 ft)
Thursday 2.5 miles (309 ft)
Friday 9 miles (1670 ft)
Saturday 11 miles (1602 ft)
Sunday 9.2 miles (2078 ft)
Monday 3 miles (435 ft)

[Hes]

Having run with you before you started your regime and then witnessed the transformation, I can vouch for it massively improving your running both in speed and strength (and you weren't exactly a slacker before). The weight has dropped off you too. It's also improved my running because its inspired me to get out more and I need to keep up! I'm definitely stronger and faster then I've ever been so thanks for that!

[Stagger]

Fair play to you Stolly, it an impressive effort. All the best for the future.

[Alf]

A year of being dragged round them *leeding Settle hills by a running madman (recently joined by a running madwoman), being chased by cows, needing to get my paws resoled 5 times and my only respite is those interminable photo shoots....well I need a rest

Harry

[Hes]

:thumbup: ha ha ha. He got dragged along the Pembrokeshire Coast Path too...and got chased by cows there.

A year of being dragged round them *leeding Settle hills by a running madman (recently joined by a running madwoman), being chased by cows, needing to get my paws resoled 5 times and my only respite is those interminable photo shoots....well I need a rest

Harry

[Howgill Tarrier]

9. The quality versus quantity of running is (for me) completely irrelevant. I run better the more I run. Full stop.

This is interesting. Most of 'the books' suggest a focus on quality but I would agree that, for me and my limited experience, I ran better and had better results when I had a higher mileage and didn't worry about taking rest days, rep sessions etc. Difficult to judge when each run and race is so different, and I suspect that in my case this is pyschological: 'quality' sessions feel more like serious hard work and make running seem more like a chore than a joy.

Only been racing since last November but my best results have all been on the back of longer but more leisurely runs, and when I am enjoying myself. My worst results have come when the race felt like a 'quality' session: a chore not a joy.

Not a very scientific approach and I'm sure quality sessions work wonders for others. This could actually just mean I'm lazy and hate hard work...

Glad it's working for you Stolly

[Stolly]

This is interesting. Most of 'the books' suggest a focus on quality but I would agree that, for me and my limited experience, I ran better and had better results when I had a higher mileage and didn't worry about taking rest days, rep sessions etc. Difficult to judge when each run and race is so different, and I suspect that in my case this is pyschological: 'quality' sessions feel more like serious hard work and make running seem more like a chore than a joy.

Its a bit of a generalisation but I'm not particularly driven by races, maybe doing one event each month, so I don't worry too much about them and my racing 'performance'. That said the very best training for races that I know of is actually running races. And if I did run a race each week I know for sure my race times would improve.

But so would the chance of injuries and, in any event, running with Harry my collie is much more fun