May 31, 2021, the day I joined my second Runner’s World Run Streak where a community of runners accept a challenge to run every day from Memorial Day through July 4th.  It doesn’t sound so hard, but finding a window of time every single day to run outside is easier said than done.  Not to mention the humid hot weather and driving rains of summer storms!  I had done the 41-day run streak the summer before and had rolled my ankle on a D cell battery that someone had left on the side of the road on day 3.  My stubborn self ran through that injury for the remaining 28 days and I was glad when July 4th finally came around.  I was a bit more apprehensive this time around but decided the night before the start, that I would once again accept the challenge and see what I could do.  

The idea of running every day seemed impossible to me as I had chronic tendonitis issues with one of my knees all through my 20s and 30s and could never even run back-to-back days without causing irritation.  Who was I to think that I could now do it in my later 50’s?   I love a good challenge and had already committed in my mind so…. let’s go!

May 31, 2021, was a sunny and seasonably warm day but wasn’t the pleasant day I was hoping for the start of my new run streak.  Overnight, my daughter had fallen asleep at the wheel on a super busy interstate highway and had driven through a guard rail, off the road, and down a ravine.  The vehicle rolled and all the windows were blown out but somehow, she was able to walk away with minor injuries.  The morning was spent dealing with this near-death accident and then going to see the wreckage of the vehicle which had been towed away to a junk yard.  The shock of seeing the demolished vehicle was startling and then getting the enormous bill for leaving it there was another blow. But, the saddest part of this horrible ordeal was that this vehicle was my mother’s SUV which she adored and had given to my daughter to have as her first car.  My mom had passed away just seven months earlier and seeing her beloved car destroyed was devastating.  We spent the morning picking through the glass and mangled steel to get what possessions were still there.  After a long and emotional day, I realized I needed to go run to start the streak.  I had every reason in the world to NOT run and to say “screw it, who cares!”.   My bewildered self laced up and went out at dusk to knock out day 1.

The excitement of a new streak carried me through the hot humid days, but July 4th seemed so far away!   I was caring for my ailing father and made nightly visits to see him.  We also had our sheep and goats at a leased farm and I needed to make trips there twice a day to feed and care for them on top of my full time job.  So many responsibilities and I had to find a way to fit the run in.  Each morning required careful planning to schedule the run so that it would happen.  

Many an evening I would run in pelting rain, lightning storms and wicked heat.  It was non-negotiable in my mind and once I had started, I was going to do all I could to make it.  As July 4th finally came, I decided I should take the streak an additional week since this year’s streak was shorter.  See, Memorial Day fell on the last day of the month this year which basically made this streak a week shorter!  I decided to extend it another week which would make it 42 days.  Day 42 came and then I thought it would be cool to get to Day 50 so as the story goes, the streak went on.

Each day I scheduled in when I would run and at this point, the streak was taking on a life of its own. I had the same juggling act of responsibilities and duties, but having this commitment to me carried me through many challenging times.  Day 100 came that September and as I ran on that beautiful day, I was preparing myself for a call from the Animal ER regarding my dog Harley who was admitted for apparent heart failure.  After many days and ups and downs, he was released and fine.  Then came my first winter of run streaking and between wind, darkness, ice, and frigid temps, I took the attitude of who cares!  It’s only weather!  I challenged myself to deal with the extremes and just do it!   I have to say, I still have an extreme HATE relationship with wind for many reasons!  Life was crazy and times were challenging but I always had the streak to keep me grounded.  That was my non-negotiable and my commitment to me.  

2022 presented significant challenges as my dad’s condition declined and yet I ran.  Middle of the night calls, falls, ambulance visits, and still I ran.  Summer came and baseball season was back and I ran.  Then on August 22, 2022, my dad took his last breath.  Wow, he was gone.   It was hard to believe but he went on his own terms.  Although it was a shock, that evening I went out and ran as my siblings were in his house as we mourned the loss.  Wow, Dad just died a few hours ago and here I am running through his neighborhood like nothing else is going on.  Although this may seem extreme, it kept me grounded.

A week later, it finally hit me.  Covid!  It was Labor Day weekend and I had wished and willed it away for the past two years as I cared for my parents.  I COULDN’T get it because I had to care for them.  That will or some kind of “luck” kept it away but here I was, barely a week since Dad passed, feverish and sick.  But still I ran.   A few weeks later we had the most amazing funeral and celebration for my parents, and still I ran.  We started clearing their house out and dealing with so many memories, and still I ran.   My oldest ended up in the ER with some internal bleeding and I found myself running around the hospital parking lot during a CT scan.  Is this crazy?  No, it kept me grounded.  Another winter came and went, and I started a second job.  On a whim, I bought a piece of property with an old cottage on it and then started a new job all in the same week!   During that winter I cleaned up the property and we built a farm!   And still I ran.  On December 30, 2022 I chopped my finger up with a hedge trimmer and spent six hours in urgent care getting it put back together.  And still I ran.  Spring and summer came and long hours at both jobs led me to schedule my runs after job two.  That meant running most nights at 11:00 pm in whatever weather after working 12–14-hour days!  Yet still I ran despite the “craziness” of it.  The streak gave me a reason to do something for me and I was not willing to compromise that.  As they say, where there is a will there is a way and I took that to heart every single day. 

Life continued with juggling two jobs, caring for two homes, closing out my parents’ estate and still I ran. The streak was always there and never anything I even thought about.  People who knew about it would ask and I would check my watch which kept a day count of the streak for me to even know what day I was on.  I eclipsed the two year mark on Memorial Day 2023 and that seemed crazy!   Summer day trips to Assateague Island every few Fridays and my first mission once I arrived after I set up my beach chair was to go do my run.  Two summers of this with every visit I made there.  I had my loop through the campground and it was what I did, even while at the beach.

Fast forward to the end of 2023 and I was getting closer to what streakers call “comma day”.  That is the day you hit day 1,000 in the streak. I have been a member of a run streak Facebook group for years and had many friends on there who had hit their comma days and a few were even well beyond 2,000 days! I never made that a goal and figured my streak would most likely end up with some traumatic life event where I would be captive in a hospital.  I tried to not think about it and just continued with one day at a time.   December 5th came and our beloved dog Harley had to be put down.  He was such a special boy who was 17 years old and I remembered back to that warm fall day – Run streak day 100 when I thought I was going to lose him.  Here I was now on day  919! 

Crazy busy hours at work, late night dark runs in snow and wind and the holidays came and went.  Getting closer to comma day but didn’t want to jinx it!  The new year started and life carried on with taxes, year-end tasks for work, general busyness and the streak went on.   Then one Monday morning, I woke up with a true sense of dread and found our beloved dog Kendyl not able to stand.  After an extremely stressful morning, I got her into the ER only to find her heart was failing.  We lost her that morning on January 22nd, and still I ran.   It was hard to believe we had lost two amazing family members who were with us for so long just in those few weeks!

As February started, the Y where I go to work out was doing a Rally for the Y challenge where members could sign up and ride Expresso Bikes (stationary bikes) as many miles as they could as part of a fundraiser to send kids to camp.  This intrigued me right away as I always loved the bikes at the club and hey, it’s a challenge!   February 1st came and after a 13-hour workday at the office, into the Y I went at 7pm that evening and knocked out my first ride for the Rally.  This was something new and fun! After a few days, I noticed they put up a leaderboard.  There I was at the top with the most miles ridden for our club.  I was surprised and had no idea this was going to be a public thing.  I just wanted to go in and do my rides and figured every dollar would help.  

I found myself really looking forward to these rides and it took me back to my 20s and 30s when I would ride during the summer months.  I have fond memories of doing Century Rides and this brought that all back.  I’d put in my ear buds, listen to an audio book and pedal away.  This daily bike challenge started to take on more meaning for me and around day 7 of this challenge I thought about how to fit the run in with the two jobs, the farm and all the things.  I surely could figure it out and would.  Then the thought hit me, does the run streak even matter anymore?  I pondered this for a day and even made a post on the Run Streak Facebook page asking if anyone just decided to stop their streak one day.  Evidently this has never occurred to anyone in the group and everyone who was on a their second or third streak, had stopped due to injury, illness or an accident.  I assumed that would be how my streak would end too but maybe it didn’t have to be.   With complete clarity, and no regrets, I made the conscious decision to end my streak on Sunday February 11, 2024.  There was no illness or crazy life event.  I just decided to end it on my terms.  I wasn’t sad and made no public announcement about it.  I felt empowered honestly that I was “brave” enough to stop and not feel obligated to continue it on until I couldn’t.  It was my “Cal Ripken” moment where I ended my own streak on Day 987.   Wow, a mere 13 days from my comma day but I didn’t care.  It was never a goal ever to make it there and I could have done it without much effort. Heck, look at all I had run through!   No regrets.  I honestly believe I could streak for many more years but it has lost its luster so to speak.  I never wanted it to become a chore and now that I had this bike challenge going, it did seem to be an afterthought.  I still plan to run and will probably start a new streak before long.  I am grateful for what it gave me and grateful I always had it there for me through all the challenges of these past several years.  It has been a great lesson in discipline but an even greater lesson in listening to yourself and doing what feels right.  987 days of life happened during this streak and wow, what a life it has been.