I RAN 1000 MILES IN 2016

My borrowed iPod Nano stopped working the first week of December, so I've had a lot of time (running) alone with my thoughts. This blog post has been composed and decomposed several different ways over the last 40 miles or so.

I suppose the first thing for me to admit, given the hyperbole of the title of this post, is the technical failings of my endeavor. More than a few of the miles I recorded were walking, and even when I run the pace is by most objective standards pathetic. I only claim to be a runner because I am persistent at it and have managed to wear out a few pair of actual running shoes exclusively through their intended use. I am no great athlete, I don't even love running that much.

The subtitle I wrote for this blog on a few of my jogs was: How selfish is that? How selfish does one have to be to spend that much time on himself, not running for charity, apparently doing it for self-aggrandizement? When I set out to do this last year, I wrote in my first facebook post about the venture that sharing my miles was a way to drum up a little accountability and keep track of miles. I know there are apps and gadgets that do that for you... this is what I had. Whether it was a good system or not, it worked. And I really am glad if I encouraged a few people, or maybe just reassured them that I was alive and not vegetating, but publicity was not my goal.

I ran in two countries (US and Germany), and in eight states (NY, CA, GA, TX, AZ, PA, MN, MD), night and day, hot, cold, wet, dry... the worst miles were consistently on treadmills. I have to guess that about 40-50 miles were run on treadmills, most often in hotel fitness centers. I loved seeing bald eagles soaring over me running in Hamilton, running in Riverside Park on the Upper West Side, Buffalo Bayou in Houston, through the streets of Frankfurt and Salinas, and on the foothill roads near Tucson. My longest day's run was the Boilermaker (9.3 miles) and my shortest was 1.2 miles through freezing rain this fall.

Until my birthday in late June, I logged miles based on my iPod Nano (6th gen.) pedometer. My lovely wife gave me a FitBit Blaze, and since then I have used GPS to track my mileage. What I learned is that the 4.1 loop on which I recorded many of my first 500 miles was really 4.2 miles. In every case, I rounded the miles my devices recorded down, so it is likely that I outran the 1000 miles by a few. On my last run of the challenge, today, I ran 4.3 miles passing 1000 miles by .1.

What did I learn, or why did I do it? Mostly it was a testimony to my belief in incrementalism, that small frequent steps can yield big results where drastic steps tend to result in failure. My clothes fit a little better, I feel pretty healthy, and if I had devoted any attention at all to my diet I probably could have run 1200 miles and enjoyed them more. I enjoy being outdoors, and I feel more connected to a place I am visiting when I run through its streets. Running is a personal experience and it is worth it for so many intangible reasons.

I have a few days before 2017 begins to figure out what, if anything, I want to do next year. Honestly, at 53 years old, just being able to do the same thing again would be pretty good. There is not much about this challenge that I regret, and I certainly encourage anyone who wants to take it on. For now, I am just going to give my legs a little rest as I reflect on the year that was and form expectations for the year to come.