Category: 100 Days of Running

Date: 04/13/2019
Day: 100 of 100
Weight: 248.2
Miles: 2.03
Total Time: 19’12”
Avg Pace: 9’28″/mi

At the end of 2018 I decided to challenge myself by running at least a mile for 100 days. Today, that challenge comes to an end. I talked a bit in a recent post about some of what this challenge meant to me. I started the same way I finished on day one, with 2.03 miles logged.

The total mile count is off, it’s definitely more than 212 total miles. As I mentioned on day 98, I started tracking my data halfway through in an Excel sheet where the formulas are perfect instead of a rough copy paste mental math caveman addition I performed here in the blog after running each day. As I mentioned, I’m excited to apply some analytics to the data tomorrow and see if we can pull any insightful information from it. I’ll also be releasing the data set for anyone who’d like to use it for any reason (isn’t open source great?)

I’m mostly excited to get my time back. I think I mentioned at the start of this that the worst part of this whole shebang was the writing portion. Aside from me being not-mr-social-media, I found dreading the fact that I had to post more than the running itself. However, this was a nice exercise in learning how to write more. Forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to do is one of the most empowering things you can do. I truly believe that. This action alone snowballed into a few other things that happened over the first quarter of 2019:

• 📚 I read 14 books. All while running. I plan on posting the list and my thoughts about each of them soon.
• 💻 Everything else became a little easier. I started carving out time in the mornings to do extra at work or contribute code to products at my company outside of what I work on.
• 👾 I got back to my passion: developing games. I released a playable demo of my current personal project: Lucy’s Adventure.

I have to thank everyone that supported me during this. All of my family members, my friends, and even acquaintances that would ask “How’s the running going?” when I’d see them. Most of all, I thank Kristen for her boundless support of all the goofy endeavors I undertake and her patience through all of it. When I declared on Friday that I’d be running a half marathon the next day, she just rounded up the dogs and some supplies and pit crewed for me – no questions asked 🤷.

I’m so excited to take the experience gained in this endeavor and convert it to the next challenge. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet, but as a person that believes in conscious continuous improvement, you can bet it’ll be something 😄. I’m thinking about programming for 100 days or making game(s) for 100 days, but it’s going to have to be postponed until Q3 of this year due to travel constraints.

Thanks to all of you who read this and found enjoyment or motivation here. I hope it helps someone else in some way.

Total Miles: 212.19 in 100 days.

See how this whole thing got started here.

Date: 04/12/2019
Day: 99 of 100
Weight: 249.2
Miles: 1.00
Total Time: 8’54”
Avg Pace: 8’52″/mi

1 mile. 1 day left.

Total Miles: 210.16 in 99 days.

See how this whole thing got started here.

Date: 04/11/2019
Day: 98 of 100
Weight: 245.1
Miles: 3.10
Total Time: 29’30”
Avg Pace: 9’30″/mi

Day 98. It feels kind of surreal to be here. I literally have to run tomorrow and the day after that and I’ll have run for 100 straight days. Since starting at the beginning of January I ran a mile or more every single day. Some days I was really sick, tired, or didn’t feel like I could do it. Even on those days I got out and at least walked the mile.

I’ve been thinking all this week about running a marathon on Saturday but I don’t feel like my limbs will make it. Cardio-wise I feel fine, but after 100 days of pounding my joints onto the pavement it seems like a poor idea to run it Saturday. I still plan on getting one done here in the near future, but I’d like to remember what it feels like to not have to run one day first 😄.

What I’ve learned most while doing this is that anyone is capable of anything given enough time. 100 days of consecutive running seems like a lot. What if you just went and ran a mile? Not that much right? At Automattic as part of our creed we say “Given time, no problem is insurmountable” I’ve found this to be exceptionally true.

Lots of people have asked me if I’ll keep running. The short answer is: “I don’t know, but probably not every single day.” I’ve compiled all the data into a CSV file. I’m excited to run analytics on it over the weekend with a complete data set and see if there’s any insights. I wish I had a checkbox for 🍕(I’m telling you, it makes a difference!) More than anything though. I’m excited to put this challenge to rest and start something new.

Total Miles: 209.16 in 98 days.

See how this whole thing got started here.

Date: 04/10/2019
Day: 97 of 100
Weight: 246.2
Miles: 1.00
Total Time: 8’20”
Avg Pace: 8’17″/mi

1 mile with the doggies 🐶🐶

Total Miles: 206.06 in 97 days.

See how this whole thing got started here.

Date: 04/09/2019
Day: 96 of 100
Weight: 248.9
Miles: 1.00
Total Time: 8’34”
Avg Pace: 8’33″/mi

1 mile with the doggies 🐶🐶

Total Miles: 205.06 in 96 days.

See how this whole thing got started here.

Date: 04/08/2019
Day: 95 of 100
Weight: 250.2
Miles: 1.00
Total Time: 8’59”
Avg Pace: 8’58″/mi

1 mile with the doggies 🐶🐶

Total Miles: 204.06 in 95 days.

See how this whole thing got started here.

Date: 04/07/2019
Day: 94 of 100
Weight: 251.1
Miles: 3.10
Total Time: 29’29”
Avg Pace: 9’30″/mi

Sunday 5K. Today I passed 200 miles. Less than a week left to 100 days.

Total Miles: 203.06 in 94 days.

See how this whole thing got started here.

Date: 04/06/2019
Day: 93 of 100
Weight: 249.1
Miles: 2.00
Total Time: 20’04”
Avg Pace: 10’00″/mi

2 miles with the dogs.

Total Miles: 199.96 in 93 days.

See how this whole thing got started here.

Date: 04/05/2019
Day: 92 of 100
Weight: 247.2
Miles: 1.00
Total Time: 8’51”
Avg Pace: 8’48″/mi

1 mile with the dogs.

Total Miles: 197.96 in 92 days.

See how this whole thing got started here.

Date: 04/04/2019
Day: 91 of 100
Weight: 248.0
Miles: 2.00
Total Time: 18’08”
Avg Pace: 9’04″/mi

2 miles with the dogs. It’s getting hotter, I’m so happy this is almost done. It was about 90 degrees today when I went for my run and felt like 110. There seems to be a lack of seasons in South Texas. There’s summer, kinda summer, then summer again.

Total Miles: 196.96 in 91 days.

See how this whole thing got started here.