I ran 4 miles every day for a year – seriously.

Today marks one year of one of the wildest ideas I’ve ever had, and no, I don’t mean getting married and moving to Wisconsin. On March 25, 2020, I woke up, realized I had a daughter getting married in a matter of months, and I looked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy’s busted sister. (Don’t pacify me, I was getting pretty squishy.) I finally had been able to ease migraines enough to start running again. I decided I would kick my run up from 3 miles up to 4 and then, crazily, thought “Why not put in 4 miles every day?” And so it began…

*Full transparency, I ran 4 miles a day Monday-Saturday. On Sundays, I walked 4 miles. There were a handful of days in this past year, because of migraines, travel, etc, that I was only able to get in 3 miles.

Here’s what I learned:

While I got stronger, my knees got angry.

Apparently, if you are only running 3 times a week and immediately kick it up to 7 days a week, your body will not like it. I thought I was doing super awesome but by week 4 my knees went on strike. After a switch to the treadmill and trying out three different types of compression knee sleeves, I got back on track. Side note: compression knees sleeves with spandex shorts isn’t fashion but it is a choice. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I don’t like dogs and, ironically, now have a major Pavlovian “flight” response every time I hear a bark.

Before I started running, I actually kind of liked dogs. Now, not so much. I have been barked at, chased, and snipped at. I’ve gotten so close to being bitten that the backsides of some of my shorts probably have dog teeth impressions and possibly trickles of urine. TMI? Seriously, a couple of them got close enough to actually bump my bum. I have employed yelling, talking in my sweetest voice, and freezing in fear. I’m currently looking to invent a whistle that will render a dog incapacitated long enough for me to get away. It’s either that or I’m going to have to start keeping dog treats in my pockets. But, wait, won’t that make them want to follow me even more?

My Apple Watch is super bossy.

Don’t get me wrong, my watch was a great motivator to keep me going. However, there were days when I just didn’t want to do anymore but my watch was always like “Keep on moving” or “You’re almost there”. Oddly enough, I swear there were RuPaul undertones commanding, “You better work!” Once I translated it to RuPaul’s voice, I got a move on. Ain’t nobody want to let Mama Ru down!

If I don’t take care of my body, my body won’t take care of me.

One of the downsides of running was that I started to realize all of the things that I loved to eat and all of the bad habits that I had were working against me. If you know me, you know that Coca-Cola is one of the great loves of my life – behind my husband and kids, of course. I went from drinking soda every day to treating myself to a soda once, maybe twice a week. I am not a morning person. If allowed, I would sleep in until 9 or 10 every morning. However, in order to get a run in every day and work around my schedule, I’ve been waking up sometimes as early as 5:00 IN THE FREAKING MORNING. That fact will probably shock more people than the fact that I’ve almost cut out soda. I suppose it’s been worth it. I can now walk up my stairs without risking lung collapse. Heck, I can run up and down my stairs with barely any change in my breathing. My coordination and ability to run up or down the stairs without tripping, slipping, or falling is something I’m still working on.

Running every day will NOT make you “skinny”.

I put in 4 miles for 365 days. (Except for a few 3 mile days…) Yes, I did lose weight – 17 pounds but I did gain a few back – but the major loss was in inches. I still don’t understand the whole “muscle is more dense than fat”. Don’t try to explain it to me. Others have tried and failed. I do know that my clothes fit differently. I guess, better (?). I’m not sure what my current weight is. My doctor scolded me because I was a bit obsessive regarding the number on the scale. I was told to stop looking at the scale and to just pay attention to measurements. I’ve shoved the scale out of the way but each morning it sits there biding me to step on…

Forget diamonds, bellies are forever.

I really had hoped to have abs of steel at this point. Spoiler alert – it didn’t happen. I’m now left with a decision: do I continue my daily routine or not? For now, I will probably continue it. If nothing else, I will at least put in a workout as I’m trying to find the best ways to get rid of my kangaroo pouch. You’d think that if modern medicine could perform a miraculous procedure like a c-section, they could figure out how to add a little bit of liposuction or plastic surgery while they’re closing you up. They could have cut off some excess before they stitched me up. Help a girl out, man.

In conclusion..

I’m not writing this to start a running movement (is that repetitive?). I think the most important thing that I learned is to shift my body perspective. I’m not going to lie – I still want to look at the scale and have it be 20 pounds less than the last time I looked at it. I still want my measurements to continue to go down. However, I’ve started to rely less on gauging myself by the beautiful women around me and try to find the beauty in the woman staring back at me in the mirror. Solid truth – I totally suck at that right now but I working on it.

I’m trying to celebrate successes:

– I’m down 15 inches since I started last March. Don’t be too impressed. It’s a combination of inches lost from thighs, hips, waist, bust, neck, and arms.

– My arms don’t remind me of thighs anymore.

– I don’t have to wonder if the button on my jeans will survive under the pressure of my ever-growing waistline.

– I only have 2 1/2 chins instead of three. (Did you seriously think I was just going to be done with self-depreciating humor?)

I’m not working on perfection, just still trying to figure out who I am. Apparently, who I am is an individual who enjoys torture because tomorrow morning, I will be waking up early so I have enough time to run before I have to teach my first class of the day. And the days after tomorrow? Who knows? Maybe I’ll train for a marathon…