On October 31, 2016, I decided to run an experiment. I started running every day, no exceptions. Today I ran run number 303 in this experiment, and I think I’m ready to share the experience and the results.
First, a bit of background. I set myself a few rules:
You have to run every day. A day starts when I wake up and ends when I fall asleep. Which means if I didn’t manage to run before midnight, I can run at 3 a.m. and it still counts. A running day doesn’t end until I’ve gone to bed, and doesn’t begin until I’ve woken up.
You have to run outdoors. It matters that RunKeeper draws the route and counts everything.
You have to run at least three kilometers. Yes, I know — three kilometers is very little. Usually I run 5 or more. But 3 is the minimum.
And the last rule: no mitigating circumstances. Not -27 outside, not New Year’s, not a birthday, not even illness is a good enough reason not to run.
So, here’s what I understood
On the process
The most important thing is to get through that first kilometer. It’s the warm-up that brings you into rhythm. If you didn’t sleep enough, the first kilometer can be hard. But it gets easier after that. If it’s -20 or colder outside, you’ll be freezing for the first kilometer. It passes: you always warm up after 1000 meters. By the way, in the cold you need to tuck the phone with RunKeeper inside your sports glove — then it’ll survive the whole run and won’t shut off. Yes, your hand will be uncomfortable at first. But that passes quickly.
In heavy rain it’s better to put the phone in a waterproof case. In a pinch, just a plastic bag.
If it’s cold out, a balaclava and a hat will save you. Don’t be shy about wearing both. And there’s nothing wrong with putting on leggings and thermals under your running pants in the frost. Two pairs of socks is fine too.
By the way, the weather shouldn’t scare you. Walking in bad weather is genuinely unpleasant. But running in it is perfectly fine.
Your shoes matter. Don’t be cheap — buy the most comfortable ones you can find.
On losing weight
Since I started running, I haven’t visibly lost a single kilogram. Yes, my legs still fit into 34×34 jeans, but that’s about it. How is that possible? Very simple: apart from the running, I changed nothing in my daily habits. I still eat without any real restrictions. I sometimes forget to drink enough water during the day.
I’ve had several successful weight cuts in my life. All of them happened only in the “sport plus diet” combination. Or if not a “diet,” then at least some food restrictions. For example, cutting out alcohol.
So if you think you’ll start running three times a week tomorrow and finally lose weight, I’ve got news for you. That’s not how it works.
On rest
Every single person told me I was doing the wrong thing to my body. That muscles need rest at least once a week. That’s probably true. But I’m not chasing athletic results. I’m not training my muscles.
On willpower and motivation
From the very start I decided this was training not for the body, but for willpower. You know how it goes: the most important thing in matters like these is to tie the laces on your shoes and take the first step out the door. After that, you’ll make it somehow anyway.
The first days I was thrilled with myself. I remember bragging to all my friends that I’d been running for 20 days straight. Then 30. A whole month! By the end of the second month the magic of the numbers started to fade. There’s basically no difference between run sixty-two and run eighty-nine.
But the further you go, the better the sunk-cost bias works in your favor. The thought “maybe skip today” still visits me every day. But when you’ve got several months of daily runs behind you, you stop taking that thought seriously.
Friends become the single most important motivator. I imagine saying “yesterday I quit the daily running thing,” and hearing that humiliating “Max, you did great anyway” in reply. The moment I picture that, the thought of skipping a day falls away on its own.
The main challenges aren’t laziness or weak will, but the need to fit daily runs into the shape of your life. It’s easy to go for a run when you live at home and commute to work. But what if you set off traveling? In February, for instance, I had to fly to Vilnius for a single day. The flight out was at 6 a.m., and the flight back at 6 a.m. the next day. 80% of my carry-on was running gear, and I ended up running in the dead of night somewhere on the outskirts. Later, in March, when we were moving to Lithuania for good with all our things, I got up at four in the morning to run before we loaded everything into the van and raced for the border.
In Barcelona, more than once I came back to the hotel in the evening after walking 20 kilometers around the city — and went out for a run. And then washed my running clothes in the cramped shower of the hotel room.
On my last trip we stopped for one night at a Polish campsite. The campsite sat in a national park whose pride and joy was its marshes. And where there are marshes, there are always mosquitoes. Already lying in my sleeping bag in the tent, I remembered I hadn’t run yet that day. That was the hardest decision to go running of all these 303 days.
There were also runs with a fever. Runs at three in the morning. Runs in thunderstorms and on black ice. I can’t even remember them all. It was awesome.
Do I advise other people to repeat my experiment? Not necessarily. But I do advise you to run experiments on yourself. Try getting up at 5 a.m. every day for a month. Or reading 50 pages of difficult books every day. Or something else. In my view, it’s exactly these systematic, routine practices that bring serious results over the long haul.
What’s next?
I want to run all the way to October 31, 2017. That’ll be exactly a year and one day. After that I’ll maybe take a break. Or switch to cycling, or start combining the two.
A disclaimer for the running-haters: This isn’t about running at all. Or, better yet: running isn’t about running at all.