Why I run every day

Committing to a daily habit can change your life

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to consider doing something every single day.
Habits don't have to happen daily to count, but daily

(00:24):
can be a good option too. I've long been fascinated
by the concept of streaks, doing something every single day.
I've written a couple of articles about streaks, and cover
this more in my book Off the Clock. My father
spent his career as a professor of Old Testament and
Hebrew scriptures, and to keep his language skills sharp, he's

(00:44):
read Hebrew for half an hour every single day during
our childhood's and through to now, and I mean every
single day. The man started in and he is still going,
so perhaps genetically oriented this way. I've long loved running,
and in late two thousand sixteen, I decided to try

(01:06):
running every single day. In the running world, doing a
running streak is generally defined as running at least a
mile a day every day, and so that's what I've done.
I usually run around three miles, but one mile is
my minimum. I began on December two thousand sixteen and
have run every day since. By my calculation, that's a

(01:28):
bit over nine days in a row. It hasn't always
been easy. A few weeks ago, for instance, I woke
up at three thirty a m. In Portland in order
to get in my run before a long day of
travel that started with a six am flight. But overall
it's been relatively doable. I was already running about five
days a week, so I only had to raise my

(01:50):
running totals a little. A mile doesn't take much time
at all. I can usually run in about ten minutes,
and on my slowest days it's only twelve minutes. It
really hard to claim I can't find twelve minutes somewhere
in my life. My commitment has also led to some
amazing runs. About a year ago, I flew to Vancouver.

(02:11):
My flight was delayed and I got in quite late
at night. Without my running streak, I probably would have
set my alarm as close as possible to what I
needed to get up to give my speech. Because of
the streak, though I got up an hour earlier, the
universe decided to reward me. Vancouver was so beautiful that morning.
As I ran along the waterfront, past the high rises

(02:32):
and boats and into Stanley Park, I felt like I
could run forever. The fresh air and the sun glistening
off the water like diamonds woke me up better than
any shot of espresso ever could. Now I recognize that
there are aspects of my life that make a running
streak easier than it probably would be for other people.
I work for myself, and so if I want to

(02:54):
run in the mid afternoon on a work day, I can.
I have a lot of kids, but I also have
a spin who can take them while I run, and
I have the resources to hire a sitter if he
can't be there. But whether you have these things or not,
it might be worth considering building a streak into your life.
In fact, you may already be doing this without realizing

(03:14):
you are. I'm willing to bet that many people listening
to this podcast are on a multi decade streak of
brushing their teeth daily. Life might be busy, but you
still brush your teeth. You do it even though it
requires you to travel with a toothbrush and buy toothpaste
and other such things that aren't actually automatic if you

(03:36):
think about it. So, since you already have one streak growing,
it's really just about adding another. Maybe it's writing a
short thank you note to someone daily. Maybe it's committing
to ten push ups or ten setups daily. Maybe it's
committing to praying daily, or writing at least two sentences
in a journal seven days a week sixty five days

(03:57):
a year. If you'd like to stick with your streak,
keep the daily requirement small. Even though I run about
three miles a day, I only commit to doing one
that way. On the days that are truly full. I
can still stick with the streak. I can run more,
and I usually do, but if I'm not feeling well,
or I'm in a truly terrible hotel gym, or it's

(04:19):
three am, I can stop. Perhaps you might also want
to keep a target in date in mind. We'll talk
more about this in a future episode, but for some
of us, we have to be careful to make sure
we are still in control of the streak. You might
be better off saying I'm going to meditate daily for
at least three minutes for one days and then see

(04:39):
how it goes, rather than setting a goal for the
rest of your life. I know my streak will end
at some point, because all things do end. But the
upside of doing something every single day is that I've
found it changes the conversation I have with myself. Rather
than ask am I going to run today? I ask

(05:01):
when will I run today? The first question could be
debated endlessly. Do I feel like running or not? I
don't know, But the second question is just a matter
of logistics, and when I put my mind to it,
I can solve this problem for pretty much any day,
or at least the last nine or so days. Have

(05:21):
you ever tried to streak? Please let me know at
Before Breakfast podcast at I heart media dot com. In
the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd
love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,

(05:44):
your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod That's b E
the number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can
also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at
iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with

(06:04):
all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to
staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I
Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit
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