On Christmas Eve of 2020, I went for a run along a 5 mile trail with my friend. Now, mind you, I’ve never ran 5 miles before.

But there were to be no Christmas parties for the both of us due to Covid and with such limited indoor activities, we decided to go on this trail to run.

I can’t remember much about what happened during this run. I do know for a fact that I couldn’t even run the entire 5 miles. I walked most of the way after running out of breath every few minutes (or even seconds) every time I started to run.

It must’ve not been that bad though. Or maybe my brain was lacking oxygen at the end of the run that I ended up agreeing (maybe was even the one to suggest) running this 5 mile trail once a week!

I think at the time, we thought this outdoor activity would be a good balance to keep hanging out with each other without taking on too much Covid risk.

To be honest, we both didn’t have much confidence in our running pact and I’m sure one of us was waiting for the other to break first. But when we both didn’t, one run turned into ten, then twenty, then the rest, as they say, is history.

So how did I fare in my one year of running? Well, no review is complete without data and the stats are in for this year. 

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I ran a total of 102 times, 383 miles, 81 hours in 2021. These are my stats courtesy of Strava:

• 1 out of 102 was a 10k
• 52 out 102 were 5 miles
• 11 out of 102 were 5k
• 38 out of 102 were varying distances less than 5 miles

Note: by ‘running’, I don’t mean I run the entire time, I usually have to do a run/walk combo due to my lacking fitness level. Sometimes I don’t feel so well towards the middle of a run that I end up walking the rest of the time but don’t stop my tracker until I’m completely done with the activity.

All in all, I’ve had my good days and bad days with running. I’ve had my share of proud moments as well as moments where I just wanted to give up. I accomplished 3 of the 5 running goals I set for myself this year.

1. Finish a 5K non-stop run

2. Run 5 miles in under 1 hour

3. Finish a 5-mile nonstop run

I know that some people may see this and think that this is not a big accomplishment at all. I’m slow as heck. I barely run the recommended goal of 3 times/week. I can definitely use a lot of improvements. 

But, if there’s one thing I can apply to running, it is that comparison is the thief of joy. Especially comparing yourself to others. So I’ll only compare myself. And compared to my 53 runs of 2020 and 10 runs of 2019 that never exceeded 5k in distance, heck yeah I’m proud of my 2021 commitment to running.

21 Running Thoughts of 2021

To commemorate the end of 2021, these are my 21 random thoughts on running. Some may be cliche. Some might be common knowledge. Some might be completely wrong. So take it with a grain of salt, these are just my personal opinions.

1. I’ve never regretted a run. That doesn’t mean there weren’t days where I could barely get out of my bed and that doesn’t mean I don’t sometimes hate myself in the middle of the run. But I’ve never finished a run and thought to myself, “I wish I never went on this run.”

2. Having a running buddy helps. Even when I wasn’t running alongside my running buddy, it really helped with accountability, especially when the hardest part of a run is convincing yourself to start in the first place.

3. If you’ve never ran in the rain, you’re missing out! My two friends and I agree that our most memorable run this year was when we decided to still go for a run knowing it was drizzling and may turn into a downpour. Did I think I was crazy while running in the rain? Heck yes! But now I’ll always have this memory forever.

4. Some of my best runs were the ones I least expected (morning after drinking, day after returning from road trip, etc). It just goes to show that if you just get your foot out the door, a good surprise may be waiting for you.

5. I have been running wrong this whole year. I may have been running too hard this year. Apparently I’m supposed to do most of my runs at an easy conversational pace with a few ‘hard’ runs for best improvement. Instead, I’m always running at a ‘moderate’ effort which is actually considered a ‘no man’s land’ in running since you’re improving neither endurance nor speed by doing this.

6. While I focused on pace this year, I want to focus on heart rate training next year.

7. I have been doing “hills” workout wrong. I have a couple hills around my home that I slog through slowly. Now I know “hills” workout is supposed to be done as very high intensity sprints.

8. I did not get faster as I had expected this year. I thought for sure I would be able to run 10 minute miles for 5 miles easily after one year, but turns out I still can’t even run 1 mile at this place which brings me to my next thought.

9. Running is mental. I realized I’m not as mentally strong as I thought I was. I give up too easily. I never push myself hard enough to even test my limit.

10. While my improvement in speed has been negligible, my endurance improved dramatically! I used to not even be able to run 1 mile without stopping and now I can run 5 miles nonstop! 

11. Running slower definitely helps. I never imagined that if I just slowed down my pace, I could ever get to a point where I felt like I didn’t need to stop running and could keep going forever.

12. Fitness trackers are addicting! I downloaded at least 5 running apps this year. I got a Strava premium subscription (forgot to cancel after the trial period, now have to keep it for the year). I also contemplated upgrading my Fitbit to Garmin too many times to count (proud to say I haven’t caved).

13. I sweat a lot more now than I ever used to. My friends used to marvel how I would never sweat even after a hard workout before. Now I sweat just after a couple of minutes on the elliptical. Apparently as you get more fit/gain more muscles, your body adjusts to try to be able to cool you down earlier in anticipation of the hard exercise. Honestly, it’s the only down point to this year of running.

14. It’s good to have a goal. After I successfully ran 5 miles without stopping, I didn’t have any goals other than getting through my 5-mile weekly run and I stopped improving.

15. It’s good to have a training plan to keep you motivated. C25K was my gateway drug to running and I recommend it a million times over.

16. I made most of my improvements in the first 5 months since starting to run consistently and since then I plateaued. Because I was trying to keep up with the pact of a 5 mile weekly run, I couldn’t let myself take a break. In hindsight, a week or two break would have probably done wonders for the burnout I was feeling 6 months into running.

17. The golden hour is my favorite time to run. And now that I’m sometimes forced to run into the dark as daylight gets shorter, I realized just how fun night runs are. Less people and less sweat in the cool air are awesome.

18. I absolutely despise running under direct sunlight. Even if the temperature is cool, as soon as the sun hits me, I just feel hot and sweaty and feel my energy sapping from my body.

19. While I feel good after a run, I don’t believe I’ve ever experienced a “runner’s high”.

20. Running is addicting as heck. It’s a vicious cycle where if you are starting to do well, you want to keep getting better and the only way to get better is to run more! And once you do start to feel good, you can’t just stop because once you stop, your cardio level drops back down. So it’s a never ending cycle!

21. Hell yes I’m going to continue running in 2022. I cannot believe I ever questioned this at all in 2021.

So what’s next? I signed up for a 5K race in March of 2022. I’ve never entered a race before so I’m excited for the race atmosphere that everyone talks about.

It’ll be with 8 friends total, some who are not into running. So, it’s not clear if we’ll walk the race together or run individually. Either way, I’ll set that date as my goal date in my training plan.

That wraps up my one year of running. Let’s see if I can make it into two years of running in 2022!