Life Of A Streaker

   Hello again my friends! I hope that all of you are healthy, happy and getting your adrenaline rush on whatever way you like! My running is going extremely well and so is my cross training. All this week I've been enjoying some vacation time at home. Nothing special planned. Just lots of relaxation! A streaking friend of mine, the incredible Judy Mick, is putting together a book on running non-stop and asked for some chapter submissions. Here's my submission discussing what I thought was going to be a 366 day journey. Almost 500 days into it, the story continues. Enjoy and put some miles into your life!

A 366 DAY JOURNEY & BEYOND...

   September 23, 2012 is a day that I'll always remember. It was the end of an era and the beginning of another. But, I didn't know that just quite yet. After growing up obese for most of my childhood and as a teenager watching my father literally melt away from brain cancer until he passed, as a mere shadow of the great man that he was; I radically adjusted my life. As you can imagine, both of those significant eras dramatically affected who I am today. Not all of the effects were good ones. I missed a lot of time out of school, became depressed, survived one scary really bad decision, got arrested and spent most of my time sleeping. I was living as a ghost. Not all the effects were bad either. Through time and a lot of counseling I finally managed to become a living person again. I luckily graduated high school, enrolled in college, started taking an interest in fitness, lost a ton of weight and decided to follow in the footsteps of my father pursuing a career in law enforcement.       

   Many different police departments test potential candidates in many different ways. But, one thing that's a standard across the board is being able to run. As the little fat kid I hated running. But, it was now a necessary evil. So, it became a regular part of my fitness routine. Flash forward a little. Finished college, got married, got hired by a local sheriff's department and started a family. By December of 2002 I'd not only developed a love of running; but, decided to try my feet at distance running. Flash forward a little more to that chilly September day in 2012. For the past 10 years I'd devoted my life to becoming the best long distance runner that I thought I could be. For me, that meant running a marathon in less than four hours. After experimenting with everything under the sun; running various road races including nine marathons; I finally had the training year of my dreams. With outstanding support from my family, the online running community, the discovery of an incredible little device called a Fitbit and devotion to some hardcore training I'd managed to drop over twenty pounds. I was lighter, stronger and faster than ever before. As I crossed the finish line of my hometown marathon in Rochester, NY that early afternoon I saw something that I've wanted for a very, very long time: a race time clock reading 3:57:27! Not bad for someone who once topped the scales at 220 lbs. and had a 42" waist!

   The emotion was overwhelming as I fell into the waiting arms of my wife at the finish line. All the years, the training, the miles and hard work had finally paid off. I couldn't hold back the tears. Soon after running headfirst into the world of distance running you realize that it isn't about beating other runners in races, winning your age group or even taking home the first place medal. It's about being better than you were the day before; meeting whatever challenges you place before yourself. I had finally done that and the feelings I experienced are something that only other runners could know. I basked in the glory of my triumph that day. My family and friends were in awe. By the end of that year I'd set PR's in the 5K, five mile, half-marathon and marathon distances. I think that symbols are important for people. Especially runners. For years my symbol had been the superhero Flash. For the first time, I felt like I was wearing the lightning bolt emblazoned red suit! I felt like the fastest man alive! It had been a good day!

   So, I'd reached my goal. I worked so long at trying to run a sub four hour marathon that I never considered what came afterwards. I wanted to someday get into triathlons. Race an Ironman. I thought about Tough Mudders and Spartan races. I thought about what EVERY distance runner does, Boston. But, to qualify I'd have to take over a half an hour off my new best finishing time. I'd trained so hard that I'd sacrificed a lot of time with loved ones, was tired most of the time and had lost a great deal of muscle mass. I just didn't have it in me to train any harder at that time. Exhausted, I had come to look at running as a job instead of something that I enjoyed. Looking back, I find it amusing that I'd lost my love of running after reaching my goal!

   What to do? How could I get my passion for running back again? I weighed many different options. Some were good, some were bad and some were just awful. Distance running is a strange thing. I know that many runners enjoy company while running and training. I've run with partners before. But, it never seemed to work out for me. Some running partners were slower than me and I always felt like I didn't work hard enough. Some running partners were faster than me and I always felt like I worked too hard. I soon discovered that listening to running podcasts provided me with what I was searching for. I could go as slow or as fast as I liked and my virtual "running partner" kept pace perfectly. I reached out to those podcasters and others in the online running community. Through the miles and years I'd gotten so much from those amazing people and created some amazing friendships along the way. They provided encouragement, gave me new ideas, celebrated my victories and showed me that I wasn't alone in my hopes and dreams. If reaching my goal had taught me anything, it was that I needed to put fear aside and believe in what I wanted to accomplish. For a long time, I'd wanted to be a contributor to the online running community. But, was afraid of rejection. Who wanted to hear my boring story? I didn't want to have another brutal training year focusing on the almighty time clock. A light bulb went off!

   December 31, 2012 was when the streak officially started. I affectionately named it the 366 Project. It was my new personal challenge to run at least one mile a day for a year and a day. I also started a blog and video podcast to document my journey. Fear was pushed to the way side. I decided that for 2013 I was going to focus on three things: forging my path into the online running community, not worrying about time and running more than ever before. I was going to relearn the sheer joy of being able to run and put it out there in a big way. Many runners forget what a gift running really is! I know that I certainly had. Deep down inside though, I'm a marathoner at heart. So, I also planned on one again running my hometown marathon, just a lot slower. I know what you're thinking: How can I overcome burnout if I'm running everyday? But, this year was going to be fun, easy and relaxed. I told myself, no pressure.

   Several years ago I began using the Hanson Brother's marathon training plan. It focuses on moderate training distances running six days a week. I remember it was hard as hell making the transition to running almost everyday. Overload principle to the max! But, now it was like second nature. I thought that adding a single mile on the seventh day was plausible; a little scary; but, plausible. I didn't know the first thing about streaking. My family and friends were already well adjusted to my running schedule. Even if I took it nice and slow, I could complete a mile in about 10 minutes. Who doesn't have ten extra minutes everyday?

   Typically, upstate NY has brutal winters. Lots of sleet, ice and snow. Freezing temperatures and near whiteouts. It gets ugly! But, that year we were blessed with a mild season. It made winter running a piece of cake! I usually headed inside during the winter months and logged most, if not all, of my miles on my YMCA's treadmills. We had just moved to a new home and I soon discovered a local trail system about a quarter mile away from my front door. I tried running on them and quickly developed a new found love for trail running. There's something magical about being alone on a trail in a roaring blizzard, with snow up to your knees without a soul in sight. Very peaceful!

   Spring quickly came. The magic of winter trail running was replaced with the unbridled glory of getting down and dirty. At work I wear a uniform and pride myself on looking clean, neat and in charge. There's something satisfying about running through ankle deep mud and then coming home to rinse yourself off with a garden hose in your driveway! Much to the dismay of your neighbors! I started my "relaxed, no pressure version" of marathon training. It felt good to feel like a kid running just for fun again! 

   Summer arrived and I was having the time of my life. Up until this point the running had been relaxed and easy. I was piping out content on the blog and podcast on a weekly basis. People were reading and watching. I felt great to have people take an interest in my story! I was starting to fall back in love with running. But, old habits die hard and as the marathon training continued I found it difficult to slow down and enjoy the miles. The easy mile pace felt well, too darn easy. It was boring running so slow. So, I began to push the speed a little more. I'm not sure if it was the faster mile pace or the running everyday, but, I developed a peroneal tendon injury in my right foot. Your peroneal tendon runs along the outer edge of your foot up to underneath your ankle. It was painful and threw a gigantic monkey wrench into my marathon training schedule. Double digit runs were reduced to mile long limping runs to keep the Project going. It was looking like my hometown marathon was going to be totally out of the question and maybe the entire Project itself!

   Fall fell and with the help of new found chiropractor and some easy running the tendon injury was able to heal. But, my troubles continued. The tendon injury was replaced with a hamstring strain in my right leg. Back to square one! Very defeating. Very frustrating. Running everyday continued and was frowned upon by pretty much everyone I knew. Everyone thought I was crazy. But, I wasn't going to give up my quest that easily. It was going to continue no matter how much everyone thought I was running myself into the ground. Luckily, I was able to defer my hometown marathon registration fee to the following year. I also discovered another marathon near Rochester in Syracuse, NY that was scheduled a month later. I was able to salvage what was left of my training season for the new race. I was still running injured, my training was less than good and I'd gained some weight back; But, I was going to give it a shot. No expectations anyway, right? I was just going to run the race and have fun!

   Race day came and I was extremely nervous. Unfamiliar race, injured body and poor training left me wondering if I could even finish the entire distance. But, like I said, distance running is a strange thing. You'd think that after a decade of running I'd have this whole thing figured out. Not so much! The race started off well. Cool weather, sunny skies and new sights to see. I decided that I was going to try to hold onto a sub four hour marathon pace as long as I could. Then after I crashed, finish the rest of the race at a comfortable pace. That's when things got really weird. Somewhere during those 26.2 miles the running gods smiled down and some running magic happened. I kept waiting to hit the wall. I kept waiting to feel the fatigue set in. I crossed the finish line five minutes faster than my previous best marathon time! Out of 11 marathons this race was THE most enjoyable. I didn't have cramping, ran every mile clocking sub nine minute splits and destroyed other runners on the hills. No wall. No cramping. No walking. The terrible IBS that I'd wrote off as a necessary evil after my long distance races was non-existent. There was no recovery. I was back running the next day without hardly any residual soreness. Just amazing! What was going on? Maybe there was something really good about this running everyday thing after all? What an unexpected victory after turning 40 two months earlier! The rearranging of marathons even allowed me some extra time to achieve another goal of mine, becoming a physical fitness instructor at the training academy! What do ya know, change isn't always a bad thing!

   After the race I felt like I was able to take a more relaxed attitude. Now the focus was on just staying healthy enough to run until New Year's Eve. The hamstring strain fluctuated between getting better one week; only to come back with a vengeance the next. Nothing worked! But, I was still managing to limp through at least a mile everyday. The excitement was palatable as the end of the year drew near. Social media was abuzz with encouragement and anticipation. I'd developed a little following of adrenaline junkies! The question on everyone's mind though was, am I really going to stop on the 366th day? I started the 366 day journey thinking that it wouldn't be that hard. There were days that it was easy. The sun was shinning, I felt healthy and had all the time in the world. I saw people, places and experienced things that only those of us crazy enough to be out on the roads everyday know about. But, not all the days were like those. There were the near misses when careless, distracted drivers almost ran me into a pancake. There was the time that, against my own better judgment, I ran during a lightning storm only to be unable to call anyone for a rescue pick up. There were one too many times the I had the pleasure of experiencing mild hypothermia and frostbite. Then there were the unexpected details that forced me to adapt when and where I ran my mile. Imagine the humor of running laps in your basement during a surprise 40th birthday party using a Fitbit to count your steps! It was my first mile drunk! But, overall the journey had more positive than negative. It took me to places that I thought I could never go. The whole experience was so similar to life it wasn't funny. There were good times, there were bad times. But, just the act of moving forward; putting one foot in front of the other made the difference. It wasn't thousands of miles over the course of 366 days. It was simply just one easy mile once a day. 

   As I rounded the corner of my street on New Year's Eve my Garmin watch beeped: 3.66 miles to bring the Project to a close. It had been one hell of a long run. An amazing year. An unforgettable journey. My family and friends congratulated me. Everyone couldn't believe that I'd done it. Everyone looked at me with this strange look in their eyes. Like I was some sort of elite, genetically gifted runner. I'm not. I'm an average, middle of the pack runner with a greater degree of stubbornness than usual. But, I've always been fascinated by what average people can do with a good support system, inner strength, faith in themselves and a will to push beyond their perceived limits. This stuff wasn't magic. On December 31, 2013 366 days, 1,550 miles later my message to everyone was that those things were inside them too. That they could do anything they wanted if they harnessed those things. The 366 Project was a huge success. I'd ran at least a mile everyday for 366 days, started my first running blog and video podcast. I discovered who I was again. But, it was over. I was looking forward to a well deserved day off!

   As I rolled out of bed on January 1, 2014 I knew that I'd fallen in love with running again. The blog and podcast were definitely going to continue. They were just too much darn fun to stop. I love being a marathoner. But, change is a good thing and challenges aren't worth a damn unless they scare you just a little, remember? How about I launch a new blog and podcast focusing on running my longest distance yet? How about five miles more to my first 50K ultra marathon? It appeared that my formula for success was becoming: pick something that scares you that you know absolutely nothing about and dive in headfirst! It was going to be another interesting year!

   I used to think streakers were an odd bunch. A little strange. The dirty little secret that the running community knew existed, but, didn't really acknowledge. Who wants to run everyday? Wasn't it hard, dangerous or crazy? Why would someone want to do that? Someone who was once bullied all the time because he was obese. Someone who wants to be around to watch his family grow. Someone who wants to be an example of positivity and hope in a world that's often negative and spiteful. Someone who wanted to go beyond his limits and find out who he was on the other side. I couldn't stop running everyday. Running is many things for me: an identity, part of my job, a way to spend time with my father, exercise, meditation, stress relief. The list is too long. I don't know when it will end. I guess it'll end when it needs to. As I near 500 days it's hard to remember what is was like before I didn't run everyday. Bring on the miles. Bring on the challenges. My name is Mark Robert Sands I'm a streaker and I'm not done yet...