What Running 1000km Taught Me About Consistency
I started the year with a simple goal: run 1000km before December 31st. That's roughly 83km per month, 20km per week, or about 3 runs of 7km each.
Simple math. Not always simple execution.
The Data
After 365 days and 1,043km:
- Longest streak: 18 consecutive days
- Worst month: February (41km — injury set me back)
- Best month: October (112km — I don't know what happened, I just felt good)
- Average pace improvement: 38 seconds per km from January to December
What Actually Matters
I went in expecting to learn about running. I came out having learned about consistency.
The days you don't want to run are the most important ones. Not because you must push through every time — recovery is real — but because on those days, even a 15-minute easy jog teaches your brain that resistance isn't a reason to stop.
Progress is invisible until it isn't. For six months I felt like I was running the same pace. Then I looked at my data and realized I'd gotten 30 seconds per km faster without noticing.
Comparison is noise. Some people on Strava run 300km a month. That's not my goal. My goal was 1000km for the year. Keeping that in mind made the training sustainable.
Gear That Made a Difference
- A GPS watch (any budget model works — just having the data matters)
- Road shoes vs trail shoes — I underestimated this difference for a long time
- A playlist strategy: podcasts for easy days, music for hard efforts
2026 Goal
1,200km. And I want to run my first half marathon in under 2 hours. Let's see.