Am I Streaking, Yet?

No need to picture security chasing someone around the field- I get cold too easily, I am not fast, and I love watching live sports, so a lifetime stadium ban would keep me from ever trying that type of streaking. In hopes I will stay engaged with running during the wet and cold winter, I am starting a streak today. I am going to run everyday for as many days in a row as I can. So if it’s day 1, am I streaking, yet? Or does your streak technically start on day 2?

In any case as I start my run streak, I thought it would be a good time to also start a blog streak. Jog and blog everyday to make these activities a routine part of my life. I have never tried an official running streak before, but here is what I imagine I have to accept:

• Some runs are short. If I set unrealistic expectations trying to exceed or even meet the distance I am capable of every day, I won’t be able to keep up the pace or find time each day. Squeezing in ten minutes between meetings will be all I can manage on some days.
• Some runs are “meh.”  Even pro-runners don’t want to run everyday. My favorite part of running is the feeling just after you finish, but I often have to remind myself of this before I start a run when I am resisting getting out there in the rain or distracted by other things on my to do list. Before or during a run I sometimes feel irritated, uncomfortable, or ambivalent. On days like this it just matters that you are out there. 
• Some runs are lonely. I like to run with others- friends, training groups. Running with others promotes accountability and prevents boredom. But during these past several months at home I have developed more independence, which I think is an essential quality to maintaining a commitment to running.

Though I have never started a blog streak…I think I have only written one or two posts ever, I plan to apply these same lessons. What is the minimum length for a blog before it becomes a tweet? Maybe if I write only a sentence or two, I will tweet instead of post? We will have to see, but eking out ten minutes of writing between meetings will certainly be the case some (or many) days.

One of the main reasons I procrastinate blogging is because I have so much to say on the topic of math learning (especially beyond the classroom) that I overthink the “right” sequence or framing or articulation. Some blogs will be “meh” and I need to hit “publish” anyway. I am pretty confident a daily blog post would turn away a lot of subscribers, but I don’t really have the problem of speaking to a large audience now. I am going to blog daily because it is necessary (I think) for me to establish this routine in my professional life. 

Even more than running with others, I seek professional collaboration. I am always initiating and cultivating partnerships, and I rarely like putting my own work out there without feedback. I will have to write alone and share my unreviewed ideas if I am going to publish every day. This will cause me some discomfort, but I anticipate new found independence will follow.

So here we go…