What I Tried this Week – Doing an Organized Run on New Year’s Day

I have had some pretty memorable New Year’s Eves in my lifetime, such as totalling my car on a patch of black ice and cramming myself into a crowded venue in the Netherlands to see one of my favourite DJs, but I have traditionally put less focus on the day after the festivities.

This year, I put a stop to that and agreed to go to an organized trail run to celebrate the New Year and get some miles in to prep for my 2015 races. Turns out, putting as much stock in the first day of the year is as enjoyable as celebrating the last day of the year.

It forced me to be mindful of the time I went to bed as I knew I was up early to head to the trails as staying up most of the night would not have been the wisest idea. I happened to be with fellow athletes so drinking water and lemon was not a ridiculous New Year’s choice.

I was up at 7 a.m. to get my gear organized and running on the trails by 10 a.m.. It was an extremely joyful run with beautiful weather, despite being a chilly January morning. Other athletes on the run were sharing their race plans for the year and everyone was feeling healthy, strong and ready for the New Year. We ran some new trails and practiced our orienteering for upcoming races. After about an hour and a half of running, we returned indoors to warm up with waffles and soup.

It certainly made me understand why people do this every year and continue to do resolution runs. Although I have gone on many runs the morning of January 1, there is something wonderful about running with a group of people to celebrate the New Year. Not only does it make you sleep more, drink less and start the year off on the right foot, but it helps establish a sense of community as you plan towards your 2015 race goals.

The Resolution Run is an event that is available across Canada and is put on by the Running Room. Now that I have tried a new practice of running in the New Year with a group of people, I am certainly putting this on my to-do list in years going forward.

I’m at a bit of a loss as to why I have waited so long to incorporate this practice into my yearly traditions, but I am looking forward to making more running memories in the coming years. This is certainly a tradition I am planning on holding on to.