Day 76 - A really painful week saw the streak come to an end. I'd been having trouble with my right shoulder for a month now. It became significantly worse the day before Day 76 (78 of the streak). I ran on Day 76, and it was painful. That night, I was in the ER, thinking something was torn and getting no word otherwise from the "doctor" in the ER.

I went through a very painful work week, and an excruciating drive home. Jill looked it up and my symptoms were more like tendinitis, which is what I hoped (but didn't really think) was the problem. She gave me a mix of acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Then, I got a shot of cortisone and as I write, my shoulder is an order of magnitude better. It still hurt, but not nearly as much and I'm quite certain it's tendinitis and not a tear.

Unfortunately, I had to learn that by giving up the streak - it just hurt too much and I wasn't open enough to alternative ways of treating it. But it was a great streak and a valuable lesson to learn.

My goal now is to finish 2015...with at least one workout per day. I don't want a run streak because I need to give my shoulder a rest if necessary. But that doesn't mean I can't bike or whatever.

Day 71 (294 left): Ran in an unseasonably warm downtown Chicago and ended up with my fastest outdoor 5k ever and first one under 20:00! I started by just running. I knew I was going faster than normal, but I didn't think I was going that fast. I looked at Strava and at the first mile I was right around 6:00 and I say said what the fuck holy cow! I decided right then I was going to try and run under 20:00. I felt good the entire way, dodging traffic and people (there weren't a lot of either, it was almost 9 p.m.).

I ran along Adams, and Michigan Avenue, had a long stretch on Columbus (where I've finished the Chicago Triathlon twice). The Columbus stretch was pretty fast - no cars. As I headed back I knew it was close. I hit the 19:00 mark at just shy of thee miles. I was almost there.

The phone Strava GPS is a little delayed and I looked down at 3.1 miles and 19:52. I'd later realize that I really ran the 5k in 19:48. I'm very pleased with that.

Day 70 (72 overall, 295 left in the year) was an outdoor run. As Spring arrives, I feel like I "survived" this past winter, especially the last six weeks. It was solid cold. Spring, or late Winter, hit like a wall, with the temperature going from 0 to 50 in a couple of days. Running outdoors beats the treadmill - and I like treadmills.

My leg pain fluctuates from not-so-bad to "I think the streak is over." The run on Day 70 was very chill for the first two miles and then I ran a 6:30 including a 1:16 400. For now, the streak is intact but as I've always maintained, a LOT has to go right for this thing to continue.

Day 66 - 299 more days this year. After a couple of very iffy days of running with a sore left shin, today was the first day of basically no pain. I still plan to take it easy for the rest of March (running - getting hard cardio on the bike). The last week or so was mostly painful and thoughts of stopping the streak were prevalent.

Run at The W Hotel in Chicago for the 2nd time this year - I like the treadmills there I also did some work on the recumbent that day as it turns out. Otherwise, my thoughts are on next week as Spring is going to hit with a flurry next week - as in from 0 to 50 degrees in a week. Going to bring my bike to Wisconsin, and really can't wait to get back outdoors. I made it through the Winter, streak (barely) intact at 68 total days, 66 for the year.

Day 60: A fine Sunday morning, day 60 of the year, 62 of the streak, started with semi hard 30 minute cycle spinning. Sometime during the spin, I decided to run at 9.5 MPH. I started there, and it felt GREAT. Two miles later, I decided to try and break my personal 5k. I increased the speed as I went past the 2 mile mark, finishing the last .25 at 12 MPH.19:13! Best treadmill 5k ever. It rocked.

Day 60 done.

Day 59: ran the lake, which is always fun. Today's excitement came in the form of almost going into the lake. I ran in between water in the channel and what looked like an ice fishing hole. As I got in between the channel and the water hole, I heard the ice crack everywhere. That was not the best sound ever. I gingerly got through and finished a good 3.6 mile run.

February was the 2nd straight month with a workout every single day. I almost hit the magical 50 workout mark in a month - a busy travel and music week slowed that down the final week. Still, 48 workouts in 28 days is pretty monumental for me.

Starting tomorrow, I'm going on a non junk food streak. No candy, ice cream, donuts, or fast food, including pizza. Running every day will be cake by comparison.

Day 52 was another run on the lake, which followed a fun bike ride on the lake. I got 5k in and I think I was at my very end of my rope because I wanted nothing more than to stop. The snow was softer so the going was tougher, which probably explains the fatigue.

Overall, I'd say I'm feeling as good as I've felt the entire journey. Still some soreness in my shins, but I expect that with so much running.