Day 33

The hardest part about starting this running streak in the winter has not been the weather. Snow. Freezing rain. A blizzard. More freezing rain. Ice-covered roads and sidewalks. Slush.

I can deal with all of that. You can always put on more layers and hope the hail doesn't strike you in the eyes -- the only thing exposed when you went for a four-mile run during the Snowpocalypse.

No, the hardest part is when your 17-month-old son walks up to you, grabs your leg and looks up while you're putting on all your winter running gear. Then, he says, "Dohn-go, dada," and your heart is subsquently melted. How do you explain your crazy streak to him?

Even harder than that one fantastic moment, however, was Day 33.

I had developed a pretty nice routine of running in the afternoon or evening, either during Hayden's nap or shortly before dinner time. On Wednesday, though, the Bastian Family routine was thrown entirely out of whack. Hayden tried turning his toy wagon into a surfboard and the end result was his first trip to the ER.

After he put one foot inside, the wagon rolled, Hayden flew forward and landed face-first into a plastic block. It cut deep into his foreheard -- right between the eyes -- and made for a bloody scene in my office. My wife and I had only looked away for a couple seconds. Ain't that always the way.

Sure enough, Hayden needed four stitches. He might have a scar, but over time it will probably be nothing more than a small mark. It was a draining day to say the least -- we had to drive to the ER through this week's massive snow storm -- and neither my wife nor I felt like doing much of anything when we finally got home.

The thing is...

... the streak.

This was the first time throughout the first 30-plus days that I really weighed how much this little streak of mine is worth. Nothing really, when you think about it. Take a day off. No one would care but me. In fact, I'm sure my wife would love if I took a day off. But I set a goal. And, barring some unforeseen circumstance that derails everything, I plan on getting out there for a few miles every single day in 2011.

So, after Hayden went to bed and darkness fell our neighborhood, I put on my winter mask, slid into my gear and hit the roads. I was only going to do a slow mile or two so I could check off another day. I wound up feeling pretty good and ended up doing an aggressive 5K through our the snow-covered roads.

Soon enough, I'll be in Arizona for baseball's Spring Training, the cold winter in my rear-view mirror. And in May, I'll be lining up for the Cleveland Marathon.

Gotta run...

Streak: 35 days
Miles: 164 miles
Average: 4.7 miles
January: 146 miles
February: 18 miles and counting

--JB