12th 100/100 Run Challenge Begins Today

Today we are at the start line of the 12th Annual 100/100 Run Challenge. The finish line is 100 days from now. But not necessarily (or probably) 100 runs from now.

You do the best you can. The point of this Challenge is to accumulate overall mileage and enhance your fitness in preparation for the 2018 racing season. Frequency of run sessions, not bulk miles, is the metric in which we're interested.

It's not a training plan. It is a personal challenge. Use it to motivate you, but step away from it when you need rest. The runs are logged over on the Slowtwitch training log, which has received several upgrades over the course of the year since last year's 100/100 Challenge. Among these are integration with Strava, which means no need for multiple entry of workouts.

You sign up by clicking the Challenge link from our training log and then when you "log a workout" every run automatically appends to the 100/100 Challenge.

Adhering to tradition, on December 15th we commence this long virtual camp with all the rules described on our Reader Forum. You must be a member of our Reader Forum to participate (both our Reader Forum and our Training Log use the same common account. Once you have established a Forum account, you can post on the Forum, log workouts on the Training Log, and join Challenges.

Why do we start on Dec 15th? To get you into a routine before the holiday (and the bad behavior it engenders) so that you start the year not at a disadvantage.

You must run 30-minutes in a day to generate one accomplished run. You can run longer than that but it's still just one run. Shorter than 30 minutes does not technically count as a session. More rules are in the thread linked to above as there is some fine print and some exceptions that you should read up on that can work in your favor.

While some athletes will actually run 100 times in 100 days, most of us will run fewer. There are levels for 90, 80 and 70 runs. There is no cost. Participate on the Reader Forum thread and share your experiences, like any training camp; this adds to the value for everyone.

Coaches and vets on the Slowtwitch Forum will answer your questions. Stories, pictures, smack talk and friendly competition are also welcome. Happy and safe training, and welcome aboard.

[Devashish Paul is Slowtwitch.com lifestyle contributor based in Ottawa Canada and founder of the 100/100 "freeware" challenge dating back to 2006-07. Dev is a 31-time Ironman finisher with multiple finishes at Kona and 70.3 Worlds and a former Canadian Armed Forces Triathlon Champion. He coaches athletes in his hometown, but his day is doing cool stuff in the tech world and trying to change how the planet uses clean energy with his new venture bluwave-ai.com.