- Monica Jackson
My marriage to the miles Q&A
My mom always has said you have to chose to be married. I felt like I was married to this goal sometimes. I had to chose it over sleep or friend time regularly. It was 1000% worth it, not only for the challenge but for the experience & perspective.

What was the biggest lesson?
Fist-The only way you can be successful in the world is by appearance, WRONG. You can’t tell how someone what has/can accomplished or how fit they are by looking at their body, i don’t look drastically different from when I started- but i can now run a mile in 8 minutes and i started at maybe a 10 minute mile.
Secund-All bodies deserve dignity & respect no matter if they run 3 miles a day or not, they allow us to do so much. We should be proud of them regardless.
Was the sechedule tough?
Honestly it was consistent & calculated- 10 miles a week for 50/52 weeks in a year. At times sticking to the schedule with a little hard but really the hardest part was the time to myself. It was just me & my thoughts out there, going into a run my mentality varied from empathetic feelings of I can run at whatever pace as long as I’m running to let’s go for a PR every run this week. I definitely learned that there is an easy way and hard way to do the same thing.
Were there times I though I wouldn’t finish?
Quite a few. The last week I had 7 miles left & I stepped on a rusty nail. I took two days off till it didn’t hurt to walk on it then went back to 3/4 mile days to finish the year out.
What helped you?
The phases of encouragement was a game changer I would set myself up for a bad run by doing it at an innovative time or push myself hard when I was really sore. Learning to fit it in when my head could be in it was crucial . About 200 miles in I started tinkering with playlist or cool podcast, it made all the difference my head space.
Would I do it again?
It was a one of a kind of a kind test of endurece & grit that can’t be recreated. I
wouldn’t want to do it over but i appreciate it for the mental & physical shape it has brought me to but, it’s water under the bridge now. But I am very appreciative of the consistent weekly task. I’m also ready for a few weeks of not running.
