ALI Nelson accomplished her goal of running at least a mile a day on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023.
Nelson, the 42-year-old civil division chief of the Office of the Attorney General, took on the challenge on Jan. 1, 2022.
“One of my closest friends, Kerri [Bauer], convinced me to join her in Latte Built’s 31-day challenge, to run a mile a day, every day in January 2022,” Nelson said. “Then I was off-island on vacation at the end of January and into February so I didn’t really have a good reason to stop, and then it just seemed like I might as well keep going for the year.”
Nelson added, “I’m thankful Run Saipan is managing another challenge this January as it was just one more reason to do it again.”
Asked how she was able to cover a mile a day each day for a year, she said, “I’m not a morning person so I often run late at night. It’s hard for me to say no to work and parenting and friends and family, so it’s usually easiest for me to find time to myself after everyone else has already gone to bed. Or I’ll combine a run with other activities when I can. I’ll run with my kiddo, or back and forth while my parents walk, or with a ball during soccer season.”
However, she did face obstacles along the way.
“Travel has been the hardest challenge,” she said. “I’ve run in airports between flights while my husband and kid sit with our bags. I’ve done laps barefoot in a hotel room when I forgot to put my shoes in my carryon for an overnight layover. And I’ve had a really hard time tracking when I need to run…across time zones flying to and from the mainland.”
But, she added, “I tell myself I’m going for a run at least once between waking up in the morning and going to bed, and I make sure I do at least that, for every one of my days.”
Even when dealing with injuries such as a pulled muscle in her back in February, and a flu in September, she still managed to meet her daily challenge with slow laps in the yard.
One thing that helped Nelson complete her year-long streak was momentum.
“One of the most valuable things for me about a streak is the momentum of it. It’s way harder to skip run #368 than run #2,” she said. “Honestly, I don’t love running. I used to skip workouts for days and even weeks at a time for any number of reasons: I just ate, I’m too sleepy, I just finished a glass of wine, it’s dark, I’m sick, it’s raining. Running through the excuses has made me realize no excuse is a good excuse. It only takes 9-10 minutes. (Or 8 if I’m fast, or 15 on a bad day.)”
She added. “I’m planning to keep going indefinitely.”
Ali Nelson
