When I run, I feel like I have my whole life under control. I don't. But for that stretch of road, it feels as though I do.

I came across those words on a post recently. It was a photograph of a runner in a calm, green setting, with a caption saying the runner felt in sync and on top of everything, followed by three dots and an admission that none of it was true. I stopped scrolling because I recognised it straight away.

Today is Day 2,112 of my running streak. I ran in a quiet, peaceful place, and the post described what happens to me on most runs. My body works hard. My mind gets a break.

Why running every day gives the mind a break

Everyone struggles with life in their own way. I certainly do. There are problems in my life I have not solved, and some days they sit heavily on me.

On a run, something shifts. The legs keep moving, my breathing finds a rhythm, and the noise in my head drops. I am not fixing anything at that point. I am getting a rest from carrying it. For mental health and wellbeing, I think this matters more than most people give it credit for. The body is under strain, yet the mind recovers.

If you run once or twice a week, you probably know this feeling well. It is a good reason to run, and I would never tell anyone it is not enough.

Where I only partly agree

I said I agree with the post partially, and here is why.

The post describes running as an escape from a chaotic life. That is true on hard days. But after 2,112 consecutive days, I have learned there is a second thing going on, and I only noticed it because of the frequency.

When you run most days, you do not run only on your worst days. You also run on days when nothing went badly wrong. Some days the stress simply is not there. A few things go right. On those days, my mind does not need a break, because it has not been taking a beating.

So what does it do with the space? In my experience, it starts working on the problems I have been avoiding. It looks at a difficult situation from a different angle. It lets ideas arrive without forcing them. I come back from those runs with a possible solution, or at least a clearer question.

I would not have found this at one run a week. There would not have been enough runs on calmer days. Every run would have been spent recovering from the week. Running four or five times a week or more gives you more chances to meet a calm day, and a calm day gives you room to think.

I want to be careful here. This is my experience, not a rule for everyone. I am not saying tomorrow will be easy. Tomorrow may well be a difficult day. The point is only that a high frequency of running gives both kinds of days a place to go. Hard days get relief. Calm days get used for thinking.

What this means for how I solve problems

I have noticed a pattern in how I deal with difficult situations. When I am sitting at a desk under pressure, I tend to push harder at the same problem and get the same answer. When I am running, the pressure eases and I come at the problem sideways.

This is why I protect the streak. It is not about the distance on any single day. It is about the regular, reliable gap between a problem and my reaction to it. That gap is where better decisions come from. I am grateful for it, and I do not take it for granted.

There is also a practical side. If you want to use your runs for thinking, do not force it. I do not set out to solve anything. I run at an easy pace, I stay relaxed, and I let my mind wander. If an idea shows up, good. If not, I still get the break. Both outcomes are fine.

The mission behind the daily run

I run barefoot-style every day as part of a long-term mission. The aim is to complete 40,075 km, the distance around the world, through daily run vlogging, and to raise £1M for children's causes, including Great Ormond Street and BBC Children in Need.

As of today, I have covered 16,240.82 km. That leaves 23,834.18 km still to go. I am a little over 40 per cent of the way there, and the rest will come the same way as the first part: one run, one day at a time. My vision for the streak runs for around 16.5 years in total, so consistency matters far more than intensity.

Mental clarity is part of why I can keep going. A mind that gets regular headspace is a mind that can keep showing up. If I were running on empty mentally, the streak would not last. Running every day looks after my mental health, and my mental health in turn protects the streak. The two support each other.

The more people who watch these videos, the more people the mission reaches, and that is the only way it raises money for children. That is why I film and share every single day.

What I would suggest if you run regularly

If you already run, try noticing what your mind does on a calm day compared with a hard one. On the hard days, accept the break. On the calm days, give yourself a few easy minutes to think about one problem you have been putting off. You do not need to solve it. Just look at it from the road.

If you are not running often yet, consider adding one more run each week. More runs mean more chances to find those spare, quiet days.

If you believe in the mission, please watch the episode, subscribe, share it and leave a comment. Tell me what your runs do for your head. I read every one.

Thank you for following along. I will be back out tomorrow on Day 2,113.

Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/CMQ9BVE2lm0