Run every day (2021)

I definitely see this kind of nonsense from lifting, high intensity interval training, bodyweight exercises, rock climbing, cycling... I think when people get very passionate about something that was lifechangingly important to them, then its very easy to forget other people don't share that experience.

It's probably better to generalize to have some level of daily activity that works for you. But then it's kind of boring, and everyone already knows this.

Ok, lets reframe this just a touch, everyone who runs treats it as an important activity with powerful impacts on their lives, maybe its worth checking out?

Like seriously - try answering your own question. Why would people behave that way?

> You don’t see this kind of oblivious nonsense from someone who likes powerlifting

But you do. You see this with essentially every type of exercise modality.

* Powerlifters say cardio is of the devil and anybody who does it is actively losing all muscle in their body.

* CrossFitters will leap at every opportunity to tell you how amazing it is - or at least that was the case a decade ago.

* Brazilian Jiu Jitsu people are the new CrossFit.

* Calisthenics people regularly act as if you can't do 20 strict ring muscle ups you really don't belong in the gym.

* Bicyclists will say runners are shit because they are destroying their legs one step at a time.

* Rowers will scoff at bicyclists because they have chicken arms.

* Runners will laugh at everyone because they are the only discipline that you can truly do anywhere without equipment.

Idk. The list goes on and on. Every athlete is like this. It's just a tribal mentality thing. We see it on HN with programming languages too.

His reasoning is fairly straightforward. From the article:

> I have found that running every day, consistently, vastly improves my mental and physical well-being.

> Every minute you run is your minute, and no one else's. And it feels good to allocate time to yourself every day.

I do not find this article's tone obnoxious, but I do know people like that who run. See also, powerlifters. See also, artists. I don't know any obnoxious itamae but I don't know any itamae. I know home cooks who look down on people who eat out a lot. Does that count?

I don't really walk or run. But I actually think that walking, through nature is generally the center of the mental universe. Or at least the thing that can create chemical homeostasis in the brain. Everything about humans from an evolutionary standpoint is improved towards walking through a forest type environment. There is some research that shows lateral movements in the periphery of the eye, such as what occurs at walking speed, reduces chemicals that cause stress/anxiety/depression.

It also only seems to work in a very natural environment, indoors, manicured walking tracks or city streets don't have the same impact, but it can be simulated with monitors / VR.

So perhaps VR nature walking on a treadmill would be a panacea for many mental issues brought on by modern stress.

I didn't pick up any 'obnoxiousness' from this article in particular.

Running just pops up like this because it is cheap, can be done anywhere, anytime, don't need a lot of skill training. It's basically the common denominator. Simple. Just get up and do something sport.

My whole family runs (including sub 3h marathons) and not a single one of them writes online about running.

As far as I can tell they are not self-important, they just run. I also run, and compared to the rest of the family even more under the radar: I do no contests ever, I run alone, I run at night. If I ever speak to someone about it, it is because they asked or because it was the topic of the conversation before I entered it. Running is my thing that I do for myself, the rest doesn't give me anything. It is a good habit, a free time and helps me to release stress (which is mostly mental in my job).

So maybe your question could be rephrased: "Why are the posts I read from people who post online about running so obnoxiously self-important about it?"

As I don't believe runners are any more annoying than e.g. ice skaters I could think of one rhing. Like with noises the things we find annoying might also have to do with ourselves. A friend of mine is constantly complaining about how "obnoxiously self-important" vegans are. He loves meat, but as a somewhat rational person he knows he is wrong. When I ask him where those vegans are and what they do he can't point to any specific thing. You could sit a vegan on the same table as him and even if the vegan says nothing and minds their own business he would feel they are "self-important" — all while he would be the guy to start speaking about it.

I am not implying that a similar mechanism is at play in your case at all, I don't know you. But it is something to be aware of. If you e.g. are someone who feels they should run more, but never get around to it for one reason or another, that might color your perception of people who do write about it.

People seem to confuse passion for being obnoxiously self-important.

You get the same comment about vegans, cross-fitters, runners, skiers, sailors, sourdough bakers, etc etc etc. anytime someone has a hobby they are passionate about doesn’t mean they are obnoxiously self-important. They are happy and want others to find the same happiness!

You may appreciate audio books while running. My reading queue has been decreasing because of this.

I've listened to so so many audiobooks while running. It's amazing.

You can certainly watch a tv show/youtube while running on a treadmill or an listening to an audiobook while running outside. I listen to a book a week running about 40ish miles per week.

> Most of those 'other' things are asynchronous or can be 'multitasked'. I can 'watch' a TV show while checking some emails, or eating a snack, or while folding laundry.

I can also do these things at night when it's not very safe to run.

> I hit my apple watch 'rings' - 730 cals, 30 min exercise - 400 days in a row. It was time consuming, and often boring, but I did it. Then stopped. It didn't bring me any great satisfaction or insight or whatnot.

You dont mention your diet, which could explain why you stopped.

> Then stopped. It didn't bring me any great satisfaction or insight or whatnot.

I fixed a few health problems running, and stave off others. Every mile I add is another health problem I can kick down the road. I only run 30 minutes or so 5 times a week. Around 3-3.5 miles per run depending on how motivated I am. 30 minutes is such a small amount of time but it may as well be an eternity when you consider how obnoxious internet connected life is. I feel better and care a lot less about the small shit in life. I'm sorry you didn't see the same benefit. Maybe another modality is your cup of tea.

I can't talk on the phone. I can't fold laundry. I can't eat. I can't read blogs. I can listen to podcasts and music; that's about it.

You can talk to whoever you're running with...

Middle-age friends lifehack: Join your local running group. Spending an hour a week jogging with people, where there's nothing else to do other than talk about running. Except talking about running means you talk about the places you've been, or why you can't be there next week, or you ask a question about where they live (because they're local like you). Small talk becomes easy because there's 0 distractions and you can always just talk about running.

The math on how you determine if someone is a friend is something like 100 hours spent together or 1,000 to be a best friend. Running together weekly is a life-hack to accumulate hours with new people.

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Look for your local Facebook or meetup.com group that meets 'at 6:30 on Tuesday at the Starbucks parking lot'. If you don't think there's one in your area, drop the area below this comment and someone will know of one.

EDIT: replying to my own post...

The whole "then stopped"... I didn't mean I stopped running altogether. I stopped aiming to 'close the rings' every single day. A 400 day streak was too much effort to keep going.

It should be no different between 6 days straight and 1 off versus 7 days straight. Perhaps more zone 2 running would help, unless you enjoy the day off. I do 7 days a week as my base and then for anything else I want to do I do on top.

> most people can run a single mile in less than 20 minutes.

A mile in twenty minutes is the average walking speed, so anybody who can run at all should be able to do it in that time.

This sounds lovely. Looking forward to incorporating more of that in my day!

I used to walk a lot, but it’s just so damn oppressively hot outside where I am now, either that or it’s raining too hard. Parts of the sidewalk outside of my place have a whole ecosystem living in the puddle that’s been sitting for a week.

I ran almost every day for years. I am working on rebuilding my running habit now. I would say that for people with a lot of running experience who are in good shape, one mile every day is going to do no harm at all.

edit to add: I feel I need to put a disclaimer here. People new to running, especially overweight people, should not run every day. Knee and ankle injuries are very common.

The amount of rest people need is going to vary dramatically based on fitness, genetics, amount of exercise, etc.

I try to run 5 days a week (6 miles per day) and then have an active weekend (usually hiking/backpacking.) I find that is a sustainable amount of exercise for my body. I'll occasionally do longer runs or bigger backpacking trips and take a day or two off here and there when I feel I need it.

It’s good to have rest days, but you don’t need a rest day after every single run, especially if it’s only a mile. A moderately healthy person should be able to run a mile every day without any problems. And if you do it every day then your body will get used to it very quickly.

Right. As if half marathons are supposed to be something in a wholly different universe than running a mile a day? It's great exercise, and I personally wouldn't want to do more than a half marathon, since the health benefits seem to be kind of limited and injury rates start creeping up. But someone who runs a mile a day is in reasonable shape, and the distance in fitness from a mile a day to running a half marathon isn't so great.

In contrast, I know people who do ultramarathons, running 50+ miles at a stretch, and I simply cannot imagine it. I'm impressed with people who do: the training, the determination. You can't just wing that. You can't do it on a whim. A half marathon you can do a half-ass job preparing for, and it won't be fun, and you'll feel bad afterward, but it'll be doable. Different categories.

This. I enjoy a good bike ride once or twice a week as well instead of running

I disagree, there is nothing that quite gets my heartrate up as much as running. I had been doing very low intensity cycling and walking for two years and decided it was about time to get back to being able to run 5k without stopping. Adding the running in had a very quick effect on my day to day experience. I think the people that advocate for 80-20 low intensity / high intensity have it right.

Yes, I didn't like the part where he said one of the excuses you should ignore is "my legs hurt". If your legs hurt, don't run!

Disagree. I run around 110km per week (on the low end of long distance training) on 6-7 days per week.

You will not deplete glycogen unless you don’t eat or you do a hard workout every day. Recovery pace days are designed to help your body heal and recover while running. Running is not weightlifting. Running should not be strenuous to gain endurance (the best endurance pace and base building pace is far slower than strenuous - Jack Daniels and Pete Pfitzinger have great books explaining this in detail).

These are all misconceptions.

That said, people who are not actively fit shouldn’t run 7 days a week until they get comfortable with walking 7 days a week, because of some of the misconception you mention, and it’s likelihood to cause injury.

That’s a popular misconception. Running is actually good for your knees, assuming you aren’t particularly obese.

Physical health I get. Running is hard on the body and most of the people I know who have done it for a long time have developed some kind of chronic physical ailment.

But how does it adversely impact your mental health?