Respectfully, that sounds awful. Being sick sucks enough, the last thing I'd want or benefit from doing is physical activity during a flu.
The actually awful runs I’ve had are more of the "type 2 fun" kind (running in the desert, grueling trail runs), or the occasional hungover run before I quit drinking.
I’m asking, because in German, many people call a regular cold a flu here.
But the chance to catch real influenza is like once every 20 years or so.
What about COVID-19?
Both illnesses completely K.O.'d me. Literally 5 days straight of laying on the couch alternating between sleeping, sweating, or just groaning when I tried to move. So uncomfortable I couldn't even enjoy watching TV. I spent most of my awake time just kinda.... staring at the ceiling.
During the Flu on day 4 or 5 I was starting to feel a bit better, I was starting to care that my house was a bit of a wreck and the carpet in particular getting pretty gross (lots of dog treat crumbs). I did a half-assed job of vacuuming 2 bedrooms, the living room, and the den. Took maybe 15 minutes. That was the extent of my activity for the rest of the day, I was just wrecked. Had to sit down to catch my breath and get control of some violent shakes.
Next time I catch the flu I have to try going for a jog. It would probably put me into a coma long enough to sleep through the rest of the cold.
I usually don’t get any colds at all, but I catch the flu once a year and need to be in bed at least for a week. So I started vaccinating since a couple of years and have avoided it so far.
My wife on the other hand catches every cold possible but her flu is gone in a couple of days.
Said that, my doctor has always strongly advised against doing any sport during flu or immediately after due to risks of heart infection. That’s something I’m going to follow, I’m not a sports professional and I have no need to risk my hearts health.
I have one really bad case if flu 20 years ago. Maybe I'll have to give up my streak then. It will be a bit sad, but maybe good for me that it opens up for some other way of exercise.
People tend to think any bad cold is the flu, and underestimate just how bad actual influenza is. In retrospect, the narrative of "COVID is just like a bad flu" is pretty accurate, because the actual flu is a pretty traumatic experience, and the idea of getting a worse version is terrifying.
No, they’re. Not. One is miserable. The other invites pleas for a quick and merciful death.
Most of the time influenza is not worse than a normal cold. You will have plenty of partial immunity via previous infections and vaccinations that takes the edge of most infections.
Same as COVID. Most of the infections are not even noticed by the ones infected. But sometimes it is/was extremely bad, if you had no previous exposure/vaccination, a large amount of bad luck and/or pre existing condition.
I also ended up training for a marathon while I had a mild pneumonia. I had no clue until I saw my doctor for a routine checkup.
When you have a running streak like this, you find ways to make it work. You’re often running with some kind of a knock, be it a cold, or some knee pain.
Intersting, in France we have the "flu-ish state" (un état grippal) when you have a seriuos cold.
Flu (grippe) is a real sickness, determined by the doctor or extrapolated from the context (everything around your head it, now it's your turn).
They are very distinct, though.
I did my usual, ran a few miles on the treadmill, did family walks all over, etc. I just felt lethargic - like I didn't sleep well at all, but I powered through it.
I know people who were absolutely bedridden with the flu. I can 100% believe some people can almost entirely brush it off too.
I often wondered why people did these self-evidently unfun things, purportedly "for fun".
I mean it's not for me but I can see how in hindsight (it's always in hindsight, never in the moment) it'll be considered fun. Or at the very least a story to share with friends or the internet, which is also fun.
I will say that now that I am getting older its getting a bit tougher - the pain is worse and lasts longer and real chronic pain kind of bums me out, but I just enjoy the challenge of trying to work around my body.
Now that said I don't think living your life as though you have no free will is a good life strategy. The illusion of free will is incredibly important. Fortunately we humans are masters at living with cognitive dissonance and inconsistent beliefs
I definitely do not believe we have free will in the most traditional sense, but I am a sort of compatibilist: its clear we cannot make a different choice in identical circumstances for meaningful reasons, but identical circumstances never occur anyway. A person's psychology is a sort of accumulation of all their experiences into biases for future behavior and our "will" is really just a manifestation of those experiences. But to whatever extent we can curate those experiences to produce a long term psychology that we like, I think we should do it.
I’m a big Type II fun person and feel that there are all sorts of highly satisfying life experiences to be had if you’re able to tolerate some discomfort, but there has to be some deliberate practice of getting comfortable being uncomfortable to ease into it.
Please see this as your body trying to tell you something before you end up with a bad injury that could prevent you from running for weeks.
For me, shin splits subsided after I got more comfortable running shoes and shortening the distance covered during runs (i.e. ~5km down to ~3km, 5-days a week).
Plus of course the chance to humble brag online afterwards!
This was due to a number of factors: excessive running (the equivalent of ~50-70mi/week), calorie restriction, and possibly carbohydrate restriction. Thankfully symptoms of low T (namely morning erections) resolved ~1month after ameliorating those 3 factors. (For anyone interested, look up "Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport".)
Mileage isn't my goal. Health is.
OP states "I've... invested into my own health", but I'm not convinced.
Maybe this amount of running was excessive, but how did you even run such distances with T so low? (Ie how did you recover?)
You still have to keep your macros (and micros) in balance while on calorie deficit, which is even harder. Your body needs various things, you just need to optimize your food. Also, I think the main contributor for OPs issues was the fat deficit, which is very easy to fall into while you think you eat healthy a lean food. Fat is important for your hormone production.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26843151/
https://shilpidietclinic.com/low-fat-diet-and-hormonal-imbal...
When you have to go 7 to 8 hours without eating before dinner you want plenty of slow-burning calories. Long chain fats, protein, slow carbs, with plenty of fiber.
My typical breakfast ends up being one slice of bread with liver pate and cheese, another with peanut butter and either nutella(if I'm doing morning cardio or some other exercise mid-day. Lots of sugar in nutella, which gets used up immediately by the exercise anyway) or various kinds of jam with no added sugar(usually pear and apple, since they're not so tart and are pretty sweet without added sugar), and a protein pudding cup(20g protein). The bread needs to be whole-grain, of course. Ideally 100% whole grain.
This ends up being about 700 calories, which is a pretty substantial breakfast. And most importantly, it includes a lot of protein(from liver, peanut butter, cheese, the bread and the pudding), a good mix of saturated fats with plenty of SCFA and MCT from the cheese and liver, mono- and polyunsaturated fat from the peanut butter, and tons of soluble and insoluble fiber from the bread and peanut butter.
This tends to keep me full until dinner time, at which point I can typically eat up to 1300 kcal depending on how active I've been.
On extremely active days, I might either add another slice of bread to breakfast, or have a protein snack and some fruit after exercise, as well as electrolyte drink with sugar in it during(important both for energy and fluid uptake).
Anyway, I'm rarely hungry except for just before eating, which is the idea. I think this would be much harder on a low-fat diet.
Also, testosterone also gets impacted by fatigue. Running is more fatiguing than lets say stationary biking or elliptical. So maybe try other forms of cardio to burn calories too instead of only running?
I’m 90 kg at 180 cm. I ride my bike 450 km per week. A few weeks ago I did a 340 km, 3000 m elevation ride at 25.6 km/h and yesterday I did a 220 km ride at 27 km/h. Last week I burned 13,468 calories from cycling (this should be fairly accurate as I have a power meter).
I would say I’m quite fit, I can obviously ride my bike further and faster than the vast majority of people but I am definitely overweight and look fat.
"How could I not eat a second donut, I just ran 15k!"
I was not "feeling fit", though, I believe I had low T, and I stayed relatively fat, which is not great for your organs, liver values, heart, etc.
So even if you are able to run 50K a week, you may still be somewhat unhealthy due to poor diet and other factors, and some of them can be improved by losing weight...
I was too lazy to cook a proper meal for a good while, but I would make something in weekends. Since all portion sizes in shops are catered for 2-3 people minimum, I'd always have 1-2 portions left over. I had convenient 500ml freezer/microwave containers which was also ideal for portion control. Lost 8 kilos in 8 months without actively dieting during that period.
Mind you it was also a stressful period, with a new job and stuff.
Not necessarily. There's a reason the saying is "You can't outrun a bad diet."
Before I got my diet dialed in I was cycling every day, upwards of 10 miles a day with a couple 20 mile rides per week, and was still gaining weight because I ate like crap, and more importantly, still ate more than I was burning with all the exercise.
The average American consumes 3,864 calories per day. A moderately active male might have a maintenance of ~2,647 calories, give or take a couple hundred. Just eating 500 calories per day over what you burn will lead to about a 1lb increase in weight per week. A zone 2 run might burn somewhere between 500-600 calories per hour, so its easy to see how quickly over eating can add up and at a point it becomes basically impossible to "run it off."
There's other factors that play into it such as lean mass vs. fat, etc. but in general, you can be very active and still be overweight.
The phrase “calorie restriction” is often used in the context of life extension to refer to periods of very low caloric intake, near fasting. This would cause problems with hormone levels.
It should be noted that this isn’t a truly reliable indicator like the internet suggests some times. For many people, they still get them but it occurs while they’re sleeping rather than at time of wake up.
There’s a parallel problem where the testosterone replacement therapy industry has diverged from its original stated purpose of replacing missing testosterone. The trend now is to prescribe excessive doses, beyond what the person ever naturally had. It’s basically a doctor-prescribed steroids when overdosed, but that’s also what a lot of people think they want.
Even crazier, some of the TRT clinics are now prescribing anabolic steroid compounds that were only FDA approved for severe muscle wasting disorders and cancer patients. The subreddits even had scripts you could follow to trigger certain clinics to prescribe the steroids for a time.
Source: was fat, ran a lot, lost weight, got runner's knee, am fat again.
I've never done the like barefoot-barefoot thing but switched to minimalist zero-drop shoes.
It was in fact a game-changer for me, all of a sudden in my 30s I could run 10k without IT band pain (even when fairly athletic playing American football in my youth). But when I pushed more into the 10-mile range I got runner's knee - diagnosed w/o MRI or anything as patellar tendinitis although I'm sort of worried it was actually my meniscus.
I kept wanting to get back to it and kept re-aggravating. So I have now mostly given it up for like a year. Bad for my health of course. But as I move forward forced days off (ideally cross-training w/ swimming, kayaking, hitting a heavy bag, etc) just have to be part of the plan.
Maybe 10 miles is too much regardless though.
But I'm not that skinny since "long time". Running 2-3x a week.
You're using the wrong reference group here. Would you still assert that most people when narrowed down to those who are running every day are more at risk from a lack of sufficient physical activity than from overtraining? Because that's the group we are discussing – those either doing it or considering doing it.
Most of the adult population in first-world countries are not considering running every day.
Saying we need to do more physical activity is not carte blanche to run yourself into the ground. No decent running coach would recommend running every day anyway. 3-4 times a week, and then let your body rest and recover. Training does not make you healthy or stronger. Recovering from the training makes you healthy and stronger.
Interestingly, the businesses targeting this segment have pivoted into offering actual testosterone prescriptions, pill-mill style. They’ve discovered that if they can find a willing doctor then there are no consequences for writing mass prescriptions for testosterone as long as they can create a minimal paper trail documenting some symptoms. So people see an ad on social media or hear one on the radio, make an appointment, and the doctor quickly diagnoses them with “low T” based on vague symptoms like “not performing as well as I’d like in the gym”, and they get a prescription.
The business model is to charge a monthly fee such as $200/month. Once people start taking testosterone their body shuts off its natural production, meaning they feel devastated if they ever stop taking it. So the customer is hooked. Some people can discontinue and eventually recover, but most people who take it for years will have testicular atrophy such that they may never be able to live without testosterone injections again for the rest of their lives. This inconvenient fact is rarely communicated up front, of course.
There is some fake shit no doubt, but you can have real problems that lower it. Kills dudes motivation, libido, etc and that kinda spirals towards depression sometimes. But it's not meant for long term use or meant to be given out as willingly as it is.
I am a runner. I train at what is probably the 80th percentile for longer distances, so I am by no means an expert. But I do understand that if you are running 7 miles a week, most of the time, your body isn’t going to be that beat up, especially if you are taking it slow.
Most people sit at a desk for 40 hrs a week. That is way more damaging to your health.
I take ~2 mile brisk walks every day (the kind where my pulse will average to 130), interspersed with casual multi-mile hikes up the mountain trail nearby. That’s just my baseline cardio and movement to feel good and keep myself healthy.
If my heart rate is 130, that's a run for me, all be ot slow. 33-35min ish 5k.
A brisk walk would be 95ish
However, the cardio should help. With overall health that is, not whatever blown knee or hip or whatever he'll have to deal with later.
You should not conclude from that, that it is healthy for every person to do so.
> i call the one-milers "streak savers"
If that game helps, fine.
finally when they had to (successfully) defib him during a race, that shook him into assessing his health not running for the sake of running
There's a mindset with distance runners that I have seen over and over, just sometimes way too much of a generally good thing
So yeah, please be careful when doing sports while sick.
According to https://www.myocarditisfoundation.org/about-myocarditis/:
> Men however are twice as likely as women to develop it, but women do develop myocarditis.
i was run in pine forest(it produces air with antibiotics), sub zero, down to -20c(in light clothes and sneakers).
for simple throat and nose conditions it was immediately healing, body temperature under 38c.
there rule was - never stop. nor walk. only run(until get to shower). or will get ill. tested few times.
in hockey people does not seem to run all time
also, i was run on frozen randomized ice pieces, dirt and snow like things. i had to adapt my posture for that, basically it does not streess same joints same way, not like thread mill or flat city roads. it was good. rule was never walk. when i started to walk, slipped to ground fast.
Rule 1 of training as an athlete was: you do not train for N extra days after N days of fever
You do not want a heart infection.
Keeping track of you morning resting heart rate will tell you exactly what is going on.
I am also a run-streaker (3 years by now). I am not proud of running when i have the flu. But I run really slow and only the required amount.
Effort comparable to going to the store to buy food and aspirin.
I am not a pro athlete. I think there are many days where athletes go beyond what they should to win some gold medal in some competition.
This is for me only and I am fine with it.
Can you tell me what you think you'd do?
I take it to express fear of losing the streak and fear that the magic would disappear.
It's the feeling of fear as motivation that I dislike.
I think what's important for me is that for me this does not feel at all unhealthy. It is more a way to maintain a good habit, like brushing my teeth.
And I don't feel like I need to be saved by anyone.
Some days I run farther but most days I run 2 miles. As much as a lunch break allows.
You seem to have read what isn't there.
I was attempting to check if I had read what wasn't there.
And perhaps I did, if it's "more a way to maintain a good habit".
When less-than 3 times-per-week my run-habit will feel unfamiliar. When transitioning from distance runs to intervals my run-habit will feel unfamiliar. After a 10-day vacation break my run-habit will feel unfamiliar. And soon it feels familiar again.
You seem to be equally intrinsically motivated to tell me what to do and not do based on your experience.
Sorry if you feel pressured to do anything.
I drink coffee too, if someone wants to take a stab at that.
Don't let rest feel like weakness. It’s where the real progress happens.
And either way, yeah runstreak is probably not optimal for improving your stamina. I am sure there are more rigorous programs for that.
Obsessively run streaking one mile every day sounds completely bizarre to me and a complete PITA.
Almost as bizarre as those poor bastards that I see doing laps around tiny parks / basketball courts (the monotony would drive me crazy).
Imo, this is OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) expressed as running stats, rather than thimble collections or hand washing. It's about gaining/regaining a sense of control of one's life.
Where do they come from?
The 1000+ days behind me means something. And many days it is what pushes me through.
It would be nice if I could find a ramp down scheme, but then with something else to ramp up, otherwise it would probably be better to just keep going.
Just stopping on a random Wednesday, it would just feel very weird.
(I am not the person in the article, just another guy with a streak)
I stopped running maybe 7 or 8 years ago. This thread has me wanting to go back to a mile a day or so — I'm past 60 years old now and more concerned about my health than I used to be.
21:34 — 65
22:49 — 64
23:04 — 61
23:41 — 64
24:45 — 75
24:57 — 63
25:06 — 67
25:41 — 66
25:52 — 66
26:37 — 63
27:01 — 73
27:31 — 70
27:52 — 74
28:49 — 76
29:29 — 61
30:34 — 78
30:55 — 86
31:03 — 72
31:14 — 68
& another 14 older than 60A healthy relationship with exercise does not look like this and I hate seeing this stuff promoted.
If you hate running and you've only tried it on a treadmill, highly recommend giving it another try somewhere nice outside.
It's not testable at home but if you're curious, google VO2 max.
Presumably their (aaronbrethorst) "resting days" are resting from running, not resting from "household chores" and "letting the dog out".
Should we ask whether you have an unblemished daily streak of "household chores" and "letting the dog out".
It doesn't magically turn dangerous just because the activity is labeled "running".
As someone who vacuums and carries groceries but doesn't run, I find that pretty hard to believe. Maybe if you are a very fit runner? But then those other activities would hopefully also be easier.
Also running tends to be more repetitive and pounding on the joints which requires more recovery time than simply vacuuming. I’ve never heard someone get injured vacuuming but I know dozens of people injured from running.
A mile of slow running is ~11 minutes.
I find the tendency of very amateur runners having very strong opinions about running, odd. There are literally decades of research, and while the particulars change over time, the macros tend not to.
He explains why he took Saturday and Sunday off ;-)
"As I rested for two days my body would get a reset. On Monday-sessions I would always be well rested and ready for another hard five days. And if I weren’t well rested, if my pulse was not responding as usual or if my legs felt heavier than they usually did on a Monday-session, I would take notice early. I would know that something was abnormal before it became a real issue and I would throw in some extra rest days and avoid a negative trend."
“Rest doesn’t preclude running” is a very simple, clear thought (followed by “recovery pace”, another very simple concept, well known in running). If you don’t want to respond to it because you don’t know anything about running, that’s fine, but maybe, you know, don’t jump into a conversation you’re not capable of participating in?
"Usually I did not train at all during rest days. I rested both my mind and my body. However, if my friends wanted to go alpine skiing or go for a hike, I would join them. But I didn’t perform any intended active recovery. I tried to live a normal life."
“Rest with zero recovery running” is a very simple, clear thought.
I suspect that the original poster has a better sense of these factors, for their own body, than you do and is much more suited to make these decisions.
I can see how you might worry that if you take off one day when you are sick that somehow you'll start taking more and more "sick days" out of perhaps laziness. But I also feel like someone with such a level of dedication would not be in much danger of doing that.
Why do you run with the flu of you feel bad about it? What is the point of fulfilling the "rules" of run streaking?
For me the by far biggest positive effect of run streaking was that I knew every morning when I woke up that I would something i enjoy that day. The training is too low intensity and volume to really matter and doing it for the rules would have felt pointless.
One of the symptoms of the flu is aching joints. Running on aching joints may be damaging them, so I don't.