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Comment by fifilura | Hacker News Reader

It is only a mile and you can run really, really slow.

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.

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Just gonna say, as a fellow excessive exerciser... exercise doesn't make you stronger. It's the recovery afterwards and the resulting growth/adaptation that makes you better.

Don't let rest feel like weakness. It’s where the real progress happens.

Rest doesn’t preclude running. Most high end runners run every day. It’s very easy to run at recovery pace and feel better than if you’d done nothing at all.

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.

Here's Nils van der Poel's (World champion, World record) 5k 10k speed-skating training-program.

He explains why he took Saturday and Sunday off ;-)

https://www.howtoskate.se/

For example:

"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."

Do you want me to link Conner Mantz’s Strava? Like, what is the point of dropping a single, random example here?

“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?

Would Strava provide the athlete's own reasons for why they chose each aspect of their training program?

"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.

Who are you talking to?

You have to appreciate how short a mile run is.

And either way, yeah runstreak is probably not optimal for improving your stamina. I am sure there are more rigorous programs for that.

I've been running five miles roughly every other day for fifteen years. If I've got a flu or not feeling great I'll take a few days off, no loss. Not sure how one would objectively determine "stamina", but my resting HR is in the bottom 3% for my age.

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).

A treadmill looks even worse to my eye though. At least they're getting outside?

If a treadmill was my only option. I straight up wouldn't run.

If you hate running and you've only tried it on a treadmill, highly recommend giving it another try somewhere nice outside.

I must be one of the few that prefers treadmill running. The fact that it requires zero attention turns it into meditation for me.

> Not sure how one would objectively determine "stamina", but my resting HR is in the bottom 3% for my age.

It's not testable at home but if you're curious, google VO2 max.

But the stats! The streak fail! That's what running is about, right?

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.

I'm allowing that maintaining the streak is perhaps the prime motivation when you are finding it hard to drag one's sorry ass out of bed every day. So maybe it's a good thing if it keeps you running.

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.

A sequence of 5k race times (and ages) from yesterday:

    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 60

It will be good for you. Start with a mile/day for three weeks. From there the past days will push you forward.

I suffered from an eating disorder a very long time ago that shared a lot of the same mechanisms (thankfully my starvation survival instinct was stronger).

A healthy relationship with exercise does not look like this and I hate seeing this stuff promoted.

I am surprised by the emotions in this thread!

Where do they come from?

The running community is intense. As a former "runs way too much" runner, you get very into it and it kind of takes over your life, it becomes your whole identity. Until you get injured from it and it wakes you up.

Thank you for your comment about identity. Was it something I wanted or did it sneak up on me?

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)

You have to appreciate how critical recovery time is to improving your strength/stamina/whatever.

We are talking about a level of effort that is less than people's commute or a simple walking of the dog. People exert themselves more than a slow 1-mile jog by vacuuming their house or carrying groceries home from the store.

It doesn't magically turn dangerous just because the activity is labeled "running".

I looked it up and running slowly at a 12 minute per mile pace is about 8 METs, and vacuuming might be around 4 METs so that doesn’t seem to be true.

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.

You forget that METs have time in the denominator, so half the MET for twice the time is equivalent.

A mile of slow running is ~11 minutes.

> People exert themselves more than a slow 1-mile jog by vacuuming their house or carrying groceries home from the store.

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.

Do you tend to avoid household chores or letting the dog out on your resting days?

I'll take your question seriously.

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".

If you are sufficiently trained, a 1 mile day is a rest day though.

Not when you have flu. Or a stress fracture on your leg.

When you have run for a while, you get a pretty good feel of what kind of pain / discomfort you can push through, and what kind of pain / discomfort is actually harmful.

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.

As someone who has been running a lot for past 30 years, I respectfully disagree. This is objectively a bad idea, no matter what the "factors" or "sense of" these factors is, or what the runner's subjective situation is.

No experience with a stress fracture of my leg and running. But I know when I had the flu and did a slow easy 1 mile run I felt much better after than before. Same thing happened with Covid.

This isn't really that simple. Studies keep coming out showing that even people undergoing chemo and other heavy therapies benefit from some exercise(ex brisk walks), showing upwards of 20-30% better results. For his fitness a very light run could be as taxing as a brisk walk for a common person and still bring some benefits in fighting his illness.

I don’t feel strongly on either side, but I do want to point out that “I am not proud of running when I have the flu” immediately suggests a course of action that could make you more proud. It seems that not-running when sick would make you happier? Is it really worth doing just for the completionism?

i am not sure about the OP or the motivation and I am not a Streak runner/mover myself, but I do see the appeal of it, that will keep someone moving and exercise more or less consistently. Overall maybe the bad it is doing on bad days, is compensated with the good it is doing on good/average days. It is a long term motivator. For me now that i was cycling about 2-300km per week last year, going to nearly 0 this year so far because life and stuff, makes it pretty hard mentally to get back into the saddle, because of reduced performance, fatigue and just the general feeling of what it felt like to be in a faster group ride that I would get dropped from and i need to work my way back up there in performance and endurance. Having a streak going might have helped with this.

The way I see it is this: maintaining a run streak can be hard, but what is even harder is taking rest days when needed and every time get back on it. The (amateur) runners that impress me the most are those that keep running for years, decades, not through some neverending streak but through determination. The skill to abort a long run streak without quitting running is admirable.

Ok, happy for you that you have the intrinsic motivation.

You seem to be equally intrinsically motivated to tell me what to do and not do based on your experience.

I am not describing my own motivation, nor am I telling you what to do. I am only describing what to seems to be the most difficult thing to do. It matches well the expressed view that "if I break the streak I might stop running for good".

Sorry if you feel pressured to do anything.

Apology accepted, and mine was an over reaction too, sorry. Just that opinions are very high in this thread in general.

I drink coffee too, if someone wants to take a stab at that.

The intersection of exercise and identity is indeed a sensitive topic for many, myself included. We are all just humans doing our best.

Then I would loose my streak and the magic would disappear.

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?

Ya, that's fair, arbitrary motivators are arbitrary, but they still give motivation. I strongly dislike running, so if it was me I think I would give up once I get sick, or likely would not start the streak to begin with. I'm not saying that's the right solution, just trying to address your question.

Perhaps I misunderstand and misread and then dislike what I feel about that first sentence.

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.

Probably not for you then.

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.

> And I don't feel like I need to be saved by anyone.

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.

If you "know better" are you a "run-streaker" because of some innate need to not break a streak? Is the streak the thing that keeps you motivated?

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.

I have also done a couple longish run streaks, but would have rested if ill.

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.

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