Remix.run Logo
Remix clone Hacker News
new | show | ask | jobsGithub
▲ fifilura a day ago

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.

▲Imme_Play_5550 a day ago | parent | next [-]

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.

▲fifilura a day ago | parent | next [-]

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.

▲grumpy-de-sre a day ago | parent | next [-]

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).

▲JKCalhoun 16 hours ago | parent | next [-]

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

▲grumpy-de-sre 16 hours ago | parent [-]

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.

▲solumunus 10 hours ago | parent [-]

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

▲anton-c 15 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> 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.

▲verisimi a day ago | parent | prev [-]

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.

▲JKCalhoun 16 hours ago | parent | next [-]

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.

▲igouy 10 hours ago | parent | next [-]

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
▲fifilura 15 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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

▲grumpy-de-sre 15 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

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.

▲fifilura 19 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I am surprised by the emotions in this thread!

Where do they come from?

▲mns 18 hours ago | parent [-]

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.

▲fifilura 17 hours ago | parent [-]

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)

▲aaronbrethorst a day ago | parent | prev [-]

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

▲_Algernon_ 17 hours ago | parent | next [-]

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".

▲stephenbez 10 hours ago | parent | next [-]

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.

▲balfirevic 14 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> 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.

▲fifilura 19 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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

▲jmye a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

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.

▲igouy 10 hours ago | parent [-]

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/

▲igouy 4 hours ago | parent [-]

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."

▲_Algernon_ 20 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

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

▲pferde 20 hours ago | parent [-]

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

▲fivestones 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

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.

▲_Algernon_ 20 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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.

▲pferde 14 hours ago | parent [-]

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.

▲hatsnp 21 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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.

▲pinkmuffinere a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

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?

▲Elixir6419 a day ago | parent | next [-]

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.

▲kaffekaka 12 hours ago | parent [-]

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.

▲fifilura 11 hours ago | parent [-]

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.

▲kaffekaka 9 hours ago | parent [-]

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.

▲fifilura a day ago | parent | prev [-]

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?

▲pinkmuffinere 12 hours ago | parent [-]

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.

▲kaffekaka 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

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.

▲JKCalhoun 16 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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.