A Look At Streaking
Streaking? No, not running naked through public. I'm talking about run streaking. According to Runner's World,
Now readers take this and extend it all year or over multiple years. There are stories of families taking their kids around the block to get their daily run and family time in. Their kids have set records for the youngest person to complete at least one mile a day at 6, 5 and just about 4 years old. There's another story about a 60 something year old man who hasn't taken a day off for 20 years. Or a story about friends being united through their run streaking in the face of cancer and even getting a run in the hallway of a hospital the day after a surgery. I see people posting their run streaks on Instagram boasting 100 plus days into their run streak.
Don't get me wrong. The family bonding, sticking it to cancer and dedicating yourself to something are all things that I fully support. I love that families have a way of spending time together every day without crowding around a TV. But I don't feel that promoting running every day is always a healthy outlook. Do you need to run the day after a surgery? Why does a 5 year old have to run every day without a day off? What if it's -30 degrees Fahrenheit with a snow storm that just came through and dumped 15 inches of snow preventing you from getting to a treadmill? I have a suspicion these streakers live in places that don't get much snow 😉
Days off of running are important. A basic idea of the training theory idea of supercompensation is that you add a stimulus (training), your body takes a hit from the training and requires a rest period. Following that rest is where the training benefits occur - supercompensation. If you are in a training cycle then it is recommended that you take at least one day off every 20 or so days of training. This does not apply to professional runners but still that's at a fairly high level. I have most of my high school athletes take off one day a week. If they are older with more mileage under their belt then I would extend that to two weeks to 20 days. Any new runner I would limit running to 3-4 days a week until they start building a base and then add 10% of mileage per week from there. I would never recommend a new runner starting out to persist at one mile a day minimum for 39 days. There would be minimal training benefits with an increase risk of injury.
Once you get to a certain fitness level a certain amount of stimulus is needed to get a training benefit. When you regularly run 30+ miles per week going out for a one mile run is pretty minimal. You need at least about 20 minutes of an easy run to gain any sort of aerobic benefit. When it comes down to it, what does running a mile accomplish? Nothing. No aerobic benefit. I feel like it's feeding habits of us Type A personality runners. You know what I'm talking about, those habits that get us to nice round numbers. Is there really a difference between running 39 and 40 miles a week? Aerobically, no. To a Type A, yes. How about running back and forth in front of your house just so your GPS watch chimes to finish that last mile. Really, on an easy run there is no difference between running 7.8 and 8 miles! I would compare that to making sure that you run at least one mile every day. You're not accomplishing anything so just take the rest day.
It's up to you to decide if you want to streak but I feel like some expectations should be laid out. A run streak can bring attention and awareness to a cause you are passionate about. It can bring friends and families together. It can show you what you are truly capable of if you commit yourself to something. You should know the run streak really does not boost your running performance. If running a mile boosts your fitness then you shouldn't be running every day because of increase risk of injury. If running a mile doesn't boost your fitness then running a mile really is pointless unless you are going to run at least 20 minutes. If you are at that stage then you should take a rest day once every week to 20 days. A run streak can feed into the Type A personality idiosyncrasies that actually lead to developing unhealthy habits and unhealthy obsessions. Basically, it's good for things other than your fitness so don't expect to run every day and have massive fitness gains.
There's a lot of information out there that doesn't apply equally to everyone. Just because a magazine tells you to run everyday doesn't mean it's right for you. Just because someone you know has had their life completely transformed by something doesn't mean it's right for you. More does not mean better.
Need help determining what type of training is right for you? Let's chat.
coach.n.fischer@gmail.com
"The run streak is designed to keep you running through the busy summer season, and bridge the gap between those late spring races and training for the fall." It continues to explain the run streak by defining, "Run at least one mile per day, every day, starting on Memorial Day (Monday, May 27) and ending on July 4. That's 39 consecutive days of running."
Now readers take this and extend it all year or over multiple years. There are stories of families taking their kids around the block to get their daily run and family time in. Their kids have set records for the youngest person to complete at least one mile a day at 6, 5 and just about 4 years old. There's another story about a 60 something year old man who hasn't taken a day off for 20 years. Or a story about friends being united through their run streaking in the face of cancer and even getting a run in the hallway of a hospital the day after a surgery. I see people posting their run streaks on Instagram boasting 100 plus days into their run streak.
Don't get me wrong. The family bonding, sticking it to cancer and dedicating yourself to something are all things that I fully support. I love that families have a way of spending time together every day without crowding around a TV. But I don't feel that promoting running every day is always a healthy outlook. Do you need to run the day after a surgery? Why does a 5 year old have to run every day without a day off? What if it's -30 degrees Fahrenheit with a snow storm that just came through and dumped 15 inches of snow preventing you from getting to a treadmill? I have a suspicion these streakers live in places that don't get much snow 😉
Days off of running are important. A basic idea of the training theory idea of supercompensation is that you add a stimulus (training), your body takes a hit from the training and requires a rest period. Following that rest is where the training benefits occur - supercompensation. If you are in a training cycle then it is recommended that you take at least one day off every 20 or so days of training. This does not apply to professional runners but still that's at a fairly high level. I have most of my high school athletes take off one day a week. If they are older with more mileage under their belt then I would extend that to two weeks to 20 days. Any new runner I would limit running to 3-4 days a week until they start building a base and then add 10% of mileage per week from there. I would never recommend a new runner starting out to persist at one mile a day minimum for 39 days. There would be minimal training benefits with an increase risk of injury.
Once you get to a certain fitness level a certain amount of stimulus is needed to get a training benefit. When you regularly run 30+ miles per week going out for a one mile run is pretty minimal. You need at least about 20 minutes of an easy run to gain any sort of aerobic benefit. When it comes down to it, what does running a mile accomplish? Nothing. No aerobic benefit. I feel like it's feeding habits of us Type A personality runners. You know what I'm talking about, those habits that get us to nice round numbers. Is there really a difference between running 39 and 40 miles a week? Aerobically, no. To a Type A, yes. How about running back and forth in front of your house just so your GPS watch chimes to finish that last mile. Really, on an easy run there is no difference between running 7.8 and 8 miles! I would compare that to making sure that you run at least one mile every day. You're not accomplishing anything so just take the rest day.
It's up to you to decide if you want to streak but I feel like some expectations should be laid out. A run streak can bring attention and awareness to a cause you are passionate about. It can bring friends and families together. It can show you what you are truly capable of if you commit yourself to something. You should know the run streak really does not boost your running performance. If running a mile boosts your fitness then you shouldn't be running every day because of increase risk of injury. If running a mile doesn't boost your fitness then running a mile really is pointless unless you are going to run at least 20 minutes. If you are at that stage then you should take a rest day once every week to 20 days. A run streak can feed into the Type A personality idiosyncrasies that actually lead to developing unhealthy habits and unhealthy obsessions. Basically, it's good for things other than your fitness so don't expect to run every day and have massive fitness gains.
coach.n.fischer@gmail.com
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