Is it ok to go Running Everyday?
A 2018 survey conducted by Strava found that 7% of runners everyday.
Ron Hill is a British runner that set the world record for the longest running streak. He ran everyday from December 1964 to January 2017. The streak lasted just over 52 years!
Ben Smith is another British runner that ran 401 marathons in 401 days back in 2016. He raised over £300,000 for charity along the way.
It’s one of the most Googled questions. I’m not sure how many people that Google it are actually considering doing it or just checking to see if it is actually something that human body can do!
In this episode I’m going to break it down and answer the question ‘Is it ok to go running everyday?’
Let’s get into this episode…
RUNNING STREAK
It’s interesting when we look into the term ‘Streak’ or ‘Streaking’.
The term is said to have originated back in the 1970s when runners would run through public places naked (streaking). It is folklore that this then became a cult craze within the running community and often runners would count how many days they ‘streaked’. This then became known as your ‘running streak’.
Ron Hill is known as one of the more prominent runners with a long running streak because of his world record of running everyday for over 52 years.
Ron Hill started running at least one mile per day each and every day back in December 1964 as a way to recover from an injury.
He decided to take his first rest day in January 2017 at the age of 78 years old due to having a slight chest pain that he needed to rest.
Ron was the first Briton to win the Boston marathon in 1970 in a time of 2 hours 10 minutes and 30 seconds.
At the end of his running streak he had amassed up to 160,000 miles. This is the equivalent of running round the world six times!
Ron died in May 2021 at the age of 82 years old.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF RUNNING EVERYDAY
There are benefits to running everyday. But there are a lot of things to consider if you are thinking about starting a run streak.
I will run through the benefits first.
Discipline of having to run everyday builds mental and physical resilience.
Can be beneficial to your cardiovascular health.
Can be beneficial to your strength and mobility as you age.
Can be good for your brain through release of BDNF.
Good for weight management.
Good stress relief.
Good to set and achieve a certain streak challenge.
WHAT ARE THE NEGATIVES OF RUNNING EVERYDAY
I’ve listed the benefits above and I have been vague in my answers. This is because there is a fine line that can be easily crossed and wipe out any benefits.
There are far more negatives to running everyday than positives in my opinion. These include:
Pressure to run everyday can add to stress levels.
Running everyday can easily lead to mental burnout, lack of motivation and even depression from fatiguing your brain.
Running everyday can easily lead to physical burnout causing injury or illness.
Running everyday could cause issues with your heart if you are demanding too much of it.
Running everyday does not allow the body adequate time to rest and healh from the previous run.
If you only run everyday this limiting your health and mobility by repeating the same movement patterns daily you will notice your body starts to weaken in other areas such as strength, heavy lifting or the mobility of your body.
Running without adequate rest and recovery could cause stress fractures to bone leading to permanent bone damage.
You could cause excessive stress to the central nervous system that hinders your sleep quality.
MY ADVICE TO YOU
If you’re thinking of starting a running streak I would start small. Maybe do a 3 day challenge then have a period of recover that then allows you to train for another multi day challenge of 7 days for example.
Doing multi-day challenges is likely the best of both worlds. You get the periods after the challenge and during the training rest days for your body to recover but then you also get to achieve the challenge of running multiple days in your streak.
If you are going to try a long running streak. I would recommend keeping your daily mileage short.
For example, if you wanted to run everyday for 30 days I would recommend running no more than 3 miles or 5km each run. Ideally around the 1-2 miles or 1.6-3.2km per day.
This gives your body a better opportunity to recover from the shorter runs.
SUMMARY
You can run everyday if you are thinking of it but I would ask ‘what is your purpose for running everyday?’
I would recommend targeting a multi-day challenge, like a 3-7 day ultra. Coast to Coast or the Penine Way Challenge.
This will give you a taste of running everyday, albeit for a shorter amount of days but you will get the sense of adventure and achievement from this type of challenge.
SHARE this episode with someone that would find it interesting. I appreciate you spreading the love for this podcast, it is the single best way this podcast grows. So, thank you.
SUBSCRIBE wherever you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify Google. You will get the episodes when I post them.