Streak Running and an Hour with the 6RRC

Streak running is a task in insanity. I first heard of the idea from the second part of pod cast from The Story called Running Together where a son and his mother run every single day for 2 years straight. I then looked into the idea and found the United States Streak Running Association where runners have been running daily for 30+ years!

The rules of a streak are simple. Run at least 1 continuous mile every single day. A writer for the New York Times did a piece on her father who has run 2+ miles daily for 30 years. He apparently has a strange gait, and runs pretty slowly now, but he’s no worse for wear.

The 8th Day

I’ve been on my first running streak for 8 days now. But, today on the 8th day of my streak, I participated in the 6 Rivers Running Club hour long race. The race was held at the HSU track where I run several times a week already. How could I not participate? Yes, I could have run slower, and not as far… But, with an amazing 10 year old runner named RJ running a sub 6 minute mile, how could I slack off?

The Food

I ate oatmeal with lots of fruit and flax this morning, and brought some sweet orange bell peppers, an orange, and some almonds to the race. I kept two almonds for luck, but can’t remember when I ate them. I was surprised no one gave me weird looks for eating a whole pepper like an apple, but they are so good. After the race I immediately devoured the orange, and tried not to be rude as I turned down cookies three times. Since I eat so little processed foods and don’t use salt, I get very little sodium. I’ve salted my dinner tonight, but it covers up the marvelous flavor of these orange peppers.

The Hour Race

The first lap was a lot of fun, everyone was chatty and friendly. I was running too fast, but everyone else seemed so strong and fast. I was floating. My first three miles were too fast. I was nervous, but everyone around me was running so fast, it was hard to slow down. Going past 3 miles was strange…. The fastest I’d ever taken a treadmill was 7.0 and that was hard. And, I ran faster than that for 5+ miles before my mind started to shut down. By the end of the 7th mile I was dead. One of the fast runners who lapped me many times held up 3 fingers and shouted, 3 minutes left! So, I ran a lap and a half in three minutes.

Nothing hurt. I couldn’t breath, but I felt great.

When I stopped running I was actually surprised to notice the people in front of me weren’t running anymore, and I was hit with a wall of pain almost instantly, my left thigh was on fire and I could barely stand on my calves, let alone walk!

RJ passing people who both out ran me

The good news is I can still walk, the bad news is, tomorrow’s run is going to be extra, extra hard. I’m still questioning my sanity on this streak business. To make matters worse, the Avenue of the Giants Marathon is in 3 weeks. I was hoping to complete my first marathon, but with all this streak running, I’m probably going to compete in the half marathon or 5k instead.

The Beautiful Streak

The beauty of a running streak is that you never have to ask yourself if your going to run today. The answer is always an unquestionable yes! I’ve never run more than 5 days in a week before, so we will see how this goes. Next time, I’ll best 8 miles.

Comments About Streak Running and an Hour with the 6RRC

// 5 comments so far.

fesja // April 11th 2010

nice post greg,

1 mile is a relative distance. If you are not used to run it, it will be very hard to run it every day (like for me). But for people who run 5 miles each 2 days, it would be easier.

However, the streak running goes against the suggestion of running on even days, and relax on between. I’m not sure how healthy is it.. what do you think?
Charles Hand // April 11th 2010

The appealing part of streak running to me is the streak part. I think it’s good to have life elements which are given power over whim and rationalization. The unappealing thing about streak running to me is the running. The other really appealing thing about streak running to me is that, if I understand correctly, it never has to intersect with competitive running, ever.
Greg // April 11th 2010

Streak running has already caused me to cut back on the intensity of my runs because I have to be able to run tomorrow!

Everything I’ve read about running says you have to rest at least 2 days a week. However, these guys have gone 35+ years without a day off. I’ll never manage that because I’ve always skipped more often than I run. I have a feeling a lot of people have this problem. So, I am curious whether or not I can run every day. It certainly provides some extremely powerful motivation.

I know at 24 I couldn’t run around the block without walking, and at 30 I can run for an hour without stopping. Sweat made my back itch. Picking up running for the first time at 24 I injured myself within the first 3 days of jogging slowly around the block. If I can do it, I know other people can. Perhaps I’m too stubborn, but the more I push, the better my body responds.
Lisa // April 14th 2010

Wow!

I heard that very same interview!

It motivated me to start streak walking

You can check out my progress on my blog. (I’m vegan as well!)

Best of luck in your running!
Greg // April 14th 2010

hmmm streak walking, now your thinking! Why is there no streak walkers of America? My first running streak lasted 9 days. Now, if I can just learn to take it a bit easier on my legs… Streak walking I know we can all do. If you start one keep us posted.