52 Healthy Habits: Running Coach Tips to Stay Safe and Sane on the Summer Run Streak

Ahh...Summer is almost here and while most people kick off the unofficial start of summer with a backyard bar-b-que, we runners usually strap on our kicks and participate in Runner's World annual Summer Run Streak.

This week as part of our 52 healthy habits series, we are talking about the Runner's World run streak.

What's a Run Streak, you ask? It an an annual event when runners commit to at least one mile every day from Memorial Day through Fourth of July and share their progress on social media using hashtag #RWRUNSTREAK. 

If you follow this blog, you know I am big on healthy habits and lacing up those running shoes every day for 37 straight days is a fabulous way to establish a consistent running habit while maintaining your fitness through most of the summer.

As a running coach it is my mission to make sure that we all stay safe and sane throughout the streak. You can read Runner's World official FAQs here, but here's my take on the run streak.

1. KNOW YOUR WHY

Why do you want to run the streak? To stay motivated through the summer? To establish a regular running habit? Or because all the cool kids are doing it on social media? It's great to do it just because it's fun, but after a couple of weeks, having a reason why you want to achieve this goal will keep you going once the initial excitement wears off. 

2. MAKE A PLAN

run streak tracking and planning calendar free download

If you don't usually run every day, make a plan as to when you will fit in your mile each day. Most people will be able to run the mile in 15 minutes or less, so decide if you will get up early, run at lunch, right before dinner (or whenever works for you). Schedule your run on your calendar so you know exactly when you will get it done each day. Here in Texas, the summers can get pretty hot, so I use the running streak to motivate myself to get up early before work and run at least one mile.

Make a plan for when things don't go your way. What if it rains? What if you have to work late? What if your dog ate your running shoes? Ollie! Think ahead about how you will handle potential obstacles, because nothing worth doing comes easy. I suppose we could hope that 37 days go by without anything going wrong...there's a first time for everything, but we'd be better off to be prepared for challenges. 

3. ALTERNATE SHOES

While the streak goal is to run at least one mile every day, a lot of runners will probably choose to run more than one mile on some days. When running on subsequent days, it is a good idea to alternate between two pairs of running shoes. Simply changing shoes every other day can help decrease the chance of repetitive use injuries. 

4. DON'T NEGLECT REST AND RECOVERY

On your normal rest days, you will still be running one mile to keep the running streak alive. These days should be very low intensity (aka sloooooow). I can't stress enough the importance of resting your body. While you will probably run a few runs during the week that are longer in distance and higher in intensity, I highly recommend at least two or three days a week of just one very slow easy mile to allow your body time to recover.

5. SLEEP WELL

Speaking of recovery, since you may be putting additional stresses on your body during the streak, it is more important than ever that you aim for seven to eight hours of sleep. It is during rest that the body grows stronger and faster. Make a plan for a good night's sleep. It is a healthy habit that will serve you long after the run streak is over. Here are some tips on how to create and follow a sleep ritual.

6. RAMP UP SLOWLY

If you are not running at all and using the streak to get back on track or start a new running routine, I recommend starting with just one mile a day. No more. Too much too soon will only lead to burnout and possible injury. You can increase your miles as the streak progresses and your fitness levels improve. 

If you are already running a few days a week, start with two to three regular runs during the week and four to five one mile days (according to your current fitness levels). Think about the normal amount of time that your body is accustomed to running each week. To stay safe and injury-free, don't drastically increase the amount of time hitting the pavement.

7. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY

This is fun and we will all be showing off our streak on social media, but no streak is worth your body's health. If you feel aches and pains (other than normal soreness) then I highly recommend that you listen to your body and take some time off as needed. Pain is your body's way of telling you something is going wrong. Ignoring pains will only lead to more serious injury. No streak is worth that. Here is a post I wrote on the difference between pain and discomfort. 

8. THERE'S NO SHAME IN WALKING

Technically speaking, the Runner's World rules say that walking doesn't count. I disagree. Besides, a Runner's World official streak moderator isn't going to jump out from behind the bushes to issue you a citation for walking. Please feel free to run/walk your miles as needed to stay to safe and sane. 

9. BE SOCIAL

If you made it through all my coach safety talk, I want to remind you to have fun and be social. Post pictures (aka selfies or shoefies) of your daily runs and use the hashtag #rwrunstreak on Instagram and/or Twitter. Search the hashtag and leave comments to encourage your fellow run streakers!

Let me know how it goes. I'll be on the lookout for you on social media. 

It's Memorial Day so I also want to take this time to express my gratitude for the men and women of the US armed forces who made the ultimate sacrifice for my freedom. 

scenes from the #Shredshed

Need to catch up on the 52 healthy habits series? 

52 HEALTHY HABITS SERIES

week 1: Early to Rise
week 2: Track calories
week 3: Macro cycling
week 4: Morning pages (journaling)
week 5: Stop the scrolling (reading instead of social media)
week 6: Be a good student (take time for learning) 
week 7: Strength Training 15 minutes per day   
week 8: Eat more protein
week 9: Take a coffee break (break from caffeine)
week 10: Mindful eating
week 11: Create and follow a sleep ritual
week 12: 10 Easy ways to eat more vegetables 
week 13: A rant 
week 14: 10K steps a day
week 15: Drink more water
week 16: How to self-assess your food journal
week 17: 52 Healthy snack ideas

Need help with your nutrition strategy? Tired of dieting? Want help developing healthy habits while staying sane and balanced? Join my nutrition habits coaching program to make permanent sustainable changes. 

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The 30-20-10 Interval Running Workout

Welcome to the latest edition of workout Wednesday! This week I have a great interval running workout for you to try. This workout was developed by Dr. Jens Bangsbo at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark to increase speed in recreational runners. If you are looking for an easy way to incorporate interval or speed training into your running workouts this is a great place to start. You could do it on the street or the track with a timer (affiliate --> I use a gymboss interval timer) or on the treadmill.

This is a by-feel paced workout. That means you don't need a GPS watch to make sure you hit certain paces. All you need is a timer and a pair of running shoes (OK, clothes would probably be a good idea too). 

Warm up by walking or jogging 10 minutes or one mile.

30 seconds

Start at a slow pace for 30 seconds. This should feel very easy, breathing is easy. For a beginner this may even be a brisk walk. It's called conversation pace. You could hold a conversation while maintaining this pace. 

20 seconds

Accelerate to a moderate pace for 20 seconds. This should be your race pace. A little faster than your easy pace but not an all-out-sprint. It should feel comfortably hard. You could probably get out a sentence or a few words between breaths, but you are working too hard to hold a conversation.

10 seconds

Then sprint as hard as you can for 10 seconds. Go for it. Give it all you have for 10 seconds. You can't talk at all while holding this pace. 

Repeat four more times in a row without rest for a total of 5 minutes of these intervals.

2 Minutes

Rest until your breath is fully recovered (about 2 minutes).

Repeat

Repeat these 30-20-10 sessions and rest periods until fatigued (no more than 30 minutes) for a quick and effective speed workout for runners of all levels

Cool down by jogging or walking 10 minutes or one mile.

Doesn't Ollie demonstrate the 10 second sprint pace picture perfectly? Good dog. 

Add this workout to your schedule 1-2 times per week with rest days and easy-paced run days in between hard workouts.

A general rule for intense training: A little is better than none and a lot is too much. Remember that our bodies adapt (grow stronger and faster) during rest, not during the workout. Allow your body adequate time to recover between hard workouts for the best results.

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Easy DIY Race Medal Hanger

Full disclosure: I'm terrible at DIY projects. I long to have the talent of those Pinterest sorceresses who magically turn random craft supplies into beautiful works of art. When I look for projects I usually search "kid friendly" to make sure it is within my scope of abilities. My largest limiting factor is patience. When I start a project, I just want it to be done, I don't want to wait for the paint to dry or to carefully cut out anything. Can't I just buy one? I needed a DIY project so easy that even I could do it. 

This idea to attempt my own DIY project stemmed from the fact that my current race medal holder is full and I saw one on Etsy that I loved for $75. It was gorgeous, but $75? It looked easy enough, maybe I could do that. I may not be good at DIY, but I had a backup plan...hubby! 

He actually had another big project going on around the house and my medal hanger was probably the last thing he wanted to focus on, but I think when he saw my sad DIY-self trying to spray paint chalkboard paint, he felt pity for me and helped...err...took over. 

posing with my project in front of the #shredshed

MATERIALS

Shopping for supplies? That I can do. 

I walked all over Home Depot looking for the perfect piece of wood and actually ended up buying a particle board shelf because it was already primed and just about the perfect size.

From Home Depot I bought the shelf, a can of chalkboard spray paint, a wooden dowel rod, a couple of hooks. About $13 total

From Hobby Lobby I bought wooden letters and metal clips. $7

Does the teal color look familiar? It's leftover from the #Shredshed.

THE PROJECT

Hubs helped me tape off the board so I could spray the chalkboard paint. I was seriously annoyed when he told me we had to wait 24 hours for the chalkboard paint to dry before we could tape it off to paint the other side. Seriously? Ugh. Waiting. 

We (I use the word "we" liberally) painted the dowel rod white and cut it down to size. (Probably not in that order) Hah. 

I painted the letters, but I painted them on a magazine and that was a terrible idea. Don't do that. The paper stuck to the letters and I spent years (slight exaggeration) cutting the paper off the edges with a razor blade. I also used a paintbrush which was terrible idea number two. Hubby did the 2nd coat with a mini roller. 

lesson learned: Don't paint on a magazine

Once everything finally dried and I cut off all that paper, hubs helped attach the clips, screw in the hooks and glue the letters. 

The idea was for it to say "RUN GOALS" and then I could write my current run goals in chalk under the letters. My super crafty-talented friend is going to help me paint the letters GOALS in white paint in some fancy hand lettering under the word run, but we haven't had a chance to get together on that yet. 

I know what you are thinking, For a DIY project, there is not a lot of "Y" going on. So maybe it's a DIYH (Do it Your Husband) or HDI (Husband Does It).

The Y in my DIY at work

I'm grateful to have a hubby willing to help me with these types of projects, otherwise I might have had one of those Pinterest-fail pins to share. 

I think it turned out cute and best of all it was made with love. Perfect. Now I just need to add wall hangers on the back and find a spot for it in the #shredshed.

What do you think? Are you a DIY Queen or DIY-deficient, like me? 

Do you display your race medals? 

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Interval Running Workouts to Increase Speed

Welcome to another edition of workout Wednesday. This week we are talking running intervals. Intervals are get a great way to improve speed, VO2max and running economy, especially when you are short on time. Intervals allow you to up the intensity for short periods of time to get the maximum afterburn effect. We are going to dive into different types of interval running workouts. Sprinkle these workouts into your training once or twice a week to reap the benefits of interval workouts.

TABATA

I love the Tabata protocol and if you only have four minutes to workout this is the interval for you. After warming up, run 20 seconds as hard as possible (95% of max heart-rate) then rest completely for 10 seconds. Complete 8 rounds for four minutes. That's one set. Recovery fully between sets. Repeat as many times as your fitness levels allows up to 30 minutes. 

TEMPO INTERVALS

A tempo pace is the fastest aerobic pace you can maintain for a steady-state run. It should feel comfortably-hard. If you ever raced a 5K for time, that is likely your tempo pace. With tempo intervals, after warming up, hold that pace, about 80% of max heart-rate for 15 minutes, then recover with a slow jog or walk for 5 minutes. Repeat.

Another tempo interval variation is to run for five minutes at a comfortably-hard pace, followed by five minutes of easy pace. Repeat for 30 minutes.

V02MAX INTERVALS

VO2max is the size of your aerobic engine. It's the maximum rate at which you consume oxygen and the best indicator of your aerobic fitness.

Warm up then run for 3 minutes hard at 95%-100% of max heart rate. This is the fastest you can run for three minutes without stopping. If you ran faster, you wouldn't be able to keep up the pace for three minutes, if you ran slower, you could probably go on longer than three minutes. It may take some experimenting to find your pace. Run three minutes at an easy pace to recover. Repeat according to your fitness ability up to 30 minutes.

HILLS

Every runner's' favorite interval workout is hills! Right? (crickets). This treadmill hill pyramid variation will challenge you. Hills are great for building strength. After warming up run one minute hard at 2% incline, then recover for one minute at 0% incline. Increase the incline each rep to 4%, 6%, 8%, then back down to 6%, 4%, 2% incline with a one minute easy jog recovery between reps at 0% incline.

Always warm up for 5-10 minutes before beginning a challenging workout and cooldown for 5 minutes once complete. Intervals workouts should be done 1-2 times a week for most runners and 3 times maximum for well-trained athletes. Always allow your body time to rest in-between intense workouts. Remember that adaptation (getting faster, stronger) happens during rest, not the workout. Allow your body the time to properly recover to reap the benefits of these challenging workouts!

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5K HOORAY: 3.1 REASONS TO LOVE THE 5K

Happy Fri-YAY! This week we are talking 5Ks because I ran the Dallas Rock 'n' Roll marathon series 5K race last Saturday. While I still claim the half marathon as my favorite race distance, this race reminded me why I love 5Ks and racing in the first place. 

Why 3.1 reasons? Because a 5K race is 3.1 miles. Seems appropriate. 

1. 5Ks ARE FUN FOR EVERYONE

There's no question, most of the people who are out running a 5K are having fun. There are families, friends, kids, tutus and superheroes. A 5K offers a low barrier to entry, most people can at least walk a 5K no matter their current fitness level. It's a fun reason to get outside, get fresh air and some exercise. Even if you are a competitive type, a 5K can be the perfect reason to leave that GPS watch at home and remember why you fell in love with racing in the first place. 

2. 5Ks ARE A CHALLENGE FOR EVERYONE

Yes, 5Ks are fun, but don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean they can't be challenging. The great thing about 5Ks is that everyone can challenge themselves at their own level. For some, simply crossing the finish line is physically demanding enough. For others it may be a time goal. Whether you run a 35 minute 5K or a 19 minute 5K can you always challenge yourself to beat your PR by racing the clock. I once heard a misinformed person scoff that 5Ks were "too easy" and I knew right away that this person never really raced. Sure 3.1 miles may feel easy if you jog 3.1 miles, but if you are racing for time, you can push yourself to your limits (if you want to). 

3. 5Ks ARE EVERYWHERE

There is no shortage of 5K races. Most medium to large cities have organized 5Ks of different sizes almost every weekend. Whether it's a charity race, a city-organized event or a major race company rolling through town, the options for 5K races are everywhere! Want to run a 5K? Try a quick internet search or your local running store for a calendar of local events. 

3.1. NOW YOU CAN FINALLY BUY THAT 3.1 STICKER FOR YOUR CAR WINDOW

Join the club. Buy a 5K bumper sticker to start your running sticker collection and people will repeatedly ask you what it means. Any excuse to talk about running, right? You can hang a medal on a rack in your home, but everyone sees a sticker on your car.

If you want more info on training to run a 5K, I suggest that you start here: How to transition from running and walking intervals to just running. It's a good place to start if you can currently run with with walking intervals. 

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