Five Years of Daily Running

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Back in 2019, my friend Martyn and I decided to do the Brighton Marathon together. I knew I had to train hard for it because I’d let him down if I didn’t do it. But I seriously struggled with motivation. I hired a personal trainer to help with overall strength and started following a marathon training programme. But I just couldn’t find the motivation. I’m not sure what made me decide to run every day, but it seemed like a good way to make training a habit. So, that’s what I did. At first it was going to be a month or two, then I thought I’d keep going until I’d done the marathon. But the end of this year will mark five years of daily running.

What about illness and injuries?

Let’s get this out of the way from the outset, because the first thing everybody asks me revolves around illness and injury.

Can you run through injury and illness?

The short answer is yes. I’ve found that if I can physically get myself up out of bed, I can manage to run a mile. I probably wouldn’t run if I had an injury that would be made a lot worse by running. But so far, I’ve ran through:

• Covid (I ran around my relatively small garden VERY many times)
• A horrible combination of covid vaccinations and a hangover – stupid, and I felt hideous
• Minor injuries (mainly due to falling over the dogs when running)
• Long and exhausting days (made even longer by getting up at 5 am to run)
• Severe anaemia
• Major surgery (general anaesthetic) – I ran first thing in the morning on the day of my surgery and late afternoon the day after it

The sorts of minor injuries I’ve had have mainly been cuts, blisters and twisted ankles. Using plasters, blister plasters and ankle supports when running has really helped. As well as making running less painful at the time, an ankle support helps prevent re-injury.

Do you get injured if you run every day without a rest day?

I do appreciate the need to rest. It’s actually something I’m pretty bad at anyway, so running every day probably doesn’t help. That said, I’ve learned to rest without having a day off. Here are a few ways that this can be done:

• Run first thing in the morning one day and last thing in the evening the following day – you’ve had more than 24 hours off without missing a day.
• Do a short, slow run – for most people, a running streak is at least a mile every day. Running a mile slowly really is a rest, you don’t have to stop completely to rest.
• Combine both of the above – do a week, a month or a year of short, slow runs – alternating when you run them if you need to. As long as you are well enough to jog, you can keep up the run streak.

How to avoid injury

Rest options such as those listed above are a great way to help avoid injury. After all, by keeping up with running you’re improving your fitness, there’s never a shock to the system when you start running after a lengthy break and yet you’re still getting plenty of rest.

Another thing that I find helpful is keeping up with other sports. I tend to swim around three times a week – two pool swims and one in a lake. Open water swimming is beneficial for many reasons, not least to prevent inflammation. I find that after long runs such as marathons, a cold swim prevents aching, allowing me to do a short run the following day.

Finally, since starting to run every day, I’ve been using barefoot shoes. Whilst I appreciate this isn’t for everyone, it’s worth researching the benefits of barefoot running. It helps to make sure that your running form is correct, therefore preventing injury. Modern shoes tend to be too built up – designed for fashion rather than running. This changes the way we run, which can in turn cause injury.

How long will my running streak last?

I’ve thought a few times about cutting down on running and not going every day. But it has become a habit now, and I have to take my dogs out twice a day anyway so I might as well run at least once. I’d thought I’d have to stop when I had surgery for a health issue earlier this year, but as I managed to keep going, I think I’ll carry on for a bit longer. In 2025, I’m planning on doing a half marathon and maybe a triathlon. So, daily running will probably be helpful.