Runstreak - everything you've always been wondering about and more

Ellen at Ehunmilak 100, one of the most technical 100-milers in Europe with 11 000 meters of ascent.

Ellen Westfelt is one of the coaches of the Ultrarunning Academy, and she loves to take on big challenges. Ellen is a finisher of the UTMB, Le Diagonale des Fous and Ehunmilak, among many other tough 100-mile races. She is not that keen on fighting for top positions. She’s more into the adventure and the personal experience of racing — as well as managing equipment, energy, hydration and mental games in the best way possible.

Ellen has been on a consecutive runstreak for the past 6 years and, a bit surprisingly, her 20 minutes of running per day is an excellent foundation for ultrarunning training. Read more about Ellen’s runstreak below - how and why she started her runstreak, how she stays motivated, how she copes when she is feeling sick — and much more!

I often get questions about my Runstreak. People are especially curious when they hear that I have been running for more than six years in a row! How can you run every day? Do you never get sick? How far does one have to run every day for it to count? How long are you really going to last?

Most people seem to associate Runstreak with running training, and that means running at least 45 minutes a day at threshold pace. But that's not true. Whatever you imagine in your head when you hear that someone runs every day, the most important question for me is why.

Why runstreak?

In the US, as a phenomenon, Runstreak is much more common than in Sweden (where I am from). When I started my runstreak, I knew of no one who had even tried a runstreak in Sweden. I had seen people on Instagram who had been running for 700 days, but I had no particular role models. Sure, I thought it was cool, but I couldn't really imagine how it would go. Running every day for a whole year in a row? Or two years?

The reason I came up with the crazy idea of starting a Runstreak at all was because I started to get performance anxiety around racing. Most people probably recognize this feeling - you feel bad if you postpone planned workouts or if you haven't run a "real" workout in a long time. What counts as proper and acceptable training is, of course, different depending on who you are. Do you have to run at least 10 km every session, come home super sweaty and completely exhausted?

I didn't like having these thoughts. I was used to exercise being something fun and something I did to feel good - both before, during and after exercising. So I came up with the brilliant idea of limiting myself to only running 20 minutes per day. If I managed to jog for 20 minutes a day, it would mean that I had fulfilled my daily training dose. And for it to work, it was important that I run every day. When running every day, I wouldn’t have the choice not to run, and therefore in a strange way decreasing the risk of getting anxious about missing training.

Said and done. On September 4th 2013 I started my Runstreak. From the beginning, I didn't allow myself to run for more than 20 minutes, that was the was max. 20 minutes slow jog, nothing more. No rushing up and down a hill like a madman. And I celebrated every day, every completed 20-minute session was celebrated with great satisfaction. I had passed the task!

I used this strategy for about a month before I allowed myself to run a little longer. What was strange was that as soon as I had set up the framework for what my training would look like - 20 minutes a day - my performance anxiety disappeared. Sure, sometimes it was tough enough to even get that short session in, but once I did, the task was completed and just accomplishing it was enough. After a while I started running a little further now and then, but not during all sessions. Most were still very short and slow.

My runstreak criteria

Changed into running clothes (otherwise running to the bus in work clothes could be counted as a runstreak).
At least 20 minutes jog (walk or PW doesn’t count) per calendar day.
Jogging tempo could be extremely slow and that was okay. Once I completed a run in 14 min/km-pace. It works just fine to jog super slow.
Outdoors or on treadmills do not matter.
A distance of at least 1.6 km (1 mile) must be completed during the session, as it is really the only criterion for being listed by the United States Running Streak Association and Streak Runners International. However, it does not have to be 1.6 km in 20 minutes. There are times when it has taken me longer to manage 1.6 km, for example when I have run on steep ski slopes.
If I run a long race that goes at least 20 minutes into the next day, I count it as a Runstreak session as well. For example, once I ran a race where I ran all Saturday and then about 1:40 h in the night until Sunday. So no extra Runstreak session was needed on Sunday. However, I had to run 20 minutes on the Friday before the race started because it started at midnight on Saturday. Maybe a 20 minute early start of the race could have been a good idea…?

This rule of having changed into running clothes was a smart move as, for me, it is usually the first 20 minutes of a workout that feels the toughest both mentally and physically. So if I had changed, warmed up and still felt good after 20 minutes, the chances that I would run even longer were quite high. Even though I initially limited myself to a maximum of 20 minutes, I still thought that when the time was right I would like to and be able to run more.

For me it felt important to have as low a limit in kilometers as possible, but a little higher in number of minutes. I wanted to be able to run even though it was the day after a tough race that might have taken more than 20 hours or so - even if I felt a little sick or physically drained from the race. If, for example, I would have had a minimum requirement of running at least 3 or 5 km per day, it would have felt a little too tough at times.

What to do when you are sick?

This is one of the most difficult questions. Everyone knows that there are very few people who never get sick and, yes, I have run my Runstreak despite being sick. But there is a big difference between having a minor cold, a stomach ache or having a slight fever, compared to having pneumonia or a stomach flu with a high fever. Fortunately, since I started my Runstreak I have never had more than a small cold and just a few episodes when my stomach has been upset. If it’s because I have been lucky or because the Runstreak has contributed to me actually staying healthy, I’ll leave unsaid.

But during the times when I have not felt 100% healthy, I have of course taken it easier. I have used heart rate bands and checked carefully so that the heart rate doesn’t go up too much. And, in my opinion, I have not exerted myself more physically than someone who takes an Ibuprofen and goes to work even though he or she probably should have stayed at home. When I jog really slowly for 20 minutes, I compare it to something like an easy walk for a person who doesn't exercise as much. At these times, my 20 minute jog doesn’t have much in common with a tough training session where you aim to get sweaty and where the purpose is to get a “real” training effect.

What the runstreak has done for me

In addition to being able to use my Runstreak as a trick to avoid performance anxiety, it has many other benefits. I love getting out 20 minutes every day. Sometimes this can mean that I run back and forth on our driveway at home, for example if the children are asleep and I don't want to leave them alone at home. I also get a chance to breathe fresh air in silence for 20 minutes, so that I can be a much more present mother.

The most fascinating of it all is that even though I run every day now mostly for the sake of my peace of mind, it feels like the basic training I get from 20 minutes a day is enough to be able to go out and run a 100-mile race any day. Of course, if I do some longer sessions before a race, I probably get less pain afterwards and feel better, but more than that is not necessary to be in a decent shape for long ultras. In just 20 minutes a day, I can manage a 100-mile run. Pretty cool feeling, huh?

I also think I recover faster after long runs thanks to my Runstreak. It's like "recovery in motion" instead of resting. I really believe that the body heals minor injuries faster if you move more the days after a hard effort.

Also, since I usually run on more technical forest paths, I acquire good training on being skilled in terrain. This is something I do nearly every day.

Some advice along the way

Many people are eager to test a Runstreak, and I was thinking of sharing some of the most useful tricks I have come up with. When it feels tough to get out and run and you don't think you will be able to do it, you can split the task into smaller pieces. For me, half the thing is to change into running clothes. It's almost as hard as running. Find the right gear, check if the shoes are dry, find a reasonably clean sports bra, should you wear a hat or a cap? This whole process becomes much easier if I decide that I’ll change now - and then postpone the actual running for a bit. Maybe I change before dinner, relax a little before I eat, and then I go for my run. Or I change before I put the kids to bed, and run after they’ve fallen asleep. Because it is so much easier to go out once you have changed and gotten yourself ready for your run.

When is it time to stop?

I don't know when I'm going to stop. But I am convinced that it will be because of something that has to do with my kids. For example if I have to go to the emergency with one of them one day when I haven't run yet, and then stay there all night. In a case like that, of course, I wouldn’t prioritise my run. There are things that are more important, and running every day is not one of them.

The closest thing I have come to quitting was a couple of years ago when my kids, my mom and I were in a car crash. Everything went well and no one was injured, but the car needed to be transported away. This resulted in us arriving home late at night, the kids being aggravated and having difficulty falling asleep. When I was lying in bed with them I just felt so very grateful - and that my Runstreak would die that night was a cheap price to pay because no one had got hurt. I was completely satisfied and happy to stop there and then, but suddenly the children were asleep and it was 11:30 PM. Hmmm, if I change quickly I can run 20 minutes before midnight and then the Runstreak will survive as well ... So I went out and ran in the middle of the night and was quite happy with that too.

I have always known that if I fail to complete a session one day, I will start over as soon as I can. Because my Runstreak gives me so much more than a lot of days of running in a row and a number that keeps getting larger. My Runstreak gives me focus, joy, enjoyment and relaxation - every day. And besides, it keeps me in shape for 100 miles.

/Ellen