Minimum Distance That You Will Call a Run for mileage

My minimum shakeout run is a route in my neighborhood just over 3 miles, so that's normally my minimum mileage I would log for a particular run.

I log anything where I actually put on my running stuff and go for a run, but I think for every run under 3 miles the entry is something like - "1 mile and stopped b/c of ITBS" - that is, I don't really care about logging the mileage but I want to put in my log that I tried to run but couldn't because of an injury.

This is a somewhat unrelated question and not necessarily related to logging miles, but I never plan a run shorter than 40 minutes--otherwise, I don't much see the point in getting dressed and heading out. Hell, it usually takes at least 3 or 4 miles before I start to feel warmed up, especially this time of year.

Mental Log wrote:

I stopped logging my runs about 9 months ago. I've done some 2 milers since then (first run 2 days after a 'thon being one example). I think it counted as a run.

If you head out for a mile run just to say you ran that day to preserve a streak, I say that is kind of lame.

There's nothing lame about this:

RubberCityRunner wrote:

Mental Log wrote:

I stopped logging my runs about 9 months ago. I've done some 2 milers since then (first run 2 days after a 'thon being one example). I think it counted as a run.

If you head out for a mile run just to say you ran that day to preserve a streak, I say that is kind of lame.

There's nothing lame about this:

http://runeveryday.com/

To the O.P.'s point...

from the above linked site:

"The official definition of a running streak, as adopted by the Streak Runners International, Inc.,

and United States Running Streak Association, Inc., is to run at least one continuous

mile (1.61 kilometers) within each calendar day under one's own body power (without the

utilization of any type of health or mechanical aid other than prosthetic devices)."

So, if you "run" 0.9 miles, get stopped at a traffic light, then finish your run with another 0.9 miles, does that count as a continuous mile run?

or, hmmm, i did enjoy that 50 mile bike ride today, but i should probably shuffle a mile just to keep my streak going before i start in on my post-ride beers.

I've been walking to my mailbox everyday for almost 10 years. Is that enough base to run a marathon in February?

It depends on how long you waited at the traffic light. I personally avoid traffic lights and prefer less attention.

Sometimes I think runners standing/jogging in place at traffic lights deep down just want to be seen breathing heavy in running clothes.

Run for yourself. Get dirty on a trail!!!

RubberCityRunner wrote:

It depends on how long you waited at the traffic light. I personally avoid traffic lights and prefer less attention.

Sometimes I think runners standing/jogging in place at traffic lights deep down just want to be seen breathing heavy in running clothes.

Run for yourself. Get dirty on a trail!!!

You sound a bit like those literary geniuses Stafko and Rouillard: runners are a bunch of neurotic attention whores.

I disagree. I think the number of runners who stand/jog in place at a traffic light just to be seen breathing heavy in running clothes is basically zero. I'm not even trying to say that I like most runners, or that runners as a group are cooler than other groups - I just don't think anyone seeks out traffic lights on their runs for the reason you mentioned.

Absolute minimum is one mile in order for it to get written down, but my shortest runs are usually two miles.

1 mi

5 mi

I count every step

freak.of.the.run wrote:

My roommate and I got in a debate on where you will call a run counting towards your mileage for the week.

Personally, I've grown up at anything under 3 miles is not worth counting.

He counts anything over 800m.

Do you count every run to the fridge/bathroom as part of your mileage? .5 mile your minimum? 1? 2? 3? 10?

If you're a coach it works the other way. Runners like to do real long warmups and a slow pace to pad their mileage in a way that has minimal training effect. I only count 2 mi max of this kind of behavior no matter how long they do really slow wu/cd.

0.25 miles

what you run is what you run

doesn't really matter if you count it or not, you still did it

so just count every step (you run)

you can write next to it in your log what that number was made up of, i.e., warm up jog, repeats 800s, etc

Even though I don't do any main run of less than 4 or 5 miles, I see no reason why I shouldn't count my warm up or cool down miles among my total miles for the week. In addition, I also factor in stuff like hills or strides, that are not the main workout but are still something and they do add to your total.

I mean, even if you don't write it down as part of your weekly/monthly mileage, you still reap the benefit of it, s it makes no difference.

5m/8km is my minimum. Anything less is not worth the effort.

5miler wrote:

5m/8km is my minimum. Anything less is not worth the effort.

THIS.

I turned 60 last week, and like much else ihn my running life, my answer today is not what it might have been thirty years ago. In my youth, I never put on my running shoes with the intention of running less than five miles, although I'd sometimes come up short if I did not feel well. I also thought that anything over 8:00/mile was not really running.

Not surprisingly, my thinking has changed as I age. I try to do 40 minutes most days now and it's never under 8:00/mile. I joke with friends in my cohort that I count getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom as part of my weekly mileage.

For whatever it's worth, I have a good friend in his mid fifties who is a "streak" guy, and his threshold is two miles, not one. He has not made a career out of hitting the bare minimum. In his twenties and early thirties, he was regularly hitting over 100 mpw. I think his streak is now over thirty years. To put a twist on an old line: Nothing is certain but death, taxes, and Jimmy's going running today.

If I get dressed, start my watch, etc., for the sole reason that "I'm going on a run," it doesn't matter what the mileage is, I call it a run. Conversely, if I play soccer for six hours and am running the whole time, that's not a run, and if I'm walking home from a bar and decide to run for a mile or so, that's not a run.

I've logged runs of half a mile before ("Ran to track, knee still fuctup, walked home") but I generally don't leave the house expecting to do less than my token 4.25, or 3.25 if I'm really in a bad way.