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Show HN: Ten years of running every day, visualized
Today marks ten years, 3653 consecutive days, of running at least one mile every day under the USRSA rules [1]. To celebrate, I built an interactive dashboard that turns a decade of GPX files into charts you can explore.
Running has truly changed my life: I've made lifelong friends, explored beautiful places, and more importantly invested into my own health and fitness, which I'm starting to see the positive benefits as I get older.
The stack is pretty simple: a NextJS app, with a Postgres database to keep all my running data, and all the stats are pre-computed and cached in Redis, so I effectively only hit the database once a day when a new run is ingested. On the fronted, I toyed with the idea of using D3 or pre-existing data viz libraries, but ended up rolling my own using SVGs directly, it gave me more control on the visualizations.
I used the Strava bulk export to pre-populate the database, and I'm using their webhook API to do incremental updates. I have to tap into OpenWeatherMap and OpenCageDate to enrich the running data a little bit.
Happy to answer anything about the stack, data pipeline, or how I stayed motivated for 10 years!
[1] https://www.runeveryday.com https://www.runeveryday.com Run Streak Association rules: ≥ 1 mile per day
- rubansk 1y agodecade streak is legit impressive. just hit 30 days of 5k myself. some might scoff at the number of 1mile days but dragging yourself out when you're busy or exhausted is rough.
- suralind 1y agoWhat a dope website. I used to run every day for a ~year and every since I'm on a decline. Would really love to get into that habit again.
- agcat 1y agoLove it! How did you stay motivated?
- friggeri 1y agoAt first it was all about the challenge of doing one more day. After about two years the streak became part of my identity, which might sound a little unhealthy. It’s easier to just head out and jog a mile or two than to let the number go back to zero. This being said, it’s made for interesting conversations with medical professionals – I needed a cardiac ablation a couple of years ago and my electrocardiologist came to an “agreement” (as in she didn’t forcefully dissuade me from doing it) that I could jog a slow slow slow mile late in the evening the day after the procedure, as long as I kept my heart rate down and I made sure I was being mindful of my puncture sites.
- sim7c00 1y agojust want to second this. and realy, antarctica?? how?? i mean, apart from the logistics etc , ... is it runnable? i can hardly picture it in such harshness!
- tempestn 1y agoThose might've been some of the treadmill runs. Also looks like they were all one-milers.
- joshvm 1y agoSpeaking for the US stations, in the summer you can run outdoors. I don't want to say many people do, but there are always some. Here's me from a few years ago, to give an idea of the clothing required https://icecube.wisc.edu/news/life-at-the-pole/2021/01/week-1-at-the-pole/ https://icecube.wisc.edu/news/life-at-the-pole/2021/01/week-... Even at the South Pole, we have a 5k "Race Around the World" at Christmas, and a marathon shortly after New Year. In 2022, someone did an ultra. It's compacted snow/ice. Not easy terrain, but doable in your average pair of running shoes (with wooly socks). For the race events we normally ask someone to drive round the route a few times to compact it a bit more. On the coast at McMurdo there are routes that are more like traditional trail running - dirt/gravel, hills. I assume other stations are similar. The more intrepid folks gave up when it got to around -50C and then it's treadmills until sunrise and it warms up again. There's also a more pay-to-play marathon: https://www.icemarathon.com/ https://www.icemarathon.com/ ($22k)
- mvkillu 1y agoLove it! I will hit one year mark in a couple of weeks. Currently maintaining stats in a Google spreadsheet :) https://vijaykillu.com/ https://vijaykillu.com/
- friggeri 1y agoCongrats, that’s an amazing milestone!
- ahalimah 1y agoDo you have the source/pipeline available? I love the design and would want to do something similar for my own runs. Congrats on the decade! Did you ever focus on specific metrics or was it always just about the run?
- friggeri 1y agoUnfortunately I ended up winging the data processing, so it was mostly a pile of adhoc scripts. The incremental update pulling from the Strava API is a little cleaner, but would require significant work to open source. The only thing I ever really cared about was keeping the streak going, everything else has come second. I dropped out of a trail running trip after a fall because I felt that even though I could continue, putting too much mileage on my knee would jeopardize the streak.
- zparky 1y agojust wanted to say the site looks awesome! I love the minimal black+white/grayscale and the fonts are just lovely. vis looks great too, I enjoyed poking around nearly all of the unique runs to look at the map and paces.
- natnatenathan 1y agoI came to say this as well. I really like the design and all the fun statistics.
- som 1y agoAgreed. Was wondering where the inspiration came for each chart choice?
- friggeri 1y agoI wanted something minimalist but high contrast, and enough variety so charts would not be repetitive. I have a thing for data visualization, so I pulled inspiration from the pile of books I have on my bookshelf.
- Breza 1y agoWhat are some of your favorite data viz books? I'm a fellow chart nerd and I'm always looking for new suggestions.
- vismit2000 1y agoYou might want to check out Edward Tufte books, particularly 'Envisioning Information'
- yamatokaneko 1y agoThis is so cool! At what point did you start thinking about this project? Like, were you quietly working on it a year ago after every run, just waiting for this moment? And hey, great run in Japan! (Tokyo here!) I love the map visualization too.
- friggeri 1y agoI thought about it last week, was pretty quick to hack together! I loved loved running in Japan, such a wonderful country
- high_priest 1y agoSVGs? So, some of the staistics graphs do not update, or have you made them dynamic by hand?
- chrisxlucas 1y agobeautifullllllll—both the streak and the stack. Love how lightweight the architecture is for something so personal and long-term. Curious if you noticed any patterns in the data that surprised you once you visualized it?
- nasmorn 1y agoImpressive. I did streak running for 6 months nice and it was some of the most productive running in my life. Interestingly I have much higher yearly averages than you do but still consider daily streak running quite hard. Not being a morning runner myself might contribute since I get into a lot of close calls that way. My streak literally ended when my daughter went into the hospital and I couldn’t well just fuck off for a run any longer.
- YuvalFishbine 1y agoThat's awesome! any tips for people who are just starting out?
- GZGavinZhao 1y agoNot OP but I've been consistently running for ~4 years (consistent := >=200K every month). The #1 advice I'd give is start short, start slow, e.g. start with 1 mile and as long as you're not walking you can consider yourself running. It's about finishing, not about speed. Also unlike many people I know, I don't listen to anything while running. Running is a time for me to think about stuff that I'm too busy to think about during the day (e.g. contemplating life issues or is 1*0=0 because of 1 or 0)
- kccqzy 1y agoI would say that starting slow is more important than starting short. And the important part of starting slow is having a full acceptance of slow running as valid running. I used to think anything slower than 10:00/mile is jogging and doesn't qualify as running. This harmed motivation since when I was just starting I couldn't actually get faster than that every single run.
- __turbobrew__ 1y agoWhen you exercise try to stay in heartrate zone 2/3. This may mean walking up a hill as many people cannot start running and keep their heart rate down. Many who try to run get discouraged as they go too hard and blow up their heartrate which makes for a unpleasant experience. Over time the speed and duration you can run will get better but your heart rate will stay the same. I would recommend trail running as it is much more dynamic and you are less likely to get overuse injuries like people who run on concrete for many miles get stress fractures. Bonus points you get out in nature.
- igouy 1y agoOur heart rate will not stay the same when we run. Our expectations change. We learn to expect a faster heart rate.
- Anduia 1y ago> every. single. day. No logs for May 1st, 2021, what happened that day?
- faeyanpiraat 1y agoYou monster!
- friggeri 1y agoThat was a bug :)
- elcaro 1y agoUnder the "Countries Visited" section it says "been lucky to run on all seven continents, including antarctica!", but it doesn't look like they've been to Australia.
- soperj 1y agothere's also 8 continents now apparently. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zealandia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zealandia
- pinkmuffinere 1y agoOh lol you’re right! Perhaps they ran in Australia before they started this ten-year streak? In that case it could still be true, but not show in the data Edit: also, they pulled the data from strava. It’s possible they forgot to record their Australian run(s) in strava for some reason
- friggeri 1y agoI haven’t been to Australia, but I’ve run in Hawaii, which is part of Oceania (broader than just Australia).
- bigDinosaur 1y agoNotably not on the tectonic plate Australia is on (which is mostly although not entirely just Australia in terms of land), though, if someone is going by that definition.
- 4gotunameagain 1y agoEh, that doesn't really count. Sounds like a good excuse for a trip ;)
- pedalpete 1y agoCome to Australia! It's a great place to run! Or NZ at the least. Hawaii isn't on the content. You've got only one continent to go before you can check that box. I have 100% confidence you'll do it! I ran every day for a year, and kinda wished I had kept going (though I only managed 3 continents in that year).
- sciencesama 1y agodo you have code it on github ?
- GZGavinZhao 1y agoI don't have the tenacity to run strictly _everyday_, so as a middle ground I don't run when it rains at anytime during daylight. Of course the effectiveness of this rule depends on where you live :P
- kazinator 1y agoIn particular, the access to indoor treadmills.
- MOARDONGZPLZ 1y agoI’ve always wanted to do this, but I fly to Singapore from the USA about annually. That means that I essentially skip a day (take off on day 1, land on day 3) so can’t qualify for the streak. Also why I couldn’t do the 366 day streak in one year.
- pinkmuffinere 1y agoI don’t think this is true! Days of your life are (imo) not defined by the date line, but by the 24-hour periods you experience. If you accept my rules, then as long as you always have flights shorter than 24 hours, you can still run on sequential days. Edit: you could also potentially run on the plane. I admit that would be pretty weird though
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- PaulDavisThe1st 1y agoI ran on the Queen Mary II, every day, across the Atlantic :) Much easier than a plane, though.
- paulcole 1y agoWill Shortz (NYT crossword editor) had a table tennis streak that was going to be affected in a similar way. > You cannot fly from New York to Bangalore without missing a day in the calendar. So I flew to Dubai and stopped there for two and a half days, played table tennis at clubs there, and then flew on to Bangalore. I’ve been to China and Japan multiple times, and, because of the time change, the flight leaves New York at, say, 11 a.m. and gets to China or Japan late afternoon the next day. So I play early in the morning, like seven or eight, go directly to the airport, fly to Beijing, get off the plane, and go directly to a club to keep my streak alive. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/will-shortzs-life-in-crosswords https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/w...
- zylepe 1y agoA friend of mine is on a 25 year running every day streak. He flew to Australia and landed 2 days after taking off and said that day “never existed for him” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- paulcole 1y agoI love streaks like this. My current bests are: 686 days for completing the New York Times Crossword and 582 days of 20+ minutes of Apple Fitness+ classes. Plus 15,344 days without driving a car (I never learned) and without having alcohol or soda (just never had the interest). And 5,123 days since I've taken Ecstasy (tried it once). Around 6,000 days since I last intentionally ate meat, but I couldn't tell you the exact date.
- flexagoon 1y ago> Around 6,000 days since I last intentionally ate meat What does "intentionally" mean? Are you sometimes accidentally tricked into eating meat?
- paulcole 1y agoI was pre-empting the ultra-clever HN commenter who might question whether I’d accidentally eaten meat as a byproduct of food production.
- lbrito 1y ago>I've run through stress fractures, heart procedures, flus and other physical ailments. I've run in frigid sub zero weather and in sweltering heat. Respectfully, that sounds awful. Being sick sucks enough, the last thing I'd want or benefit from doing is physical activity during a flu.
- mobiledev2014 1y agoThe site is cool but as a runner this is not admirable and not something others should emulate. Interesting how few comments call that out but perhaps not surprising if your audience admires The Hustle
- noah_buddy 1y agoRespectfully, if this guy has been doing it for ten years, it’s obviously not so bad as you make it out to be. It’s not a grind set mentality, it’s just one guys choice to exercise in a certain manner. I am a runner. I train at what is probably the 80th percentile for longer distances, so I am by no means an expert. But I do understand that if you are running 7 miles a week, most of the time, your body isn’t going to be that beat up, especially if you are taking it slow.
- RHSman2 1y agoRead it out loud ‘7 miles a week’ Most people sit at a desk for 40 hrs a week. That is way more damaging to your health.
- simianparrot 1y agoYeah once I read that I realised it wasn’t extreme at all. I take ~2 mile brisk walks every day (the kind where my pulse will average to 130), interspersed with casual multi-mile hikes up the mountain trail nearby. That’s just my baseline cardio and movement to feel good and keep myself healthy.
- 1y ago
- michaelhoney 1y agoI love this! BTW you are selling yourself short on your 5K personal best. The time listed (35:35) is your best 5 mile, whereas your best 5K is a respectable 21:20
- jmpavlec 1y agoSomething funky with your personal beats. It says your best 5k was in 35:35 but your best 10k was in 43:26. Not possible for those both to be true . I guess the 5k data is screwy since that is quite a slow 5k time. Edit: seems maybe tht 5k is mislabeled, should be 5 miles... But that feels like a less standardized time.
- LeafItAlone 1y agoThe label seems to be off. It’s 5 miles, not 5 kilometers. Based on the data below it and map.
- wging 1y agoJust a labeling issue. If you click on the 5k you get a detail popup on the right that says 5 miles, which is much more in line with several of the other times. 5 miles is not that uncommon a race distance in the US; 8k is very close, but you can still find both. (There are much fewer 3-mile or 6-mile races, those are mostly all 5ks and 10ks.) Though it's unclear if it was an organized race. edit: it probably wasn't an organized race, there's a separate "races" tab.
- friggeri 1y agoDefinitely a bug, will fix tomorrow, thanks for catching!
- bix6 1y agoCongrats! Why don’t you ever take a day off eg for recuperation or during some of the more serious issues you mention?
- friggeri 1y agoJogging a slow mile is pretty much "a day off" these days
- lippihom 1y agoLove how you laid (layed?) everything out. Super clean site.
- MarcelOlsz 1y agoReminds me of this one guys site from way back on HN that had tons of biometric data hooked up into a futuristic live panel. Wish I could remember the URL.
- pocketarc 1y agoIs it https://howisfelix.today https://howisfelix.today, by any chance? I remember that being here.
- MarcelOlsz 1y agoVery cool but not even close on the UI side. The guy I'm thinking of had a full 3d blue human model and a really slick UI.
- edverma2 1y agoThis is so cool. Congrats on ten years!
- ideashower 1y agoDamn. I want to try this, now.
- jimbokun 1y agoWell you can go out and set a one day streak right now!
- zug_zug 1y agoI'd be curious to see long-term improvements, like resting heartrate over time, or heartrate @ 10 min mile over time.
- vrthink 1y ago[dead]
- rocauc 1y agoboth the endeavor and the site are super cool - congrats on 10 years. interaction on the graphics would be a nice touch to select into a specific run. went looking for the code on your GH! https://github.com/friggeri https://github.com/friggeri
- _zagj 1y ago> heart procedures Do you have AFib, by any chance? Congratulations on your streak, regardless. EDIT: in another comment, you mentioned: > I needed a cardiac ablation a couple of years ago So I guess that's a yes? Was that when you were averaging 5.3 miles daily that one year? For those unaware, there's a well-established link between excessive endurance exercise and AFib.
- friggeri 1y agoNot AFib thankfully, I had a few sporadic SVTs while running (it’s however unclear whether exercise was the original cause, or if it was congenital and started manifesting while running). Thankfully the ablation took care of them and I haven’t had an episode in a few years.
- _zagj 1y agoThanks for your reply, and good luck with your streak and your SVT staying in remission.
- urda 1y ago(oh no this was on the wrong comment and alas past the delete window ha).
- DevX101 1y agoDo you have longitudinal resting heart rate data? Would love to see how it changed over the years.
- friggeri 1y agoI haven’t aggregated the trend over time, but my resting HR has definitely decreased, I’m roughly around 40bpm at the moment, down from ~60bpm 10 years ago.
- LeonM 1y ago> I’m roughly around 40bpm at the moment, down from ~60bpm 10 years ago To put that into perspective for other readers: I've been running for about 10 years also, but typically 2x a week (10k mid-week, 15~20k weekend), I have no real data on my heart rate from when I started, but at rest I'm now typically at 60bpm. I measure almost daily due to medication and having a minor heart defect, and I have noticed that if I skip a week of running, it'll slowly go up, averaging at ~62bpm, but when I train for a (half) marathon I typically increase my distance a bit and try to train every other day (~3x/week) then my heart rate a rest goes down a bit to be consistently below 60bpm (58bpm avg). 40bpm is very low, for non-athletes this would be considered dangerously low, but I guess daily running at OPs distance would classify OP as an athlete. Also keep in mind that heart rate differs per person, some people just naturally have a low heartbeat.
- LourensT 1y agoHe might be referring to his sleeping heart rate. Mine's around 40bpm too, and although I'm in shape, I am definitely not an athlete. There is a correlation with height (taller -> slower bpm). If you are young and fit, I don't think you have much to worry about a slow resting heart rate, in the absence of other symptoms.
- vunderba 1y agoWas just coming to say that there's definitely a genetic component. Even in my more sedentary periods of life, my resting HR never really peaked above ~55 BPM. Playing tennis and going for regular runs with my husky puts my resting HR at 38-40bpm. My father who also runs and plays sports has a similar heart rate. Just so we're clear on definitions, resting HR is your heart-rate AT REST (meaning sitting or lying down quietly), it's not necessarily your HR while you are sleeping which may be potentially lower.
- hopelite 1y agoCongratulations. I just have one question; how do you run one day in each, Porto Rico, Hawaii, Austria, Sweden, let alone China? In other words; what led to being in each of those places for only one day? I don’t understand how you, e.g., found yourself in Puerto Rico for only one day.
- friggeri 1y agoUnfortunately my treadmill runs don’t have GPS data associated with them. Austria, PR and Hawaii were places where I ran mostly in the gym. This being said, Sweden is a fun one: I was in Copenhagen for a few weeks and I thought it’d be fun to take the train to Malmo, do my long run, and then take the train back. All that to say, I’ve spent 3h30 in Sweden, 3h05 of which I was running. Shanghai was an overnight layover.
- nelox 1y agoHonest question. Why is it imperative you run everyday? What would it mean for you to not run for day or everyday?
- blackbear_ 1y agoCongrats! How are your knees doing if I may ask and how did you take care of them? I've only been running for a couple of years and already feeling troubles brewing in.
- friggeri 1y agoI’ve been lucky to never have any real knee issues. The only period I ended up with a little knee pain was because of a poor running shoe choice, and it resolved when I got properly fitted and changed shoes. Hope you figure out the source of your troubles!
- ultrarunner 1y agoThe idea that running leads to knee damage is a pervasive myth.
- shepherdjerred 1y agoHow so?
- noah_buddy 1y agoOld people often have bad knees. Runners often become old people. People make an association that’s not born out in statistics. Most of the body is “use it or lose it” and running improves blood flow and development of muscles and structures of/around the knee.
- Helmut10001 1y agoI agree, and I've heard the same. In my experience, knee problems always disappeared with moderate running. Of course, you have to allow yourself time to recover after running. But as far as I know, the science is that joint lubrication in your knees needs activity to function properly.
- pedro_caetano 1y agoThe focus is usually on the increased impact during running, but arguably when averaged over the time it is actually somewhat equivalent to walking, the 'air time' of each joint means you are effectively under no load with some form of decompression. It is effectively a higher load with a lower duty cycle. versus walking with a lower load at about 50% duty cycle. Joint 'damage' is a misnomer. Joint surfaces are under load/impact and friction while running, that is just biomechanics. Other mechanical parts like bearings have a load capacity and lifetime. It is not a stretch to model the same for articular surfaces on your hips, knees, ankles.
- NoPicklez 1y agoThis is brilliant! I'd like to see your average HR per pace marker to see how your running zones have changed at the same pace over time. The average HR for a 10k you did at 5,50 per km did 6 years ago compared to now at the same pace.
- nikolayasdf123 1y ago[flagged]
- nikolayasdf123 1y agotry 10km+ a day. then we will talk
- v7engine 1y agocan't say if you are kidding? or if you are someone who runs 10+ km daily and looks down on others. OP is doing this as a hobby, no need to criticize it in my opinion.
- fungibletaco 1y agoamazing
- yihong0618 1y agoHi I record my running for almost 15 years you can check https://yihong.run/ https://yihong.run/ and also a repo: https://github.com/yihong0618/running_page https://github.com/yihong0618/running_page
- tomashubelbauer 1y agoThe map on your page is incredibly cool to me! Is 2023 a bug or did you really run a single loop for the whole year? What I imagine running while on house arrest would be like :D (Just kidding, of course :))
- nico_h 1y agoZoom way out, the usual area is a bit “south”.
- patrickhogan1 1y agoThis really inspired me. I think I will do one on basketball. Great work on data collection for 10 years. Quantified self tracking into a universal format is still really hard. What tracking sensors do you use that input into Strava? (e.g. Garmin, Apple Watch, built in iphone, etc)?
- friggeri 1y agoIt’s changed over time: I first used MapMyRun with my iPhone, then switched to Strava on the iPhone, then got a garmin, and nowadays an Apple Watch. I’m super grateful for Strava to exist, if only as a repo of all my workouts.
- HexPhantom 1y agoWould be super cool to see a "no days off" streak in a skill-based sport like that
- reactordev 1y agoHaving lived in Denver for a decade, I can say it’s definitely a run city. So many run groups. A guy I used to work with did ultra marathons of 100mi+. Insane. Good for you! I saw the flat irons green mountain run and immediately said “Hey, I know that place!!!” I’m not going to run it but I’ve hiked up in there a bunch of times.
- can16358p 1y agoImpressive. A nice addition would be adding a switch for converting to non-American units though
- DanOpcode 1y agoIs it possible to toggle from miles to km?
- lynx97 1y ago[flagged]
- jahsome 1y agoThis is such an odd statement to me. It almost sounds like you're claiming running is a scam propagated by the fats. Anyway as a to counter your annecdote: I ran every day for a decade before some injuries. I was in quite a few clubs and I genuinely cannot think of a single person from those groups who wasn't "slim."
- rixed 1y agoCounter point based on my own experience: in Europe the median runner is actually quite slimer than the median non-runner. And I'm surprised to learn it's different anywhere else.
- llmthrow103 1y agoLooks fantastic! I run somewhat regularly and enjoy it, but would never make it my primary form of exercise due to the high impact stress on the body and relatively high injury rate compared to other solo forms of exercise. What made you decide to make it your primary form of exercise, and to do it every day?
- xcxhjjg 1y ago[dead]
- zkmon 1y agoI envy all runners. I tried running many times, on consecutive days as well. After running for a minute or so, I start getting a burning sensation in the chest and I gasp for breath. I must stop and sit. After resting for a few minutes, I can repeat the same. However I can do fast walking for an hour. I suspect this is some condition that I have, rather than lack of practice. So I don't push it. Anyone thinks this is normal? Also I'm not sure if running for longer time is so much needed if I do walking.
- Manuel_D 1y agoTake a much more gradual increase in intensity. Start walking for 5 minutes, then speed walking for 5 minutes, then light jogging, etc. Alternatively, try cadio exercise on a machine. Personally I like the elliptical machine way more than running. Mostly since I can watch Netflix and other videos while I do it. But it also lets you regulate and monitor intensity more effectively than running.
- _Algernon_ 1y agoIt took me at least a couple of months of regular running before I could run consistently on flat terrain without taking walking breaks (and almost a year to consistently manage long up-hill sections). Consider taking it much slower and do intervals between walking and jogging (I'd do it by feel instead of timing exactly). Over time increase the proportion you jog.
- krzat 1y agoIt's normal. Run slow and have breaks every minute. It will improve pretty fast (every run will be slightly but noticeably better than the previous one).
- randlet 1y agoTalk to your Dr obviously, but you may just be running too fast. There's lots of Couch to 5k programs that start off with 30s run intervals with walking in between. With running you need to play the long game and slowly build up your pace, total mileage, and number of weekly training days. It's hard to be patient, but it seems to be the secret to minimizing training injuries.
- wjholden 1y agoI feel very inspired by this, thanks for sharing! Didn't know this Run Streak Association existed but now I want to join. Congratulations on your immense achievement.
- rixed 1y agoI don't know what impress me the most: that you run every single day for 10 years, or that you manage to have a data point for each of those. Not a single day did you forget your phone/watch/wtv? Not a single data loss? Not a single account hijaking/locked out/revoken token? Do you have your personnal SRE team?
- k__ 1y agoNeurotypicals, am I right? :')
- rixed 1y agoYou are always the neurotypical of someone, I guess :)
- epolanski 1y agoI keep track of my calories every day, every meal, every snack from a very long time. It's very rare to not have the phone or another device close when I'm eating or after the meal, even if offline I'll send a WhatsApp message to myself and it will be sent when im back online. In the very rare occasions I don't have a phone I vividly remember what I've eaten and will record it later.
- jdefr89 1y agoSame.. I am surprised someone would remember the exact dates to when they started running consistently... Seems odd..
- randlet 1y agoA lot of runners (me included) are data nerds and record every runs date/time, distance, pace, weather, shoes worn, how we're feeling, temperature, elevation gain etc.
- SketchySeaBeast 1y agoWatch the start of most race events and the first thing that people will do as they start is turn on their watches.
- avkpatel 1y agoDeveloper version of Forest Grump.
- HexPhantom 1y agoStreak culture is motivating, but I always wonder where the line is between discipline and obsession. Still, there's something powerful about building a routine that becomes part of your identity
- HeartStrings 1y agoStop treating obsession like a bad thing. That’s the only way how you get at front page of hackernews.
- jdefr89 1y agoAs someone with severe OCD my entire life... Trust me its a bad thing.
- puppymaster 1y agoI am gonna blame your OCD for the malfunctioned sarcasm detector.
- fivestones 1y agoBut obsession and OCD aren’t equivalent.
- SketchySeaBeast 1y agoI've always found obsession to turn into resentment. For myself I need to give myself permission to take a day off and find a schedule that works for me.
- Breza 1y agoDifferent approaches work for different folks. When I was new to running, I had a good streak going for a long time. Now that I'm training for ultras, I focus on quality training, which can mean spending a Saturday playing with my daughter and not thinking about running. My focus has shifted to weekly mileage and Garmin-dictated training load.
- ropable 1y agoI'm inspired. I need to start trying for this sort of consistency with resistance training. While I'd never advocate for "no days off", a lifetime of progress is built on a lifetime of participation.
- shahzaibmushtaq 1y agoYou collected and logged all 3653 days of data through a device or manually by typing/saving it where initially (excel sheet) after each new run? The details are astonishing. Can you tell how you managed all of this so gracefully? Were you working on this idea from day 1? When did you buy this domain? You even saved and displayed a few dozen live map coordinates as well from 2016 onwards.
- dmazin 1y agoStrava and GPS watches and Apple Watch make this really easy, even back in 2015.
- shahzaibmushtaq 1y agoThank you! I wanted to know from the author.
- import 1y agoMost of the well known GPS watches supports GPX exports.
- bob1029 1y agoVery impressive work. I've been on an unbroken rowing streak (Concept2) since December last year. Half hour per day mandatory, no rest days. Typical distance rowed is 6.5-8km. There are days where I "take it easy" but I still force a minimum distance of 6.5km regardless of how long it takes. My rationale for using the C2 is the lower impact and the fact that it resides inside a climate controlled building. These factors help reduce the possibility of excuse making. I found that taking even one day off is all it takes to throw my discipline into a death spiral. Making it a required thing no matter what changes the psychology and game theory. It has become entirely a background concern after day 90 or so. There are days where I have to row and then do hours of yard work. The first two weeks of Texas summer almost got to me. But, this too has become a background concern. I can wake up, row 30 minutes, landscape for 2 hours, and then write code or post on HN until the sun goes down. No naps, stimulants or motivational speeches required.
- zdc1 1y agoA lot of the comments are raising how unsafe it is to be exercising through 10 years of life without a day off, but as someone who also tends to let a day off turn into a year off, I can appreciate the wisdom of slowing rather than stopping / having a slow day rather than an off day.
- RamblingCTO 1y agoI don't think 1mi per day is dangerous by a longshot but pushing through injury and sickness is wildly dangerous. heart infection is a thing, especially for men
- fivestones 1y agoDo you have e some evidence for this? I’m looking but having trouble finding any. May you are talking about myocarditis risk during/after influenza infection? Even for that I can’t find anything specifically showing that exercise increases the risk. I haven’t looked exhaustively though, and I’d love to see the evidence if you can point me to it.
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- blarg1 1y agoI started walking everyday 1-4km, and then switched to jogging 1-2.5 km everyday. It built up the muscles in my back so I no longer slouch, also fixed constipation issues I was having.
- albatrosstrophy 1y agoAs someone who' just counting steps, I'm genuinely curious what's your average steps per day? And how many steps over 10 years?
- HeartStrings 1y agoIs this healthy?
- sjmulder 1y agoRunning through illness and injury isn’t, otherwise why not. But I don’t think that’s the point. It’s challenge to yourself.
- reader9274 1y agoWhat shoes do you use? How often do you replace them? How are your knees holding up after ten years?
- boguscoder 1y agoJust from stats alone I assume op is from Colorado but ~4 years in a decade were split between NY and CA, that’s impressive level of traveling even ignoring all the rest of the even more impressive international trips. What do you do for living, man on the run:)?
- maxglute 1y agoThis is beautiful. I wish you lifted 10 years ago!
- serial_dev 1y agoI really appreciate the website, it's amazing! How do the runs end up on the dashboard? Is that Apple Watch / Strava data that you automatically or manually export? How many different systems did you have to integrate? I assume you don't necessarily used the same app or watch to track your running ten years ago that you use today?
- unixfox 1y agoHow do you manage to always find the free time for run even though the conditions doesn't allow it? Like for example if you take a flight of 16 hours.
- distances 1y agoI don't want to speak for the OP, but most people don't take a 16 hour flight ever in their life.
- matwood 1y agoYeah, 16 hours is crazy long. I would add that I found the best thing to do on both sides of a lengthy flight (say 6-8 hours) is exercise.
- randlet 1y agoI'm not a run streaker, but am an avid runner and if you "only" need to run a mile you really only need to find 15min in a day to keep your streak alive.
- fivestones 1y agoOnce I did 5k running with my son in mostly empty terminals of an airport while on a layover. We were training for a race and didn’t want to miss the day. The 16-17 hour flights from the US to Asia are really hard to manage when you are trying to run every day. Depending on when you take off, you may be in the air an entire calendar day, based on starting the flight in the time zone were you leave in the US and ending it in the time zone where you land in Asia. (Like Singapore airlines flight 23. Takes off 10:15 pm from New York on a Wednesday and lands 19 h 15m later on Friday morning 5:30 am in Singapore.) Either you decide that your first run in Singapore is going to be on New York time, or you say running in place on the plane is going to count, or you don’t take that kind of flight. Flying the other way is easy to keep your streak with though. Take off from Singapore at 11:35 pm and land in New York at 6 the next morning (18 1/2 hours later)
- junon 1y agoThese graphs are gorgeous, visually and otherwise. Really well done display of information.
- moomoo11 1y agoVery cool. I can’t run (bad knees) but I’ve been making a habit of walking at least 30 min a day, and goal of 90 minutes. I’m happy to have hit that goal this past week, and your post inspired me to make every week a successful one in that regard. Thanks! Cheers, best with everything!
- dirkc 1y agoI'd like to congratulate you on all those 1 mile days - I opened the link expecting to go "yeah, this person is just extremely lucky that they're one of those people that can just run all the time with no issues". But a 1 mile run mean you've put your shoes on, went outdoor, were active and it feels extremely doable for anyone. I'm wondering if I walk at least 1 mile each day, if not, I definitely should! Thanks for the share!
- Tepix 1y agoHe does run inside 13% of the time.
- Breza 1y agoI had a similar reaction. OP has only run a few marathons, and most of his runs aren't exactly setting a record-breaking pace. That's a refreshing change from social media influencers who make it seem like anyone can run a near-4 or tackle Cocodona. I'm training for my first ultra, and so much of the experience is mental. OP is an inspiration in developing mental toughness and dedication.
- ColinEberhardt 1y agoThat is very cool, thanks for sharing, and congratulations on an epic streak. I'm also into running visualisation, and created the running report card: https://run-report.com/ https://run-report.com/ It visualises your year in running, with some fun narrative generated by GPT. Here's my report card: https://run-report.com/8725202.html https://run-report.com/8725202.html
- steivan 1y agoNice work. My first thought was whether I could get similar graphs for my own data — this run-report.com does exactly that. Clean design, and the GPT-generated summary is a nice touch. Thanks for sharing.
- Zaylan 1y agoRunning every day for ten years is impressive enough on its own. What really stands out to me is how you turned the whole thing into a structured, data-driven project. The way you blended life and tech feels genuinely inspiring. It's not just about running, it's about how you choose to spend your time.
- Antitoxic6185 1y agoyou seem to be leaking your access token for mapbox.com api? 'pk.eyJ1IjoiZnJpZ2dlcmkiLCJhIjoiY21jbHdmZmZmMGV3dTJpcHR5cWcwOHhzdyJ9.Z-XMMh_nFDjm8FUyB2tZ_w'
- hotdogsalesman 1y agopk usually means publishable key - should be fine
- countfeng 1y agoI admire your persistence and it's something I should learn from.
- musikele 1y agoIt'd be perfect if we can have a toggle to switch to metric system, like kilometers, meters, celsius for temperature, etc. I find it very hard to follow the numbers expressed in miles
- navane 1y agoI know it's a dumb trick but it works for me: I use the Fibonacci sequence. 3 miles? 5 km. 8miles? 13km. 33 miles? 55km.
- catoc 1y agoHa! That’s nice. I never realized 1.609 miles/km is close to the golden ratio (1.618)
- donpott 1y agoIt is quite clever. My own rule of thumb is "add half of the amount in miles, then 10% of the (original) amount in miles". What's interesting is that it happens to be just as precise as the method shown above (ie. 1.6 v 1.609 v 1.618 )
- gus_massa 1y agoMy dumber version: Just multiply by 1.5. It's fine unless you are using a treasure map.
- chakintosh 1y agoSame here. Usually it's x1.6 but 1.5 is easier to calculate and you add a teeny bit after.
- alt227 1y agoMine is divide by 3, multiply by 5. Simple and quite accurate.
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- seany 1y agoYou need a angular histogram (like WORKOUT ACTIVITY BY TIME) but for miles per direction ran. Doesn't really need to be more granular than 3 cardnals long to be pretty interesting.
- anon191928 1y ago"Running over 30 miles a week for probably my first five, six years on Tour pretty much destroyed my body and my knees,” Tiger Woods said. So in 4 years it might be really bad? Be careful.
- matwood 1y ago7 miles/week vs. 30. And this doesn't count all the other physical stresses Tiger put on his body, like the insane torque he was able to generate swinging a club. Even if the poster walked a mile day, that's only 20 minutes and barely hits the recommended exercise time. I feel like anytime these threads pop up about someone staying physically healthy a bunch of people come out the woodwork to make it sound like they are hurting themselves. I'm not really sure why.
- nluken 1y agoJust running 30 miles a week is not enough to cause damage in most people. Tiger was also doing hours of professional-level golf training every day at the same time.
- throwaway2037 1y agoFirst, congrats on your self discipline. Second: About running just one mile in a single day: Does have any physical benefit? (Yes, I know you run more than one mile on many days.) It would take more time to change in to/out of your clothes and shoes than run a mile. Plus it only burns 100 cals. Can you imagine someone writing here that they only swim 9 mins per day... Or bike 9 mins per day?
- calcifer 1y ago> Does have any physical benefit? Compared to what? Sitting on the couch, snacking on chips? Of course.
- xenocratus 1y agoCompared to letting your body fully rest during that day (perhaps in between longer runs).
- fivestones 1y agoYes. It does have physical benefit. Here’s a study called “Minimum amount of physical activity for reduced mortality and extended life expectancy: a prospective cohort study” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21846575/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21846575/ From the abstract: “Compared with individuals in the inactive group, those in the low-volume activity group, who exercised for an average of 92 min per week (95% CI 71-112) or 15 min a day (SD 1·8), had a 14% reduced risk of all-cause mortality (0·86, 0·81-0·91), and had a 3 year longer life expectancy.” Of course 1 mile a day is less than 15 minutes for most people, but that 92 min per week is just 13 minutes 9 seconds per day. I’m guessing with the long runs he’s over this when measured weekly. There are other corroborating studies too. Here’s from “Association between Bout Duration of Physical Activity and Health: Systematic Review” (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6527142/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6527142/) “Additional evidence was identified from cross-sectional and prospective studies to support that bouts of physical activity <10 minutes in duration are associated with a variety of health outcomes…The current evidence, from cross-sectional and prospective cohort studies, supports that physical activity of any bout duration is associated with improved health outcomes, which includes all-cause mortality.”
- wvh 1y agoI admire your dedication. I also like the spartan look of your site. I'm a trail runner and I've been running over 18 years or so, not every day, but two or three times a week. Sickness or health, injury, birthdays, holidays, rain, snow, -30C. My last big run was around Christmas. After that I had about three months medical off-time. Now it's very hard to get back on track. I just had to cancel some summer running events. It's not just motivation, but general stiffness and musculoskeletal pains like shin splints and knee and ankle soreness. My guess is that at my (middle) age, you either do it or lose it. I advise anybody to find something they like and stick with it. Vary it according to how your body feels, but always do something. Keep the body (and the brain) working.
- nathan_compton 1y agoTrail running has started to absolutely wreck my back. Part of the problem is that I can't wear shoes that have plastic in them because of an allergy. Advice?
- nico_h 1y agoThere’s a movement called “barefoot shoes” / “barefoot running”. Very different gait from usual running and all the cushioning is in the muscles/ tendons. You can find some brands that have coton + rubber shoes (rubber is from a plant whereas plastic is from petroleum, don’t know if that works for you). And hemp or wool insoles. Probably not very durable but softer and more flexible than leather.
- jdkoeck 1y agoHave you tried getting back into cardio with a softer method like biking? Maybe that combined with some strength exercices could toughen up your body enough that you can start running again! Anyway, best wishes.
- raffael_de 1y agoI'd be interested in some knee cartilage statistics.
- igouy 1y agoStuff happens. "Roger Federer says he was injured giving daughter bath" https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/15059810/roger-federer-blames-bath-mishap-injury-led-surgery https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/15059810/roger-federe...
- johncole 1y agoThis is incredible, really nice work. How do you deal with physical injury and giving yourself time to heal?
- seizethecheese 1y agoThe pace chart looks very close to a normal distribution, cool!
- anupj 1y ago[dead]
- queeey 1y agoSuch pretty visualizations!
- jimlawruk 1y agoGreat job. The website is well done, too. I had a streak of about 400+ days several years ago which I ended the day after a marathon. Today I take off when I am sick or the day after a long race. The morning coffee doesn't taste right unless I run beforehand. :)
- igouy 1y agoI find the coffee tastes better when I clean my teeth after the run :-)
- igtztorrero 1y agoBike to run. Bike helps strengthen your knees, and it's very easy to target Zone 2, which achieves the highest calorie burn rate. This is how I got back into running after a meniscus injury, without surgery.
- reducesuffering 1y agoZone 2 doesn't have the highest burn rate. It's just easier to maintain it longer. 1 hour Zone 2 burns more than 30 in Zone 3, but 30 in Zone 3 burns more than 30 in Zone 2.
- igtztorrero 1y agoYou're right, I should have said: cardio zone 2 is where you achieve the highest rate of FAT calorie burning, since zones 3 and 4 primarily burn glycogen. For chubby people like me, who work 8 hours a day sitting down, the best way to stay in shape is to burn fat.
- reducesuffering 1y agoTrue about the fat / glycogen, although that's short term. I'm not confident, but from what I've read on it, our body is quite good at converting and allocating calories. So that if you spend 1 hour zone 2 burning mostly fat but 600 cals, vs. 1 hour zone 3 burning glycogen but 800 cals, when you eat 600 cals you'll still backfill the fat/glycogen, but zone 3 would still have been better for weight loss because of the increased calorie expenditure. So that zone 2 is better for fat loss very short term, but not necessarily long term unless you're also putting in more miles than you would higher zones. But regardless of the nitty-gritty you're doing the right thing focusing on zone 2 because it almost assuredly helps you run more and overall burn more. Most people do way too little because the higher zones feel awful to them.
- grilledchickenw 1y agoOP, what is that grid of geo-located countries called? It's beautiful, and I want to play with such a map. Is there a name for this?
- friggeri 1y agoThose are called "tile grid maps", I got the template for the world one here: https://policyviz.com/2017/10/12/the-world-tile-grid-map/ https://policyviz.com/2017/10/12/the-world-tile-grid-map/
- david927 1y agoA year ago, I started running a mile five days a week, and have slowly moved up distance and pace. I'm doing weight and resistance training as well and cut out most sugar and carbs, going high protein. The result has been transformational. Resting heart rate is at 60, blood pressure down, my clothes don't fit me anymore, and best of all, I feel better and can concentrate more. I wish I knew this in my teens. It's like a cheat code.
- kirtakat 1y agoMan - I knew this in my teens - I just didn't DO it.
- bovermyer 1y agoI started "running" a mile a week ago. I use quotes because I walk the first couple blocks to warm up and walk the last several blocks to cool down, and the entire route is just over a mile. On day 1, I jogged for a couple blocks at a time, walking for rest in between. I definitely walked more than I jogged. This morning, I jogged more than I walked, and almost jogged the entire distance between warm up and cool down. I haven't decided yet if I will then move to doing a second lap or if I will instead work on speed. Either way, the daily habit has been surprisingly enjoyable, even if I'm very out of shape. The progress is addicting.
- singlow 1y agoI was here about a year ago. Getting close to doing 5k 4 times a week, but the last 2k are more walk than run. I'm definitely more interested in getting endurance over speed, but both improve pretty steadily at this point. I guess once I'm doing 5k without walking I'll try to just increase pace. Pretty amazing how much better my quality of life is since exercising seriously for the first time in my late 40s.
- ch4s3 1y agoThe cool thing about running and lifting weights is that you see a lot of progress early on. The path to a sub 30 minute 5k is all about getting out the door and consistently running a little more. Pretty much everyone who starts weight lifting has a moment a few months in where they go to lift a random household object and are shocked by how light it feels.
- alexozer 1y agoTried starting a "run every day for a year" initiative last year. Wish it was for me, after 42 days I realized that I actually actively despise running and spend most of my time not running dreading the next one. Easiest habit I've ever dropped :(
- timzaman 1y agoVery cool, but running 1 mile really can't be considered a run of course. So don't reallt see this as ran-every-day-for-10y. Nice vis tho!
- the_gastropod 1y agoThis is such funny gatekeeping. I don't know what % of the U.S. population could even run 1 mile at all without stopping, but I'm certain it's well under 50%, much less do at least that every day for 10 years. This is an impressive feat. For real, shame on you for crapping on this person's very respectable achievement.
- ck2 1y agoI've run for 40 years but not every day because of age/illness (covid will pretty much end your life) I don't think you should be running through illness and stress fractures but I can't really criticize as I get the obsession My personal joke is that I like to get my "10,000 steps a day" in all in the first hour but this is actually the most amazing part to me: COUNTRIES VISITED been lucky to run on all seven continents, including antarctica!
- iancmceachern 1y agoRunning has been good for me and my folks too. It doesn't have to start big, you can start by running down your block once a day and go from there. Start small, think big.
- rasen58 1y agoCan you post a picture of what your body looks like? Curious if a person who runs every day has a very thin body or if you are more well built still
- _jholland 1y agoObligatory Tom7 recommendation: [How I ran the length of every street in Pittsburgh: PAC TOM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c8i5SABqwU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c8i5SABqwU). In this "expert mode running" video the protagonist, Tom Murphy VII, of computer science comedy YouTube fame, runs 3661 miles across 269 runs in this mammoth 16 year project to run every street in Pittsburgh, thus "completing" it Pac Man style. If you are not familiar with Tom7 and his whimsy, I cannot recommend enough that you check his videos out.
- dcreater 1y agoEverything about this is absolutely wow
- Zeetah 1y agoI'm all on again, of again runner. I was in the on phase, and we decided to get a puppy. She lives to sniff, run, and explore. So, looking forward to a long streak!
- turing_complete 1y agoDo you never get sick?
- joduplessis 1y agoI'm not running so much anymore (foot injury) - but for the last 15 years I've spent an hour+ on the road or in the gym 5 - 6 (sometimes 7) days a week. Also through sickness, injury, etc. It's changed the way I view being alive and healthy - I actually consider it "chronic medication" :) Kudos to the OP though - that's some mad dedication.
- winterrx 1y agoInsane dedication.
- downrightmike 1y agoHow many shoes do you go through in a year?
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- BatmansMom 1y ago10 days in antarctica? Why were you there? Were these all treadmill days?
- cyberge99 1y agoDid you ever have a day where you just jumped on the treadmill and ran a few steps and said, “eh, technically that counts” and ended the run early?
- citizenkeen 1y agoSee the note about the one mile runs.
- loeg 1y agoSome neat visualizations. I have a fondness for every-day running (I used to participate).
- no-reply 1y agoFascinating. I wonder if this is all run time or a mix of running+walking? I started running recently three days a week and this is my schedule-walk 5 mins , run 22 minutes, walk 5 minutes, another 22 min run, and then a final 5 min walk. I cover about ~4 miles or so depending on my pace. I increase my running duration every other week by a few minutes.
- andrewrn 1y agoI got hopelessly addicted to running in college, then got a knee cartilage injury and haven't consistently ran in 3 years. Absolutely soul-disfiguring for those who love to do long slow runs like yourself. Cool data and visualizations! Unreal that you rolled your own svg's for this instead of using d3.js. That absolutely blows my mind, great work!
- alalonde 1y agoReminds me of those "birthday challenges" I see a lot of here in the mountain west: e.g. climb 25 pitches on your 25th birthday, run 28 miles on your 28th, etc. Gets a lot harder (or more contrived) as you get older!
- Bulbasaur2015 1y agoyou are an inspiration. what does your running gear & shoe collection look like
- piyiotisk 1y agoI am interested in your experience with nextjs vs vanillajs, html etc. the site seems simple enough that it could be done using just html etc. I have this dilemma, using vanillajs vs react. If you can share your thought process it would be awesome. Thanks and congrats on the 10 years of running!
- HAL9OOO 1y agoCool site man! Do you have the project on github to self host/play around too?
- brnaftr361 1y agoI love this, kinda vindicated my behaviors. I won't run in thunderstorms and I have trouble justifying getting out once the temperature tips above 80. Looking at such a disciplined runner I see similar traits. Unfortunately these are both frequent occurances where I live. Of course that may also just be due to locale.
- aanet 1y agoWell done! Very inspiring. And a lovely app too. Excellent visualizations. Though the low-contrast is a bit hard to read/see. Do you also use Apple Watch (or other smartwatch) while running? If so, in your experience, do the run stats match up with Strava?? How different are they?
- Trixter 1y agoI have posterior tibial tendonitis, and will never run (or walk without pain for more than 10 minutes) again. I am happy for you, in a bittersweet way.
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