Heya and welcome back to edition 100 of Five Things Running!
What a week! On Saturday, my oldest daughter, affectionately called K1, pinged me and said: “dad, I think I want to go running now!” - and after a few runs together with me in January, she went running all by herself. This makes me happy. And then my youngest daughter, affectionately called K4, reminded me that she had to start her training and wanted to go running with me. She will run a so called “Zehntel”, a tenth of a marathon, on the day before the Hamburg Marathon in April. This is a fun run with 7000 kids, which will take place on part of the marathon course. So we will now try to run at least once per week together with a gradual increase of mileage. And K3 wants to come along as well. My son, K2, loves the gym and won’t go running any time soon.
On Sunday I ran the first race of the 5th Hamburg Trailrunning Cup - all participants get a .gpx file on Sunday evening and then have a week to run the course - starting with 20km, then 10km and finishing with 30km. I ran 20km on a wonderful sunny and cold day. It was an amazing start into the Sunday.
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Here’s this week’s Five Things Running!
Will Run for Burritos
What an insane month of running for two guys in Tempe, Arizona.
Midpack Musing: An Ode to the Dirt Bag Life
I’d love to just spend a summer just traveling and running, maybe not just living in a car, but I guess this won’t happen any time soon.
Your Sports Nutrition is Ultra-Processed. Should You Be Worried?
I don’t use gels too often, so I am not worried. But I do think that honey or maple juice can be great alternatives.
Running’s big fashion opportunity
“Fashion’s incursion into the running world comes as the sport’s popularity is surging. A record number of people participated in marathons last year. Participation in running clubs shot up 59% globally in 2024, according to the fitness app Strava. In major cities such as New York, the growth of run clubs have been fueled by urbanites looking for matchmaking opportunities beyond dating apps or IRL relationships outside of social media. The viral rise of run clubs, which exist for casual and professional runners alike, have helped turn running into a social activity where personal style is a bigger factor.” - I am so happy about this development. I really hate all that neon performance gear that looks like crap and I hope more people will try to look better when running.
Running Diaries
Do you keep a running diary? I tried adding stuff to my Strava for a while, but essentially it boiled down to “I ran, it was great.”, so I didn’t feel it was adding any value for me. A handwritten diary would be cool, but I was never really good at reading my handwriting…
I’m grateful for the partners of Five Things Running: Acid Running, New Balance and Coros!
If you missed last week’s edition, you can read it here:
Now, go running!
— Nico
🏃🏻♂️
Haha when the US Surgeon General declared alcohol as a dangerous substance I did wonder how long it might take them to get around to the crazy UHP stuff runners suck down during marathons. Just for a moment. Runners' minds are not for changing
I simply try not to run so far that I need to eat a meal during it or so far that I shit myself