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Running is simple. One foot in front of the other. And yet: we perform it, brand it, suit up for it, fuel it to the edge of human possibility, and break ourselves doing it. This week, five pieces that pull at the threads. I spent some time reading last week and less actually running, but this will be my week of
Satisfy and Adidas went digging in punk and hardcore for credibility, and whether that heist lands depends entirely on who you ask. Adidas also built a full-body suit that might actually make you faster, which will not stop people from buying it for reasons that have nothing to do with biomechanics. The science behind breaking the two-hour marathon barrier turns out to hinge less on heroics and more on aggressive carbohydrate strategy going back a hundred years. And when the body finally gives out, the worst thing you can do is stop entirely. Training through injury is a discipline of its own. Five things worth your time this week. Read them and then go running!
The Rise Of Performative Running Culture
Performative running cares more about the perception of running vs. actually running. Itâs when the image of being a runner becomes more important than the experience of running itself. Itâs what models do when theyâre asked by ALO to run around the Eiffel tower to sell a trail shoe. It lacks depth and understanding.
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The opposite of being performative is to run with intention. That looks different for everyone, but itâs rooted in something meaningful. Itâs not about how long youâve been a runner, how much mileage you do, or how fast you are. I think itâs quite simpleâyou care about the sport and the people in it. You care about evolving and learning about yourself through the defiant act of putting one foot in front of the other.
Ah well, this is an interesting discussion to have, which clearly shows that the running sphere matures and people run for different reasons. Of course everyone involved thinks they are running for the right reasons.
The Satisfy x Adidas Subculture Heist
Brice Partouche may have his own history with punk, hardcore, and Straight Edge. But Satisfy as a brand does not operate like a punk or hardcore project that somehow found running. It operates like a fashion brand that moved into performance running and repeatedly reaches into punk and hardcore for underground credibility.
And that difference matters.
Personal history does not automatically make every commercial use of that history accountable. Knowing the reference does not mean carrying the responsibility.
Because the issue is not biography. It is behavior.
It is what a brand does with the things it claims to understand. It is whether it contributes to the culture or only uses it as an archive of underground credibility. It is whether the people, bands, shirts, codes, and histories remain part of a living world, or get turned into expensive proof that a product has edge.
Actually, I beg to differ. Satisfy x Adidas certainly broke some rules and thatâs why it is successful. And I say that with all my skatepunk knowledge from back when we started skating right after the war when we didnât have anything and I had to take the bus to Hamburg to buy an outrageously priced copy of thrasher magazine and these days kids wear hoodies with a thrasher logo and they just like the style or whatever. We have enough boring collabs, this one is fun.
This Suit Makes You Faster. But Will Runners Wear It?
About four years ago, Jessica G. Hunter, a manager of athlete performance at Adidas, started looking into the effect of âstiffening elementsâ in suits for endurance runners. There was skepticism within the company that clothing could make much of a difference in a marathon. âLeadership didnât think we would be able to improve running economy with apparel,â Hunter said. âBecause nobody had ever done it successfully before.â
Hunter found that the stabilizing elements made runners faster for longer. âWhat we were trying to do was exploit the connection between the muscles that stabilize the pelvis and trunk and the muscles that stabilize the hip, and how those muscles tend to work together from a pelvic and hip stability,â she said. âIn order to do that, you have to have something that crosses the whole body. And the only way to do that is with a full, connected suit.â
While it seems to make sense to wear the absolutely latest tect apparel for elite athletes, I am sure that many people will buy this kit in the weird hope that it will matter in achieving a personal best. And if they can afford it and it makes them happy, by all means go for it! I am running in shoes with carbon and I am probably not finishing on a podium any time soon.
Inside the Fueling of the First Sub 2 Hour Marathon
The sub-2-hour marathon is a remarkable convergence of factors from shoe technology to mindset shifts to training theory to fueling strategy. In this newsletter, I want to focus on the last one.
Aggressive carbohydrate feeding has been a quiet revolution building in the sports science world for over a century. It dates back to the 1923 Boston Marathon, when researchers drew blood from exhausted finishers and discovered that post-race collapse was linked to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). The idea that carbohydrate mattered was, at that point, a genuine revelation. London 2026 is where that revolution finally arrived and landed in the public spotlight.
It is fascinating to see how elite runners reach their absolute best performance levels. I rather opt for the a that doesnât taste like old feet.
Train With, Not Through
Healing from injury often comes with the connotation of doing nothing. While rest is essential, allowing the mind-body system to go stale is a non-starter. Thatâs both for me as a person and for general practice.
In my experience, pulling the rug out from under athletesâ routines, support systems, social networks, and basic physical fitness is a recipe for a mess. Re-injury, new injury, or just being a miserable son of a bitch all seem to be the consequences of poorly managed return to performance.
And I want none of that. Not for others and certainly not for myself.
So what to do then? Train, of course.
I should have read this advice earlier and I sure hope I remember some of it when the next injury happens.
If you missed last weekâs edition, you can read it here:
Now, go running!
â Nico
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Thanks for "spreading the hardcore reality" (thatâs a quote).