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I love running into fall. Every week it gets a bit colder and the foilage gets prettier. Donât get me wrong, I also love running in spring, summer and winter, but fall really is special. I still run in shorts, it feels nice and cold, I can see my breath - and then, boom!, you get back inside and everything is warm again. Somehow this is magical, isnât it?
Also, I am so happy that I live in the middle of the city and it takes me five minutes to be at the river and can enjoy running in nature. Itâs so awesome.
Read on, my dear!
The Body Never Lies
I developed my own internal compass: Power. Rhythm. Flow. Grace. Those four words tell me far more than a screen ever could. They arenât numbers. Theyâre sensations. When all four come together, I know Iâm running well, whether Iâm covering a mile in six minutes or sixteen. The older I become, the more valuable that conversation becomes.
People often ask me, âHow far did you run today?â I usually smile and answer, âFar enough.â
The real question isnât how many miles I covered. Itâs whether I was present for them.
Modern technology is remarkable. GPS watches, heart-rate monitors, nutrition science, and power meters have helped athletes perform at extraordinary levels. I appreciate good science, and I donât dismiss these tools. But tools make poor masters.
I love this. We have all these gadgets that tell us everything about our body, but actually we should just listen to our bodies ourselves.
Building Trail Running Durability: A Tale of Volume and Specificity
Itâs hard (or maybe not even possible) to train well (i.e., with structure that aims at improving our abilities as runners and ultimately to run faster - or to generate power), if we are doing continuous runs of several hours per day. Running isnât cycling. This being said, long runs do bring benefits that cannot be brought by doubles, especially metabolically, as there isnât a greater stimulus for metabolic flexibility than staying out for many hours, and as such, long runs should certainly stay in the mix, but we donât need to do that every day, and we can use them more frequently strategically, e.g. with back-to-back days before a long ultra, or to practice our race fueling or to gain confidence in our ability to stay out for many hours.
I admire people who can train so much and so consistently to build up such durability.
Self-Reliance
That runner came back to me later and told me he put that advice into practice at a race. It had made a big difference. He even found himself encouraging another runner who was being negative, in the hopes of turning that experience around.
Maybe thatâs why I ask people why they need a coach. Not because I donât think they need one or because I believe I have all the answers. I am genuinely curious about what theyâre trying to accomplish and whatâs driving them. Honestly, I want to build a relationship with them whether I can offer them something of value or not. Just listening can make all the difference to someone. Itâs good to be heard. I will probably use humor to get them to smile and that can be enough.
Trying and persistence is a great combination - this is a wonderful piece about getting better at running. And also about listening to a coach.
Tracksmith Created the Blueprint for Indie Running Brands. Can It Survive Without Its Architect?
Frugal runners initially had sticker shock. Tracksmith manufactured its clothing in the U.S., using quality materials, which cost more. But the company was one of the earliest independent running brands selling apparel for serious runners outside of the major shoe companies. Womenâs running apparel brand Oiselle had hatched earlier, in 2007.
Tracksmith quickly grew. It added retail locations in Boston and New York, and hundreds of items for saleâincluding four shoe styles, which were added in 2022.
Now, Taylor has been abruptly pushed out of the company he founded, and industry observers are left wondering if the brand can keep growing without him.
I know, Tracksmith is just a running brand, but I really like their stuff and I like how they lit a spark and changed the running apparel industry.
Iâm Here To Disrupt the Running Industry. Unless They Have My Size.
I wonât let a brand dictate my opinions. I wonât sign away editorial control, or pretend a product is good just because it came with a camo hat and a T-shirt in a box I had to break down with a hunting knife. I will, however, sit on the review for another six weeks. Matt said the team was really excited to hear what I thought, and he mentioned maybe getting a beer at TrailCon, and Iâd hate for him to find out what I thought before we got the beer, plus he might be able to snag a shell for Erin. She hasnât asked for a shell. She actually bought one after run club last month. Womenâs medium: I know because I was standing close enough to read the tag when she turned around to ask if I was in line.
I unsubscribed all those Runfluencers a long time ago. Nobody needs new shoes all the time or new jackets or some spiffy new gadget. Oftentimes reading running media feels like being stuck in a gigantic marketplace. Iâm here for the running.
If you missed last weekâs edition, you can read it here:
Now, go running!
â Nico
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