Five Things Running: Issue #2

Did you get in your long runs on the weekend? Good. Now read up!

As I’m slowly increasing the length of my runs again in anticipation of the Hamburg Marathon on April 23, I recently found out that I almost ran out of energy gels. Energy gels are a total mystery to me. It’s a small pack filled with some non-descriptive goo, yet according to the brands offering these packs, it’s all backed by science, full of good things and should cost at least 2€ per pack. And then there are dozens of brands out there. All the good running guides advise to test the goo before you use it in a race. I always mix and match because I cannot stand having just one flavor for a run. So I never really know which energy gel works better than the other. The only thing I know is, that I will never ever try using maple syrup in a small flask to have five portions without all the plastic of single-servings. Running 30km with totally sticky fingers is no fun, can’t recommend. Somehow I got the maple syrup all over myself trying to open the dang flask while running. My absolute favorite is Aerobee - honey from the Baltic Sea plus some salt.

Which energy gel do you like for your long runs?

Also, here’s something new: I’m now listening to podcasts during my long run. It changes the way I experience my runs, as before I did daydreaming, thinking about life, kids, business, and what not, solving geo-political issues and the like, and now I just listen to other people talking. It’s also good, but different. And I never thought I would run with my Airpods Pro as I truly hated running with music when I tried it years ago. Anyhow, on my Sunday longrun I listened to The Drop by Believe in the Run and an insanely endless rambling about the team’s trip to run the Tokyo Marathon. Very entertaining.

🏃🏻‍♂️

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The Strava Strain

Strava is a huge community for runners and they are fundamentally doing an okay job letting you learn from the data you put it and seeing how others perform. I give a lot of kudos to my extended circle of friends and people I know on Strava to encourage them in their running efforts. But since everybody seems to be so active, it really creates an urge to go out and run instead of resting. (Fatherly)

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What running does to the knees, according to a large survey of marathon runners

Good news: running is not bad for your knees per se and the “wear and tear” concept doesn’t take into account all the health benefits running brings along. But I guess it all boils down to injury prevention and better stretching before and after the runs. (NBC News)

Why B+ Workouts Are Better Than A+ Workouts

This relates back to the Strava story above. We look at the numbers and think we should have been faster, should have tried harder, but instead taking it slower might lead to better results in the long run (no pun intended). (Runner’s World)

Morning, Noon, or Night – Is There a Perfect Time to Run?

Yes, there is: in the Morning. It’s my preferred time. I also like to run during my lunch break. Also, it’s nice to do a run in the evening after a long, stressful day. But seriously, I’m a morning runner and I like to get my run in early on in the day so nothing can come up that will lead to me not running that day. (Runtastic)

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Always a Beginner

What a great and thoughtful piece about running and really life in general. It’s all about making new mistakes and learning from those as we move forward, in life and on the trail. (Freetrail)

That’s all for now! I hope you liked this edition of Five Things Running! If you have article suggestions, please send them to me: nico@lumma.de

Oh, and btw, you can follow me on Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/nicolumma