Five Things Running: Issue #3
It's all about ceran wrap, carbon-plated shoes, Barkley Marathons and what not. Just read this mail. ✌🏻
Today I finished yet another 30 km slow long run in preparation for the Hamburg Marathon and it occurred to me that somehow this marathon prep is working according to plan. Well, my plan is not to overtrain again and get injured and then run the marathon without enough base mileage, which is how I did it twice last year and that was not really the best idea, I assume.
Anyhow, how awesome is it to be able to run in shorts again? I have nothing agains tights, but shorts: so awesome. Still, I haven’t found the best shorts for me yet. I’m a 2-in-1 shorts kind of guy and I need pockets, but somehow there is always something missing with whatever pair of shorts I pick up. Which shorts do you like best?
🏃🏻♂️
The 2023 Barkley Marathons Has Three Finishers
The Barkley Marathons are an amazingly weird event where even the best ultra-marathon runners cannot finish. The last time somebody was able to finish the Barkley Marathons was in 2017, this really shows how tough this race is. This story in Trailrunner Magazine gives a good glimpse of what runners have to accomplish to finish the race.
Can carbon-plated running shoes cause injury?
I’m thinking about getting a carbon-plated shoe for the Hamburg Marathon in a month, but then again I think that even the best supershoes won’t turn me into a super-fast runner. But I probably would look very fast. According to Live Science, I could do this without risking injuries by bouncing around faster than anyone expected, but I should incorporate carbon-plated shoes into my training runs.
Achilles Tendinitis and the Little-Known Treatment That Fixed It For Me
This treatment described at Believe in the Run worked for me as well and from what I heard is that East German sport therapists came up with the idea. I generally think that Diclophenac is magic stuff and can work wonders.
Nice. So What’s That in Miles?
This story on Ultra Signup is just wonderful and shows that planning only gets us so far, that we can all make interesting mistakes and hopefully learn from them (I still remember the exact spot during the Hamburg Marathon last year where I grabbed the home made energy balls a nice woman was offering, only to have a really dry mouth and remains of the stuff between my teeth for at least 10 km, which was really annoying) and that 50 km can be a real challenge, even though it is “just a bit” longer than a marathon.
Help! I’ve become a marathon bore
“All I can talk about is running: running kit, running routes, running snacks, running times.” - that’s why I’m writing this newsletter: I needed to find an outlet and not annoy my family even more. I think most of us can relate to this article in The Spectator.
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
5 things Commenting:
1.) The Barkley shower burrito will stand the test of time. I'm feeling it.
2.) 1-hour old confirmation of my orthopedist: Carbon plated shoes have clearly caused an increase in injuries. However 95% of these injuries were achilles tendonitis and, at least at his office, no stress fractures. More studies will tell the full story in the near future. This leads me to the next point:
3.) Elevating my heel by ca. 3mm with a soft heel pad did the trick for (or against) my achilles tendonitis last year.
4.) Congrats on your 30k long run. Always and forever the most important milestones in a marathon preparation.
5.) Thanks for featuring Willpower Running! <3