Five Things Running: Issue #80
Monday is a good day to read about running.
Heya and welcome back to Five Things Running!
Last Monday I finally went to the orthopedist because of my weird foot pain that showed up during some of my runs, but also when I was just walking. I didn’t run for two weeks, but that didn’t help, either. So they did some xrays to rule out a stress-fracture (in German this is called a “Marschfraktur”, a marching fracture, which kind of shows how Germans are supposed to move…) and as there was also no inflammation to be seen, the diagnosis was not that clear. My solution for now is to just keep running. And it turns out: it works. Sometimes the pain comes back, but it is a lot less than it used to be. I got back to running 50km last week and I feel fine.
Sometimes runners remind me of the old ladies sitting in the waiting room of a doctor’s office discussing their various ailments… but maybe it’s just me…
Anyhow, I also got some reading done and I think you should read these five articles!
When things start to go wrong during an ultra trail.
This is some good practical advice for those of you who want to run longer races. We have all been there: we plan ahead and then things happen differently and we have to manage. I love how the troubleshooting had to start even before the race, which also sounds familiar to me.
Trends are not for training on
Do you ever think you found the one shoe and then buy that exact model a couple of times before the brand releases a new model? I’ve done it once or twice, but I’d never buy seven pairs at once. I believe good is the enemy of better and I always hope the next version of a great shoe will be even better.
Why It’s Normal to Feel Like Total Garbage In the Middle of Your Marathon T
“Feeling like crap—heavy legs, sore muscles and joints, and perhaps unmotivated to head out the door— around two months out from your marathon is actually pretty normal.” - ah, well, I still would like to avoid that part of the training.
A Case Against Supershoes
“My worry is that supershoes threaten the spirit of sport. This is because they significantly distort the relationship between the effort someone puts in, and the output they get from the effort. The shoes are a kind of “middle term” that mediates how well someone is able to run.” - there’s something to it, but I assume that supershoes will be normal shoes pretty soon and that the price point will be considerably lower than right now. And then some other innovation will give some runners an advantage until everybody else has caught up.
Can a Running Club Find Your Soulmate? Think Again.
Instead of Tinder, runners join run clubs to find a date or even more. Of course that’s not that simple, but at least they got some runs in.
If you missed last week’s edition, you can read it here:
Now, go running!
— Nico
🏃🏻♂️