RW: 'Cause It Bores Me?

Is Running on a Treadmill Harder or Easier Than Running Outside? 
New research debunks some persistent ’mill myths.
Hailey Middlebrook/Runners' World Online, Mar 22, 2019

 - A new meta-analysis published in Sports Medicine analyzes 34 studies that compare the physiological, perceptual, and performance differences between running outside and running on a treadmill.
- The research concludes that when runners speed up on a treadmill, they have higher heart rates and report feeling more fatigued than when they run the same speed on land.
- Runners display more endurance running outside than on a treadmill.

In a new research published in Sports Medicine, scientists from Australia sought to answer these questions by investigating the differences in running performance on a treadmill versus real ground. To gather this data, they analyzed 34 studies that compared treadmill runs to “overground” (outdoor) runs. Twelve of the studies asked participants run on a 1 percent grade on the treadmill, while the others used higher or lower inclines.

The researchers were focused on three key measures of comparison: physiological (how hard the runners’ bodies were working to maintain pace and finish their workouts, measured by heart rate, blood lactate levels, and VO2 max), perceptual (how hard the workout felt for the runners), and performance (how the runners performed in time trials).

 
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Outside: Save US From Us

Parkrun Could Save America From Itself 
Martin Fritz Huber/Outside Online, Mar 20, 2019
A free weekly 5K? What’s not to love.

When it comes to techno-utopianism, it’s hard to top Facebook’s mission statement. Apparently, the company is dedicated to “bringing the world closer together.” Personally, I find the dystopian counter-narrative—that “Big Tech” has us hopelessly atomized—more persuasive, but I’m trying to remain optimistic that the Internet isn’t irredeemably at odds with (non-virtual) community building. One of the more encouraging examples in recent years is an initiative called Parkrun...
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Outside: The Marathoner's Achilles Heel

How to Strengthen Your Ankles and Run Faster 
Alex Hutchinson/Outside Online, Sep 13, 2018

New research zeroes in on an unlikely culprit for why running gets less efficient as you fatigue.

Anyone who has scrolled through their own marathon race photos knows that the keen-eyed high-stepper who shows up in the early photos bears little resemblance to the pathetic hobbler of the final miles. Fatigue changes your running form, and yet the vast majority of biomechanics studies involve a few minutes on a treadmill at a comfortable pace. There are some exceptions (like this recent field study of marathoners at the World Championships), but much of our knowledge about running form assumes that we never get tired...

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Outside: On Your Left?

Runners, Stick to This Side of the Road
Martin Fritz Huber/Outside, Mar 30 2015

If you keep tabs on aging rockers and their brushes with the law, chances are you read about a recent incident involving David Crosby and an ill-fated roadside runner in California. Crosby was driving about 50 miles per hour in a black Tesla when he slammed the runner from behind. The runner suffered several fractures and lacerations after impact, and needed to be airlifted to a Santa Barbara hospital. Crosby, 73, who was driving the speed limit at the time, maintained that he was blinded by the sun and didn’t see the runner, who is expected to make a full recovery.

It all seems like an unfortunate accident, but there’s a catch: The runner, it appears, was running with traffic, not against it. Though not illegal on a national level, that move goes against common sense...

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