Runners' World: Ticker Taping?

How Exactly Does a Fitness Tracker Monitor Your Heart Health? 

We tapped an expert to break down how a heart rate monitor works—and who should invest in one. JORDAN SMITH/Runners' World.com/Sep 18, 2020 

Tracking your heart rate during workouts isn’t new, but heart rate tracking technology is rapidly advancing. Gone are the days of merely monitoring your beats per minute; the latest trackers can now alert you to an irregular heart rhythm, and some are even rolling out low-range VO2 max tracking. 

With more younger people suffering from strokes, and more reports of cardiac arrests happening during exercise, it might be a good time to consider upgrading your tracker. We tapped experts to find out just how much you should rely on your new tracker’s heart-monitoring software...

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PodiumRunner: A Short Marathon Build-Up?

The Case for a Shorter Marathon Buildup

The uncertainty of racing makes it hard to plan 4–6 months out. Take heart, 8–10 weeks might be a better marathon buildup. 

Sep 4, 2020/RICHARD A. LOVETT/PodiumRunner 

If you’re looking for candidates for the type of runners who’ve been most severely impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, marathoners are probably top of the list. After all, it’s fairly easy to do a virtual 5K or 10K — or give the mile or the 800 a go on a track or measured road. 

But a virtual marathon? With no aid stations and no other runners to keep you focused during those long, later miles? That’s a different beast, entirely. 

Which means that once COVID-19 restrictions on road racing start to ease, there’s going to be a big clamor for marathons. But, when a marathon finally becomes possible, that will raise another question: how far in advance do you need to start training for it?

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PodiumRunner: Embrace The Alternative

How to Embrace Cross Training

3 Keys to finding enjoyment and satisfaction in alternative activities. 

August 25, 2020/Jonathan Beverly/PodiumRunner.com 

 ...I’m usually not much of a cross-trainer. I’m a runner. I run. It’s been who I am and what I do since 1977. I don’t foresee that I’m going to overthrow that identity and become primarily a hiker, biker or tree-climber anytime soon. And, I confess that my new-found enthusiasm for cross-training is due to my doctor suggesting I give my knee a chance to repair some damage that running is inflaming. But I am enjoying what I’m learning, even if it is forced: namely, that running gives me the mental skills and physical endurance to cross-train effectively — be that traditional modes or decidedly unconventional ones — and that cross-training can provide not only physical benefits but much-needed mental ones. 

The physical ones are rather obvious and well documented. But I’m discovering a few keys to making cross training more mentally satisfying... (Link to article)