Runners' World: Shoe Size?

Everything You Need to Know About Running-Shoe Size
The fit of your shoe is critical to your stride—here’s how to get it right.
By CINDY KUZMA/Runners' World On-Line/DEC 5

Zero-drop, carbon fiber plates, minimalist or maximalist—runners love to discuss and debate the latest shoe types and features. Far fewer long-run chats and online forums are dedicated to discussing running shoe size. But how well a shoe matches the length, width, and shape of your feet may actually matter as much as, if not more than, the cushioning that goes underneath them, says Geoffrey Gray, D.P.T....
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Outside: Naming, Shaming and Blaming

Frank Meza’s Death and the Running Internet Mob 
Martin Fritz Huber/Outside Online, Jul 9, 2019

Anyone seeking guidance on how to be a decent person in our chaotic and violent world could do worse than consult John Stuart Mill’s famous essay, On Liberty, from 1859. One of the most influential ideas that Mill unpacks is the notion that—to generalize horribly—an individual’s freedom should only be curtailed when it begins to impinge on the freedom of another. It’s a concept that sounds great in theory but, of course, things get a little murky when we have to figure out where that nebulous boundary lies.

Take, for example, the seemingly benign case of the course-cutting amateur runner. On the one hand, if I’m participating in a race and someone else cheats, it’s really not my problem—unless the cheater somehow directly interferes with my progress. On the other hand, as I’m sure many will be quick to point out, if someone cuts the course and finishes ahead of me, it does impact me in the sense that I will be one spot further down in the results. If the cheating runner deprives me of a podium finish, or even prize money, the offense becomes more acute...

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Outside: What's Harder Than Giving Birth?

What Kara Goucher Learned from the Leadville Marathon 
Martin Fritz Huber/Outside Online, 21 Jun 2019

As you may be aware, Outside has recently made a lot of new friends in the trail running community, thanks to an article that suggested that the demographic should be more proactive about volunteer work. At the risk of squandering the surplus of goodwill, last weekend’s Leadville Trail Marathon brought to mind a contentious question: What would happen if more elite road runners transitioned to trail racing? Or, as we asked in an article from 2015: Are the stars of the ultra scene only successful because the best distance runners tend to stick to the roads?

The answer appears to be “no,” at least if last weekend’s race is anything to go by.

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Sports Illustrated: Perhaps Toby Tanser Got It Wrong

Olympic Marathon Silver Medalist Eunice Kirwa Busted for EPO Doping, Provisionally Suspended
Chris Chavez/Sports Illustrated May 21, 2019

Olympic silver medalist Eunice Kirwa of Bahrain has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit after testing positive for EPO, a blood-boosting drug. Kirwa finished second in the women's marathon in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro behind Kenya's Jemima Sumgong.

Sumgong is currently serving an eight-year suspension after she tested positive for EPO in 2017. She was initially banned for four years but appealed the suspension and then lied at her doping hearing. An independent arbiter determined she provided false records of a hospital visit to try and justify her failed drug test. Since the positive test came after the Olympics, she will hold onto her gold medal from the 2016 Summer Games but cannot compete again until 2027. She made history with her victory in Rio by becoming the first Kenyan woman to win the Olympic marathon.

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Runner's World: How To REALLY Cut 30 Seconds Off Your 5K

How Stephanie Bruce Ran a 27-Second 5K Personal Best at 35 
After a 3-year racing break following the birth of her two boys, Bruce has been racking up personal bests and national titles.
Taylor Dutch/ Runner's World, May 19, 2019

“Believe, run first 3K with confidence, stay attached, you will be hurting a lot...pretty early on, but keep in contact. Split second decision to push, sub 15:22 top 3. Compete, compete, compete.”

These are the notes that Stephanie Bruce wrote in her phone an hour before she raced the 5K at the USATF Distance Classic in Eagle Rock, California, on May 16. The prerace practice is part of a conversation with herself where Bruce addresses her fears and nerves with confident solutions.

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Outside: Crazy Dreams

Nike and the Problem with Pro Running Contracts 
Martin Fritz Huber/Outside/May 17, 2019

Last weekend, on Mother’s Day, the New York Times published an op-ed criticizing Nike for not having a maternity leave policy for sponsored track and field athletes. The article was accompanied by a short video narrated by multiple 800-meter national champ Alysia Montaño, which satirizes Nike’s pro-women “Dream Crazier” campaign. For anyone who has been skeptical of Nike’s recent foray into performative progressivism, it was a call out that’s been long overdue.

“They tell us to “‘Believe in something,’” Montaño says in the video, echoing last year’s much hyped Colin Kapaernick ad. “We say: How about maternity leave’?”

Bravo...

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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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