Runners World: Stay (Running) In Place

All of the Ways to Run While Sheltering in Place, Ranked from Best to Worst
From backyards to balconies, creative running courses have been resurrected in wild places during the coronavirus pandemic.

By HAILEY MIDDLEBROOK APR 23, 2020/Runners World On-line

With races cancelled and lockdown orders in place across the globe because of the coronavirus, some runners have turned to creative measures to get in their miles. Ultrarunners have measured out 50-plus mile courses in their small neighborhoods. Others have logged serious mileage on the treadmill. And some have completed marathons on the track, on a rooftop, inside a building, and even on a balcony. Here, we’ve ranked the weirdest places we’ve seen people running during the pandemic, ranked from best (the most approachable option) to worst (the one most likely to make us say, “I’ll pass”).

(Link to article)

RUNSAFE: "Too Much, Too Soon"

In the British Journal of Sports Medicine March 2020, we discuss the “too much, too soon” theory. 

In running, it is widely accepted that athletes sustain sports injury if they train ‘too much, too soon’. However, not all runners are built the same; some can tolerate more running than others. It is for this reason that prescribing the same training program to all runners to reduce injury risk is not optimal from a coaching perspective. Rather, runners require individualized training plans. 

In acknowledgement of athlete diversity, it is therefore essential that researchers, assisted by runners, coaches and others, ask the right causal research question in studies examining sports injury etiology. In the article, we conclude “In the light of the limitations of population-based prevention that intends to provide all athletes with the same advice, we argue that a stronger emphasis on research questions targeting subgroups of athletes is needed. In doing so, researchers may assist athletes, clinicians and coaches to understand what training advice/program works best, for whom and under what circumstances”. 

In this light, participants in the Garmin-RUNSAFE Running Health Study, are a part of one of the first research studies that, based on a priori defined criteria, seeks to understand what running advice works for certain runners.

Read more about causal questions and the “too much, too soon” theory here:
https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2020/03/05/bjsports-2018-100245 
Note that the publisher owns the copyright for these publications so only the abstracts are available for free.

RUNSAFE: The "Wrong" Shoe?

A new publication from the RUNSAFE group that has surfaced March 2020 in the journal Footwear Science. Here, we highlight that the cause underpinning running-related injury occurrence is the relation between exposure to training load, internal tissue loads, and tissue capacity - with tissue load exceeding its capacity being the key biological mechanism in the development of injury.

On this basis, we examined the beliefs of running shoe salespersons and physiotherapy students regarding the influence of running shoes and foot pronation on running injury occurrence. Unfortunately, both populations hold beliefs that do not align well with current understanding of causes underpinning running injury occurrence. 

In the article, it reads “…the use of the terms “wrong shoes” or “adequate shoes” is likely inaccurate terminology. Viewed from a causal perspective, “wrong shoes” effectively do not exist as you are able to run a shorter or greater distance depending on the choice of running shoe… Despite this evidence, it remains common practice to recommend running shoes based on foot morphology and foot pronation”. If you find the topic appealing, you are able to read the abstract of the article here:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19424280.2020.1734869

Runners' World - Bring On The (Un-)Funk

The Best Sprays, Pods, and Pouches for Getting the Stink Out of Your Shoes 
Smelly kicks don’t stand a chance against these odor-fighting, bacteria-killing products.
 Amy Schlinger and Morgan Petruny/Runners' World, Jan 16, 2020

When you get home and kick off your shoes after a hard workout, there’s a good chance they reek. After all, when your feet start to sweat, that moisture is trapped in your socks, which is then stuck inside your shoe harboring funk.

A simple fix is using odor-reducing and germ-killing sprays or inserts regularly. Take a look...at info on the top five from our testing...
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Runners' World - Working Harder In The Room

Unreal Treadmill Sessions Push College Coach to Olympic Trials
Tyler Pence also trains with his distance runners, who inspire him to give his best effort.
Cindy Kuzma/Runners' World/Jan 14, 2020

Runners at the University of Illinois-Springfield abide by two rules: Be a good person, and work harder than anyone else in the room...
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Runners World: What's That Green Stuff?

Getting Outside in City Green Spaces May Help You Live Longer
Boost the benefits by adding in some exercise, too.
Elizabeth Millard/Runners' World/December 20, 2019

Finding time to enjoy a city park isn’t just a pleasant lunchtime excursion—recent research suggests those outings could help you live longer.

Published in the journal Lancet Public Health, a World Health Organization review of nine major studies from seven countries—representing over 8 million people—on green spaces and all-cause mortality found that there’s a significant association between exposure to green spaces in urban areas and better public health.

Researchers found that for every 0.1 increase in green space within a third of a mile of a person’s home, there was a 4 percent reduction in premature death. This was consistent across every country, including the U.S., China, Spain, Australia, Canada, Italy, and Switzerland...

(Link to article)

Runners' World: Not Just The Cave

The Best Conditioning Exercises You Can Do to Stay Fit in the Off-Season 
Combine alternative cardio workouts with a strategic strength circuit so you’ll be firing on all cylinders when you get back into the swing of full-on training.
Ashley Mateo/Runners' World.com, Dec 17, 2019

You might be logging tons of miles a week during warmer weather, but when the temperature drops and the amount of daylight gets shorter, it’s not as feasible to keep that up.

That doesn’t mean you’re sentenced to a season of running on the treadmill in your basement. The off-season is a great time to build your foundation not just with conditioning exercises, but also with cross-training modalities that will keep you rolling strong right into your peak running season, says Zack Allison, a senior coach with Source Endurance and racer for Team Clif Bar... 

(Link to article)