Two simple rules to improve your running. How to adjust your pace in the heat. Olympic updates. More. [PodiumRunner]( [Follow PodiumRunner Online][Follow PodiumRunner on Facebook]( [Follow PodiumRunner on Instagram]( [Follow PodiumRunner on Twitter]( RUN LONG, RUN HEALTHY Training. Nutrition. Shoes. Injury Prevention. You. AUGUST 5, 2021 Boston Marathon winner Amby Burfoot, also the worldâs most experienced running editor, curates the latest and most useful content on running and health from around the internet. âI spend hours finding the best new research and articles, so you can review them in minutes.â THIS WEEK: Two simple rules to improve your running. How to adjust your pace in the heat. Olympic updates. Get more control over your stomach issues. Should you lean forward when running? Find your perfect marathon pace. The surprising benefits of a lay off. Run 10 minutes faster in your next half-marathon. Monitor your heart rate. More. Two simple rules to succeed at running ⦠or anything Author and performance coach Brad Stulberg has a talent for observing the athletic (and larger) worlds around us, and distilling core principles from what he sees. He doesnât get lost in the details; he searches to find the bigger picture. For example, heâs a relatively new dog owner, and it didnât take him long to find [7 parallels between training his new dog]( and training himself (or me or you). I liked even more his â2 simple rulesâ for getting better at almost anything. Yes, #1 is obvious, and #2 is not exactly revolutionary. But that doesnât negate the bigger point: If you donât follow both #1 and #2, you donât get better. End of story. More at [Outside Online.]( How to adjust your pace in the heat The first and most important rule of running in the heat is: Adjust your pace appropriately. In the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Marathons, for example, the male runners wonât try for a 2:02 finish time (or the women for 2:16), because that would be suicidal in the expected warm, humid conditions. [This article]( has some precise formulas on how to adjust your pace to whatever difficult (hot) weather you face. Hereâs another, very complete, with more formulas, physiology, and advice from one of the leading experts in the field. More at [Podium Runner.]( Donât let stomach issues derail your workouts and races Many runners have stomach problems during workouts and races, perhaps because running is a bouncy, stomach-roiling activity. Fortunately, there are also many ways to limit stomach issues on the run. Donât eat fats and fiber before running; donât get dehydrated; watch out for too much sugar and caffeine; and consider probiotics as a possible preventative. More at [Womenâs Running.]( Olympic Updates In track and field, hereâs what to watch for in the [5,000m]( and [1500 meter]( finals. That 1500m final will include Jacob Ingebrigtsen, whose [training I explored]( a while back (lots of long âcruiseâ intervals). In the womenâs races, all eyes are on [Sydney McLaughlin, who bested both her own world record and rival Dalilah Muhammad]( to win gold in the 400 meter hurdles. Team USAâs Courtney Freirichs made a bold move with three laps to go to win silver in [the 3,000 meter steeplechase]( winning the hearts of fast-twitch-challenged runners everywhere, while Ugandaâs Peruth Chemutai became her nationâs first female gold medalist. Chemutai credits part of her win to âenjoy[ing] the weather,â but Tokyoâs hot summer has put climate change back on the list of things that might [end the summer Olympics for good](. [Join Outside+]
Live Well. Live Active. Two yearly magazine subscriptions plus member-exclusive content from PodiumRunner and 18 Outside network brands. [Join Outside+ today â]( The surprising benefits of a lay off The next time youâre feeling stressed because you have to stop running for several weeks due to injury, travel, or whatever cause, look on the positive side of such layoffs. Yes, youâll lose some aerobic fitness. At the same time, however, you can maintain muscle endurance, may increase muscle mass, and âmay enhance anabolic hormonal milieu.â These are also reasons why many coaches and athletes believe in several rest periods per year. You have to back off occasionally in order to achieve leaps forward at other times. At European Journal of Sports Science. [More.]( Should you lean forward when you run? Before growing interested in human movement patterns, especially foot strikes, Harvard evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman studied head/brain biomechanics. Check out his textbook if you want some light reading. Now, in a new running paper, he has investigated: How does forward lean affect running mechanics? After all, the torso, arms, and legs make up 68 percent of your body weight, so they likely have a big effect. Lieberman hypothesized that a forward lean would increase stride length and decrease stride frequency, perhaps increasing injury risks. But he proved himself wrong. Stride length decreased, and frequency increased. However, a lean did increase loading rates and ground reaction forces, so Lieberman still suspects it could cause injuries. More at Human Movement Science. And on the same topic, some thoughts from a running on forward lean in the context of your strength and speed. More at [PodiumRunner](. Find and improve your perfect marathon pace All marathon runners want to know their best marathon pace (especially when theyâre standing on the start line), and how to improve it. Many online [calculators based on Jack Danielsâs pioneering work]( help us by establishing âequivalent performances.â A new paper looking at runners in the Athens Classic Marathon found that they could improve their marathon times by running more days/week, covering more miles/week, and lowering their BMI. The authors also devised a formula to predict marathon time from VO2 Max, which is roughly the same as using a Daniels calculator. At Frontiers in Physiology. [More.]( Monitor your heart rate to train and recover better Heart rate before, during, and after a run is one of our simplest, most accessible, and most powerful performance metrics. It can tell us when weâre making progress, when to slow down, when to speed up, when we need more recovery, and perhaps even when weâre about to come down with a cold or flu. Hereâs some additional advice about how heart rate might indicate that you need to eat more, or to increase your fluid intake. At Training Peaks. [More.]( Would you like to run 10 minutes faster in your next half marathon? Yeah, me too. Because if you can do that, you can likely run 20 to 30 minutes faster in your next full marathon. Here are 7 strong tips, ranging from mental strategies to workouts. Iâd have to say that # 5 is the most important. Surround yourself with a veritable army of support from family to training partners on online social groups. Fifty years ago we had to deal with âthe loneliness of the long distance runner.â But no more. To improve your running, get less alone in every way possible. At Run to the Finish. [More.]( You can start running late, and still achieve top times I wonât claim to understand machine learning. I always thought you needed to connect two points before you could draw a line. This paper does it with just one point, and claims to be more accurate than the many previous performance-decline tables The senior author, Bergita Danse, told me sheâs a discus, javelin, and shot thrower who competed in the 2017 European Masters Championships. She and her colleagues performed their big-data analysis with the help of a Swedish Athletics database including more than 83,000 performances dating back to 1901. Who knew? The most important finding, according to Danse: Runners who started late in life could achieve top performances that would decline little in subsequent years. âThis means it is a great idea to start exercising, even for older individuals.â At GeroScience. [More.]( Regular exercise decreases telomere shortening. Which can âextend health-span.â Telomeres âprotect genomic stability,â a good thing. When telomeres get shorter, thatâs considered âone of the hallmarks of aging.â Aging can also be a good thing, if you increase wisdom. But, you know, all in all, Iâd rather not. Thatâs where regular running comes into play. In a meta-analysis and systematic review of âhuman and rodent trials,â exercise was found to increase a substance called âTERT,â which in turn acts to decrease telomere shortening. âThese findings suggest exercise training as an inexpensive lifestyle factor that ⦠can ultimately extend health-span and longevity.â at Ageing Research Reviews. [More.]( How adolescent runners can get strong bones The military has a problem with bone injuries similar to what often happens with teenage runners. If recruits get injured, as they often do in basic training, it costs the Army time, money, and potential dropouts from service. Here, U.S. and British military researchers investigated strategies âto promote adaptive bone formation.â They concluded that the path to healthy, strong bones includes âadequate sleep, vitamin D, calcium, and energy availability.â At European Journal of Sports Sciences. [More.]( And how masters sprinters maintain strong bones This study looked into lower-leg bone strength of a group of male masters sprinters who continued to train hard and compete 10 years after a previous investigation. (One sprinter was still getting after it at age 85). Another group had stopped the hard stuff, switching instead to a light âendurance trainingâ program. Result? The still-sprinting group, which included strength training in their program, âmaintained or even improvedâ their bone health while the endurance group had âdecreased bone properties.â This appears to be a âUse it or lose itâ phenomenon. At J Bone & Mineral Research Plus. [More.]( SHORT STUFF you want to know Would you like to enter the worldâs most expensive (and luxurious) ultramarathon? [More.](
sauna bath improves heat adaptation and performance. [More.](
cannabidiol oil (CBD oil) found ineffective against exercise muscle damage. [More.](
High levels of omega-3s in blood linked to 5 years longer lifespan. [More.]( GREAT QUOTES MAKE GREAT TRAINING PARTNERS: âYou donât run 26 miles at 5 minutes a mile on good looks and a secret recipe." âFrank Shorter,1972 Olympic Marathon champion That's it for this week. Thanks for reading. See you next week. âAmby FORWARD TO A FRIEND [Join Outside+] Live Well. Live Active. Two yearly magazine subscriptions plus member-exclusive content from PodiumRunner and 18 Outside network brands. [JOIN OUTSIDE+]( [You are currently subscribed to PodiumRunner] You are receiving this Weekly PodiumRunner âRun Long, Run Healthyâ Newsletter because you are subscribed to PodiumRunner, which is a part of the Outside Network. [PodiumRunner Home]( | [Outside+]( Outside | 5720 Flatiron Parkway | Boulder | Colorado | 80301 | USA [Email Preferences]( | [Privacy Policy]( [PodiumRunner is an Outside brand]