Heya and welcome back to Five Things Running!

Franzbrötchen auf die Eins!

And if you don’t know what “Franzbrötchen auf die Eins!” means, then you are probably not from Hamburg. Franzbrötchen is the local pastry, literally called “french roll” and it is full of sugar and cinnamon, and ideally a bit gooey. So it’s basically full of good carbs. Some people in Hamburg just started a petition to have an official Franzbrötchen Day in Hamburg. And one runner called Aaron, who’s pictured above, tries to find the best Franzbrötchen in all of Hamburg by running to local bakeries in different parts of town. On Saturday around noon, while I was just headed into the local bookstore, a runclub led by Aaron ran by me and continued shouting “Franzbrötchen auf die Eins!”, meaning something like “french roll on number one!”. I think Run4Franz is a great idea! Somehow I had some cravings for Franzbrötchen for the rest of the day…

How was your running? I picked five articles that hopefully inspire you to run!

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Here’s this week’s Five Things Running!

Swimming Upstream: The Hard Truths of Modern Life for Endurance Athletes

The real shortcut—the only shortcut—is realising there isn’t one. To understand this as early as possible. To stop chasing hacks and start doing the work. To create an environment that pulls you toward your best instead of pushing you toward mediocrity. To take full accountability—for your sleep, your food, your stress, your choices. Most obstacles are not external; they are internal.

Next time, don’t take the car to go to the gym.

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Running From Chamonix To Marseille

There is an obvious route. The easy one. Through the valleys. As fast as possible to Marseille. And there is another route. With mountain passes. Views. Partly on some climbs of the Tour de France.

Being trail runners, it was obvious which way we wanted to go. Taking the path less traveled.

Generally, you can split the route into three major parts. The first 200km are dominated by big climbs, long descents, and short dips into civilisation. I can speak for the team that this was the part we enjoyed the most.

This Speed Project sounds so much more fun than running through the desert from LA to Las Vegas. Amazing idea to run from the Alps to the sea.

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He Wants to Climb Nearly All of America’s Tallest Peaks. In a Month.

Now, Mr. Jornet, whose 5-foot-7, 128-pound frame seems cut from igneous rock, is set to undertake one of his most astonishing challenges to date. He will attempt to summit all of the tallest peaks in the contiguous United States — a series of 60-plus mountains in Colorado, California and Washington known as the 14ers, since they each have an elevation of over 14,000 feet — while connecting them by foot and by bike.

This is insane. But of course he will do it. Kilian Jornet really is the GOAT of trail running.

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Coaching the 2025 UTMB Champions: Scott Johnston’s Focus on Muscular Endurance

In training for big, mountainous races like UTMB, Johnston has athletes hike on steep grades, slopes of 10% to 30%, either with water — which has the benefit of being able to be dumped out at the top of the hill so that athletes aren’t descending with unnecessary weight — or a weighted vest. He has his beginner athletes carry about 5% of their body weight, and elites carry 12% to 15%. For terrain-limited athletes, Johnston has them do tire-drags or stair machine sessions to target the legs, ensuring the burn in their legs is the limiter, not aerobic capacity. He also includes downhill repeats and tempo descents to build eccentric strength.

Every day is leg day, I guess.

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I Thought a Driver Was Going to Heckle Me on My Run. I’m Still Thinking About What He Said

On my run this morning, as I was shuffling down a hill with my buddy, Shane, a car pulled up to us. I could tell the driver wanted to say something, so I immediately assumed the worst. In my 10+ years of running, what often follows in this situation is an unsavory remark about my 2-inch split shorts or a condescending “Run, Forrest, run.”

But this time was different. As the black sedan pulled even to us, a man gave us a big smile and shouted, enthusiastically: “Health is wealth!”

I still don’t understand why people have to yell anything at runners, as I also don’t yell anything at pedestrians, bicyclists or car-drivers, but this sounds as if the attitude towards runners is getting better.

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Thanks to COROS for supporting this publication!

If you missed last week’s edition, you can read it here:

Five Things Running: Issue #129 Sep 1 Read full story

Now, go running!

— Nico

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