Heya and welcome back to Five Things Running!

I’m sitting on the couch and I can hardly move. Despite not running nearly enough in the last few months, I decided to run my favorite race of the year, the Adventslauf in Ratzeburg. It was the 35th year of the race and it is 26km around Lake Ratzeburg. I went to school there and until East Germany fell apart in 1989/90, the Eastern shore of the lake was not reachable for me. Then, in 1990, my then biology teacher (and avid runner) organized the race around Lake Ratzeburg on the first Advent Sunday for the first time. I wrote about this at length in Like the Wind #43.

I ran parts of the race with a guy called Michael, who was also running in the Hoka Mafate X, which got us talking about shoes, carbon plates, running over 50 and so on. Then at the halfway point, Christoph, a friend from school, closed up to me and we ran together for a while. Anyhow, I ran 10 minutes slower than last year and fell apart around kilometer 20 when I had to climb one last hill. Even though I just had to run more or less downhill and on a long flat stretch, the last 5km took a lot longer than I wanted. But I had a great time nonetheless and the hot noodle soup after the finish made most of the pain go away. Next year I’ll train and run more before the race, hopefully. When I was at home I took a long nice hot bath, so long that my wife sent one of my daughters to see if I’m still ok. I really didn’t want to leave the hot water.

Here’s this week’s Five Things Running!

Why Running Wylder’s Katie Douglas is Aiming for ‘Good Enough’

Her boutique in San Francisco’s Noe Valley is – in her words – a “retro Scandi sport” haven for people who run. The cashwrap is made from butter yellow tiles and red grout. Atop it sits a floral arrangement that Katie arranges each week, sourcing colorful blooms from a local market where she runs on her days off. The bathroom is painted in alternating green stripes, and sculptural rafia lamps cast a soft glow over the shoe wall. The mascot is an anthropomorphized croissant named Crusty drawn by a friend.

I want a running shop like this here in Hamburg. So beautiful.

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He Lost His Mind Running a 268-Mile Race. Then He Tried It Again, and Again.

Some wanted to win. Most, like Willems, simply wanted to finish. But completing the 268-mile course in the allotted time of 168 hours would be no simple feat. Starting in the town of Edale in Derbyshire, the trail ultramarathon threads the Pennine Way, a ragged seam that sews together northern England’s east and west halves. It ultimately needles just past the Scottish border. Participants would have to climb mountains that jut from the earth like knobby vertebrae, the highest being the nearly three-thousand-foot Cross Fell. Running the course takes nearly a week, even in the best conditions, and British winters are particularly unkind.

Wow, that race is really something. People who try to run this must be really determined, not just because of the 268 miles, but also because of all the training and costs involved.

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The Fitness Influencer Survival Guide–Separating Hype from Reality

Much of it comes from people with large followings, on major podcasts, or perhaps even with fancy credentials. Even if you are knowledgeable and check the backgrounds of the folks dispensing the advice, things can get confusing quickly. It’s hard to know whom to listen to.

I wanted to do what I do best: combine science, history, and real-world practice to get at what has been proven to work in the case of fitness.

If nothing else, hopefully, this guide helps you sort through the noise in fitness and demonstrates an approach to information overload.

I’m so annoyed by all the so called advice people give everywhere on social media. And I know that not everyone has the time or desire to fact check everything. This is a good primer.

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Running has an over-consumption problem

In the past week alone, I have received a dozen emails from The Feed. The Open Fuel founder, Andrew, and I have a bit of a game where we send each other screenshots of misleading nutrition claims or whack ads that come across our radar. A few examples:

“This supplement combo has made athletes faster this year without changing their routines.”

“The Ketone Shift: From Elite Secret to Everyday Edge”

“Convert fatigue into fuel with this athlete-derived probiotic”

“I can help you sleep better”

“The not-so-scandalous way to instantly go faster”

“The cleanest electrolytes you can find”

For the most part, these subject lines are innocuous, even a bit cartoonish. The rub is, there are hundreds of these emails and ads, each claiming that the product is the best thing since sliced bread. Add this one thing to your routine and you can get better without doing any additional work.

I opted out of most of these kind of emails a long time ago, because for me it honestly doesn’t make a difference if I buy the absolutely best stuff or just some average gel. It’s all just sugar, anyhow. And I really want to start mixing my own gels and finally stop producing so much waste.

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My Year of Reluctant Learning

I learned, sadly, that guy friends aren’t as good at making dinner plans as they are at scheduling Sunday runs. How close friendships can begin to fray without dozens of miles to share each month. How a last-minute, “Anyone wanna grab a beer?” is actually asking a lot from a man with a family. And got to practice not taking it personally as people stopped reaching out to see how I was doing.

Mostly, I learned that not running SUCKS.
Even though I knew that before. Had learned that truth many times.
I learned it again, this time with a heavy pit of dread sitting squarely in my stomach, as, at least for a time, the question hung in my mind,
“What if I never run correctly again?”

Being injured sucks and it is mentally so challenging.

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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 #141 Nov 24 Read full story

Now, go running!

— Nico

🏃🏻‍♂️