Heya and welcome back to Five Things Running!
Christmas is over and I’m probably the only one who didn’t publish any buying guide for the runner in your life. Instead, I want to share with you what I got for Christmas. Hehe.
I got this awesome Alex Zono Trucker Cap from my oldest daughter, who bought it at a really cool running shop in Brussels called Handshake-Running.
My wife had to listen to me talking about Polartec Alpha all the time, so she decided to get the 66North Hrannar Zipneck for me, which is just a fantastic piece of running apparel! Now it just needs to get colder out there again.
This is the last Five Things Running this year, so please read up!
I think it’s safe to say that most runners aren’t chasing radical transformation. Most of us are seeking some sort of progression — or gradual improvement. We want to be better than we were. It gets our juices going to see that the effort we put in is making us stronger, steadier on the slopes, or perhaps more capable than we were before. Ok, faster too if we’re honest. But it’s not all about speed and medals. Re-calibrating in January simply gives structure to the intention to be better.
My resolution for 2026 is simple. I will just run.
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Almost every single run, there comes a point when I think to myself, I literally cannot run any more. That point shifts deeper into the run every single time, but it does always come. I’m not sure I’ll ever really be able to escape it. It’s as inevitable as death or taxes and it has the sort of grim, insisting finality of both. When the thought hits me, it feels absolute, and every single muscle in my body says time to stop then, I guess.
But, almost immediately, another thought invariably creeps into my head. It says: I bet you can keep going. And suddenly I am filled with the realisation that what I had previously considered true is not; that I spend a lot of life unaware not only of vast swathes of beauty and research that are only a book away but also of my own capabilities. Because time after time, I can keep running.
That’s the best part of running, when your mind does its thing…
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I enjoy the sort of training that leads to accumulating vert. It’s the sort of thing I can imagine myself prioritizing even more in the next few years. Beyond just stacking up numbers, what a vertically-focused year really means is putting yourself in the mountains more often. Slowing down, using poles, taking in the alpine while you ascend steep grades.
I really want to run more in the mountains.
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This design is optimized for converting downwards force to forward momentum, to the point where it would be a bit of a balancing act to stand still in them because the springs would be compressed and trying to shove you forwards. Not coincidentally jumping stilts have springs going the exact opposite direction because they’re trying to convert vertical force back into vertical force. Human physiology in naturally midway between the two but with bad springs.
Innovation doesn’t happen in a linear way, there are always ups and downs…
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It’s December. Race calendars are opening up. Lotteries are running. And I know the feeling to hit register on excitement alone.
This looks amazing. I have to do this.
That feeling when you discover a race in the Swiss Alps or the Dolomites and your heart says yes. That pull is real. I felt it twice, apparently.
But here’s the thing: excitement is not a training plan.
I knew it. Excitement was always my strongest trait, but apparently that is not enough.
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Thanks to COROS for supporting this publication!
If you missed last week’s edition, you can read it here:
Now, go running!
— Nico
🏃🏻♂️
