Innehållsförteckning för Issue 4 2023 från Runner's World

pg.58 Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop To me, the New York City Marathon is more than just a race, it’s a yearly celebration of the NYC running community that brings all kinds of runners together from across the five boroughs and around the world. I first ran NYC in 2017, and it was unforgettable. Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn was electric; and the silent climb over the Queensboro Bridge, descending into roaring Manhattan crowds, was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Harlem crowds gave me a boost as I approached the Fifth Avenue stretch into the Central Park finish. I ran a perfect race that day and said, “It can’t get any better than that!” For this photo essay, I wanted to work with NYC Marathon legends who have conquered that course year…

I’m sure you’ve heard about the value of positive self-talk. But did you know that switching the point of view can make a difference? During tough track intervals, I’ve been trying out something called linguistic zooming, which is when you use the second- or third-person point of view to talk to yourself. This creates distance between yourself and the stress you encounter. So instead of saying, “I’m crushing this run. I’m gonna be done before I know it,” I’ll say, “Theo is crushing this run. He’s gonna be done before he knows it.” It’s a little weird at first, but it helps. And if I’m feeling brave, I’ll even talk to myself out loud. I love trying out these cognitive tricks—there’s literally no downside!…

A few years ago, I was caught in a torrential downpour while listening to “The Hero” theme song from the anime series One Punch Man. It reminded me of how my passion for running came from being a gamer, and suddenly I was in love with running in the rain. Why? Because running is exactly like gaming. In a game, you often encounter enemies when you’re tired of battles/hills, down to your last potion, and ready to rest and heal/head home and drink a protein shake. But face them and you get experience points (EXP) and rewards like weapons and armor. How is pressing on in bad weather or tough terrain any different? It isn’t.…

FEBRUARY 18, 2023. Albuquerque, New Mexico. Nikki Hiltz is on the starting line of the women’s 1500m at the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships, struggling to concentrate. Hiltz is under a lot of pressure, most of it self-inflicted. They’d shown up to the meet toggling between two states of mind: really wanting to win, and wondering why they were even there. Still frustrated after a seventh-place finish at the Millrose Games the week before, despite a solid pace—4:24.68—Hiltz is trying to forget about last week and get their head in the game. Don’t focus on what the number on the clock will read when you cross the finish line, just race. The group goes out slowly, which means that the last couple of laps will be fast. Hiltz closes the…

BUILD A BASE ▶ If she had to do it over again, Erin says she wouldn’t go the couchto-42K route. Building a base level of strength throughout your whole body makes you way less prone to injuries, and having some core strength helps with stability. OUTSOURCE COACHING ▶ As a beginner with no professional aspirations, it might feel silly to enlist a coach, but doing so can help enormously when you’re a busy recreational runner. For Erin, navigating the often conflicting world of training advice on the internet felt like yet another project—one she didn’t have time for as a mom of three. Her coach, Alysha Flynn, gave her a plan and helped with things like fueling and hydration. NEVER THINK WALKING DOESN’T COUNT ▶ Erin recalls seeing a pacing…

PRICE: $250 | TYPE: Road Racing | WEIGHT: 7.7 oz (M), 6.3 oz (W)| DROP: 5 mm THE RELEASE OF Hoka’s Rocket X 2 had me take pause and calculate in my head how long ago it was when we tested its predecessor. When the original Rocket X came onto our radar, it was a historical B.C. (before COVID) moment: Hoka-sponsored elite runner Aliphine Tuliamuk crossed the finish in first place at the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta. As all eyes were on her, ours were focused on her shoes. The Rocket X had launched. We covered the brand’s earlier effort, the Carbon X, when it was released in 2019. Our writer wrote at the top of his review: “It’s curiously difficult to nail down what this shoe is…

Push yourself further with a Runner’s World+ All Access Membership. We rounded up all of the tools you need to reach your personal best, including unlimited access to RunnersWorld.com and all RW training plans, a weekly newsletter, and a direct line to the experts. Plus, Runner’s World+ members enjoy exclusive deals and opportunities to test gear and be featured in the magazine! Join today for less than 60c/week ENJOY ALL THE MEMBERS-ONLY BENEFITS OF RUNNER’S WORLD+ INCLUDING: Unlimited access to digital content including all Runner’s World training plans (a $260 value!) and live workouts with RW coaches Exclusive newsletter with the latest training tips, gear picks, and personal recommendations from running experts Another year of Runner’s World Magazine delivered right to your door Members-only deals from your favorite brands and…

Take a quick rest, catch your breath, inhale and exhale deeply for a few breaths, do a little scream if you need to, and then tell yourself this: You’ve made the commitment to get out there. How are you going to feel later today if you throw in the towel now? Will your future self like your decision to quit when the going gets tough? No? Then just go! Change the narrative and start daydreaming about how good you’ll feel when you’re finished with the run and attack the rest of the run like it’s your only job in the world. Outrun the voice that tells you to quit. Not every run is going to feel amazing, but you’ll feel amazing at the end of the day knowing that you…

When training for my first half marathon, I was scared and doubted I could do it. This is what my trainer suggested after one training session: If I get to the point when I feel like quitting, I should stop, breathe, and instead of looking at the finish line, focus on the step in front of me and do what I can to make it the best step possible. We talked about setting points ahead to run toward to give myself smaller challenges. This advice has helped me get through seven marathons, including the time when I cussed my way up the San Francisco hills. So here I am, making those little goals, focusing on making my each next step the best step possible.…

YOU SLEPT EIGHT hours, snuck in an early run, and made time to meditate before jumping on your first Zoom call. Still, your brain feels fuzzy all morning. By the time afternoon hits, you’re ready for a long, hard nap. What gives? Though many factors can influence energy levels, perhaps one of the biggest (and most understated) is your diet, including what you nosh on, how much, and when. “Everything that we eat can impact how we feel and what we’re able to do throughout the day,” says Amity Lui, MS, RD, a New York City–based sports dietitian who works with runners. High-quality fueling can mean the difference between navigating life in a fog and consistently crushing your days. Good nutrition can also better your running and overall health, allowing…

Jack Pinho desperately dove across the finish line, knowing that if he didn’t do so, he’d probably regret it for the rest of his life. The 26-year-old had been gunning for a sub-4:00 mile since he graduated college in 2018. Lifting himself off the synthetic carpet-like surface, he stared at the scoreboard, the next 10 seconds feeling longer than the race itself. When his name finally appeared next to 3:59.54, he tossed his hands in the air. “I’ve seen people do it so many times,” he says. “But now, it was finally me that was on that board.” Pinho was the very last man to break the 4:00 barrier that night, February 11, at the Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational. Fifty-one men had already done so that day—a number…

Experts weigh in on how to structure your rest days to harness recovery and get the most out of your running. GO OUTSIDE FIRST THING IN THE MORN- ING. / After you wake up, head outdoors for at least 15 minutes. Ultraviolet light neurologically triggers the timing of cortisol and melatonin release, which are hormones that influence our sleeping patterns, says Andrew Huberman, PhD, an associate professor of neurobiology and psychiatry at Stanford University. “Going outside for the light is better than sitting by a window,” according to Huberman, “because glass filters out some of the ultraviolet light that assists the clock-setting.” Sunlight helps regulate your circadian clock, facilitating a more natural sleep process instead of relying on something like melatonin supplements—which may help you fall asleep faster, but won’t necessarily…

PRICE: $190 | TYPE: Road Racing | WEIGHT: 9.6 oz (M), 7.7 oz (W) | DROP: 7.7 mm (M), 9.4 mm (W) THE SPEED BEAST has a design that harkens back to 2018, when the featherweight Razor was released with big blocky letters plastered down the side. That shoe truly was zippy and won our hearts. So, is the Speed Beast a super shoe version of that? Well, not so much. By comparison, this shoe is a tank. In fact, it’s among the heaviest Skechers shoes I’ve worn. I’ve tested 47 different Skechers running shoes since 2012, and only three in that time have weighed more than this racer—two of those had the word “Ultra” in their names. That’s not entirely a bad thing. The Speed Beast isn’t designed to…

PRICE: $110 | TYPE: Neutral Road | WEIGHT: 9.1 oz (M), 7.4 oz (W) | DROP: 8 mm WITH THE STANDARD training shoe priced at $160, great running shoes that cost between $100 and $120 are true unicorns in today’s world. Since its release almost five years ago, the Floatride Energy line has stood firm as the low-priced running shoe with premium value. Five years ago, when I was new on the RW team, director of product testing Jeff Dengate raved about Reebok’s Floatride Run Fast. Fellow test editor Morgan Petruny ran her first marathon in it. On our group runs we looked like a motley crew of wannabe Reebok-sponsored runners, laced up in the shoe that would eventually earn Gear of the Year honors. The Floatride Run Fast was…

FEEL LIKE QUITTING YOUR RUN? There are various reasons to want to quit a dreadful run: The weather conditions may not be in your favor, maybe you didn’t get enough sleep, or perhaps you’re sore from previous workouts and now feel sluggish. You know your body is capable of finishing—you’ve been here before—but your brain is just not on board. Unless you’re physically hurt (in which case, you should stop immediately), it’s time to pull some serious motivational self-talk from deep inside your pockets to get in the final miles. What else helps? Knowing that you’re not alone. It happens to most runners, including Runner’s World staffers and RW+ members alike. They have bad days as well but also their own tricks to turn them around. Here are some of…

WHETHER YOU’RE LACING up your shoes for a 5K or gearing up for a longer endurance race, if you want to get faster, you have to do both longer runs and speedwork sessions to train your aerobic and anaerobic systems. But for the biggest speed gains, you should also look beyond your cardiovascular fitness and work your…posture? “People often think of running as a lower-body sport, but running is everything going on between your ears and everywhere below,” says Anh Bui, DPT, CSCS, a former collegiate runner, physical therapist, and biomechanics specialist in Oakland, California. While you probably can’t (and shouldn’t) transform your running form into the stride of, say, Olympians on the podium, you can incorporate tweaks to make your mechanics more ideal for you. And that can help…

THE MYTH “THERE’S A POSTWORKOUT NUTRITIONAL RECOVERY WINDOW.” FACT Unless you’re going to exercise again right away, it’s okay to wait until your next meal to eat. | The notion that there’s only a short period of time to replenish the energy depleted during a workout or else your recovery will be ruined is simply not true, says Louise Burke, PhD, a sports nutrition scientist at Australian Catholic University. “Your body doesn’t have a clock ticking that says, ‘Oh, you’re over the 30-minute window.’” In the rare instance when you’re in the middle of repeated, hard efforts without much time in between—say, a track meet where you’ll be doing multiple heats on the same day—then timing out your nutrition matters. And yes, you need carbs and protein after a run.…

NEW BALANCE FUELCELL PROPEL V4 PRICE: $110 | TYPE: Neutral Road | WEIGHT: 9.9 oz (M), 8.4 oz (W) | DROP: 6 mm WHEN IT COMES to midsole plates, carbon fiber is your lightest and stiffest option. That’s why shoe designers use the material in their fastest super shoes for race day. But you don’t really need that extra sizzle for every mile and workout the rest of the week. For those runs, we’ll reach for a shoe like the Propel with a TPU (thermoplastic elastomer polyurethane) midsole plate. It adds a little extra pep and gets you accustomed to the experience of running in a plated shoe, but feels less aggressive. It fits the bill if you want to trade some rigidity for more softness and flex underfoot. Shoes…

PRICE: $150 | TYPE: Trail | WEIGHT: 10.5 oz (M), 8.6 oz (W) | DROP: 5 mm YOU’VE NEVER RUN in—or heard of—an Asics trail shoe? No worries if you’re late to the party. The brand’s trail models have been around for years, but they don’t generate the same hype as Asics’s road line. But that could change. The company has been quietly polishing its trail models, enough to hang with the likes of established Salomons and Hokas. Of course, the Cumuluses and MetaSpeeds continue to shine in the Asics hall of fame. But it’s possible they’ll need to share the spotlight with newcomers like the Trabuco Max. Runners, especially those just starting out off-road, want trail shoes that feel like their bouncy road trainers—but with a little more…

PRICE: $140 | TYPE: Trail | WEIGHT: 10.3 oz (M), 8.9 oz (W) | DROP: 8 mm IT’S EASY TO look at the Sense Ride 5 and wonder what’s so special about it. Compared to trail shoes that have been modernized with a variety of plates, rockers, super foams, and high-tech minimal uppers, this everyday Salomon seems incredibly simple. Even with the latest updates, the fifth version still closely resembles the original. But as soon as you lace it up and hit the trails, that simplicity quickly becomes the highlight. As I’m testing new shoes, whenever I go back to the Sense Ride 5, I often have a moment in the middle of my run when I realize just how little I have thought about the shoe being on my…

HEATHER MAYER IRVINE IN MY TWO decades of running, I’ve worn a cap just a handful of times, to protect my face from the elements: the hot sun on an exposed marathon course or pelting rain. (In the winter, I break out my knit pompom hat for nearly every workout.) Some runners, though, including our own test editor, Amanda Furrer, don a running cap all of the time, and she’s starting to convert me. “As I started getting older, I realized skin care is really important, and hats add an extra layer of protection to sunscreen,” Furrer says. “Plus, they keep flyaway hairs back better than most headbands I’ve tried.” To get the most out of any running accessory—and enhance the experience—there’s certain criteria that should meet the wearer’s needs.…