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1.Nike React Infinity Run 2 & ZoomX Invincible Run: First Thoughts:
Just in time for those New Year running goals that I hate referencing every time I write something in the last week of December, Nike has announced the follow-up(s) to the successful (and somewhat divisive) debut of the Nike React Infinity last January.
The two progressions of the line include its offspring, the Nike React Infinity Run 2, and the all-new Nike ZoomX Invincible Run. By the way, we’re still mourning the loss of the original Epic React, which was killed off like your favorite Netflix bought out by Disney (we miss you, Punisher).
Speaking of punishment, Nike knows that real runners get beat to hell. Some of us have a larger collection of physical therapists than Strava badges. To that end, Nike made bold promises with last year’s React Infinity, claiming the shoe had a 52% lower injury rate than those that wore the Nike Structure 22, a traditional stability shoe. Our own stability reviewer, Aldren, ran nearly 500 miles in the React Infinity with nary an injury.
Nike React Infinity Run 2
That pursuit of the Yoda healer touch has progressed with the React Infinity 2, which retains the geometry and basic components of the first version (namely the heel clip, rockered geometry, and wide forefoot). However, it also appears to upgrade the weak points on the first version. Namely, the heel slippage. With a more structured heel counter and plushness in the collar, it appears that this version will cater to those who had issues in version 1 (it was one of our biggest complaints).
More...from Believe in the Run.
2. Running with a cold - should you go running when you're sick?:
When to run and when to take a break.
Some health care professionals suggest using the 'neck rule' when deciding whether to run or not when you're suffering with a cold. Symptoms involving the neck and below - sore throat, cough, chest congestion, bronchial infections, body aches, chills, vomiting, diarrhoea or swollen glands - require time off from running. Symptoms above the neck - a runny nose, stuffiness, or sneezing - generally don’t require time off.
Should you go running when you've got a cold?
Though it’s not an exact science, running can even help with some cold symptoms because exercise releases adrenaline, also called epinephrine, which is a natural decongestant. This is why a run can clear out nasal passages. If you decide to run, keep the pace easy and stick to shorter distances.
These runs should be about maintaining your fitness while sick, not about improving it. Watch for dizziness, nausea, elevated heart rate or abnormal sweating and stop running immediately if you experience any of these symptoms.
More...from Runner's World UK.
3. 4 Workout Rules to Break This Year:
To better push your limits, try swearing off some of your most familiar crutches now and then.
As a New Year full of fresh challenges and big, juicy goals prepares to unfurl before us, you’ve got plans. Maybe you’ve just unwrapped some new fitness gear; maybe you’ve picked up some new ideas on how to push your limits to a new level. That’s awesome. But when it comes to freshening up your workout routine, subtraction can be as powerful as addition. Simplify, simplify—and you may find you end up with a clearer sense of what really matters.
Here are four ingredients to drop, at least occasionally, from your endurance workouts this year.
Fuel
I started thinking about this topic during a recent interview with Carmichael Training Systems coach Adam Pulford. He asked me what advice I had for athletes on how to start figuring out their fueling for long runs and training sessions. The answer that immediately popped to my mind, somewhat to my surprise, was: nothing. As in, before you start worrying about gel choice and drink concentration and feeding frequency, figure out what it feels like to run or ride for a few hours with no fuel.
Sweat Science on Outside Online.
4. How understanding your motivation can drive your performance:
What’s really motivating you to perform? It's a question that's particularly relevant at the moment as our motivation for training has been tested by the pandemic and the restrictions imposed on how we'd normally approach our exercise.
Understanding what motivates you is a crucial component of performing well, and when it comes to what motivates you in competitive situations, there are two aspects of personality that are worth exploring: a Need for Achievement (NA) and a Fear of Failure (FF).
NA refers to how naturally competitive we are and how we actively seek out challenges in our sport.
FF explains the way we perceive the possibility of defeat. None of us enjoy losing and sport in general is highly achievement oriented, yet for some, the thought of defeat is more damaging than for others.
Many see defeat as ‘failure’ which results in self-doubt and can affect self-esteem (so is personally damaging and a reflection of our ability). This in turn, can bring on a sense of hopelessness, and have a negative impact on motivation.
Precision Hydration.
5. What’s making athletes faster, better, stronger: David Epstein at TED2014:
The Olympic motto is "Citius, Altius, Fortius," or, in English, "Faster, higher, stronger." And as sports science reporter David Epstein points out from the TED2014 stage, “Athletes have fulfilled that motto — and they’ve done so rapidly.”
Epstein investigates why it is that, year upon year, runners, swimmers, gymnasts, basketball players and so many others are able to push their sports to new levels. Epstein says that it comes down to three factors: changing technology, changing genes and changing mindsets.
Epstein, the author of the book The Sports Gene, starts by taking a look at runners. The winner of the 2012 Olympic marathon would have beat the winner of the marathon of the 1904 Olympic marathon by more than 1 hour and 20 minutes. Similarly, at last year’s World Championships, 100-meter-dasher Usain Bolt beat the world record set by Jesse Owens in 1936 by 14 feet. But much of the difference in these records comes down to technology. While Owens ran on cinders, and had to dig a hole with a trowel to use for the start of the race, Bolt and his contemporaries run on carpet specifically designed to help them go as fast as possible, and start races from well-engineered starting blocks. Take those technologies away, and Epstein says that Bolt and Owens would have been within a single stride of each other at the finish line. Similarly, while Sir Roger Bannister became the first man in the world to run the mile under four minutes in 1954, last year 1,314 runners did that. But running on cinders is 1.5 percent slower than running on a modern track. Account for that, and about half of those runners are no longer under the 4-minute mark.
More...from TED Blog.
6. USask study shows mask wearing doesn’t affect oxygen intake during a workout:
Research done at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) has found wearing a mask doesn’t affect a person’s ability to breath while they exercise vigorously.
Physically-fit and active participants featuring seven men and seven woman each rode a stationary bike three times until they reached the exhaustion — once with no mask, the other two with a surgical mask and a three-ply cloth mask.
Their diet, physical activity and sleep were controlled 24 hours before the test.
All participants did a warm up ride and had their heart rates monitored through each test, usually ranging between six to twelve minutes while getting gradually tougher.
More...from Global News.
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