g jrj5fty

FLEXIBILITY VS MOBILITY —and How to Gain Both

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IT’S THE BEST WAY TO GET AND STAY STRONG, HEALTHY, FIT & FAST

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How to Choose the BEST HYDRATION PACK

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See What’s Up With RUNNER’S WORLD+ MEMBERS

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PLUS

4 WAY S COACH JESS GE T S FAS T ER P. 2 2

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← Runner’s World test editor Amanda Furrer puts the Polar H10 through a workout.

TIME HEALS ALL WOUNDS

LOVE BREAKS ALL BARRIERS AND SPEED

DOES NOT

D I S C R I M I N AT E

WHY DO YOU RUN?

® SPOTIFY and the Spotify logo are among the registered trademarks of Spotify AB. © 2021 Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries.

VOL . 56 NO.4

HELPFUL TIPS, E X P E R T A DV I C E , S M A R T TA K E S , & PROFOUND

FE AT U R E S

( I F S L I G H T LY OVE R - O B S E S S IVE) RUNNING WISDOM

P.2 Road-tested advice from

RW+ members and Runners

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DOES ALIPHINE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION NOW?

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LILLIAN GREENECHAMBERLAIN’S LIFETIME OF RUNNING

New mother and crocheting Etsy goddess Tuliamuk is a shark on the racecourse. Meet one of our favorite marathoners on the threshold of the Olympics.

By Andrew Lawrence

Alliance ambassadors. // P.8 Pat Heine’s FKT. // P.10 Molly Ritterbeck on #sexypace. // P.12 Summer mountain

48

HEART-RATE DATA COULD CHANGE THE WAY YOU TRAIN

58

THE NAVAJO ULTRARUNNER AND THE PUP WHO SAVED HIM

How to test, track, and use the numbers to maximize your workouts and achieve a new level of running fitness.

By Emilia Benton

shoes, with Alexander Forseth. // P.14 Linda Sadler’s advice for newbies. // P.16 How to become a RW shoe tester, by Jeff Dengate. // P.18 Mobility vs. flexibility, by

A Q&A with the barrier-breaking champion: “I can’t solve the problems when I’m running, but I can determine the way I allow them to affect me.”

Interview by Elizabeth Okosun

Jessica Migala. // P.22 Define fast, with Coach Jess. // P.24 Jason Fitzgerald explains the 10-day training cycle. // P.26

Meet the resilient Eli Neztsosie and his irrepressible running companion, a border collie named Tractor.

By Jared Beasley

Claire Green on leading talks about justice. // P.30 Up your mental game, with Becky Wade. // P.32 Using a food log, by Elizabeth Millard.

S HO E S

// P.34 Stay motivated, with Coach PJ. // P.36 RW+ member Amani Terrell sets an example. // P.79 What to Wear: hydration packs. // P.82 Tester Notes: earbuds,

69 → Asics MetaSpeed Sky: This Vaporfly derivative has mad speed, but is it right for you?

71 → Nike ZoomX Invincible Run Flyknit: Designed for injury prevention, with “bottomless softness.”

73 → New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro v6: A bouncy, eco-friendly trailer best for runs on consistent terrain.

74 → Altra Superior 5: A stone guard and “burrito tongue” prime this shoe for off-road racing.

77 → Brooks Ricochet 3: An overhaul makes it more energetic and breathable than past versions.

waterproof jackets. // P.84 Club Notes! // P.88 Memo’s race for U.S. citizenship.

ON THE COVER:

AMANDA FURRER PHOTOGRAPHED BY TREVOR RAAB AT LAFAYETTE COLLEGE METZGAR FIELDS ATHLETIC COMPLEX

RUNNER’S WORLD (ISSN 0897-1706) VOL. 56, NO. 4 IS PUBLISHED BIMONTHLY, 6 TIMES A YEAR, BY HEARST, 300 W. 57 TH ST., NY, NY 10019 USA. STEVEN R. SWARTZ, PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER; WILLIAM R. HEARST III, CHAIRMAN; FRANK A. BENNACK, JR., EXECUTIVE VICE CHAIRMAN; MARK ALDAM, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER. HEARST MAGAZINES, INC: DEBI CHIRICHELL A, PRESIDENT AND TREASURER, HEARST MAGAZINE GROUP; K ATE LEWIS, CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER; KRISTEN M. O’HARA, CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER; CATHERINE A. BOSTRON, SECRETARY. COPYRIGHT 2021 BY HEARST MAGAZINES, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. RUNNER’S WORLD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF HEARST MAGAZINES, INC. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT NEW YORK, NY, AND AT ADDITIONAL MAILING OFFICES. IN CANADA: POSTAGE PAID AT GATEWAY, MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO; CANADA POST PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT NUMBER 40012499. GST #R122988611. POSTMASTER: SEND ALL UA A TO CFS. (SEE DMM 507.1.5.2); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: SEND ADDRESS CORRECTIONS TO RUNNER’S WORLD CUSTOMER SERVICE, P.O. BOX 6000, HARL AN, IA 51593-1500. MAILING LISTS: FROM TIME TO TIME WE MAKE OUR SUBSCRIBER LIST AVAIL ABLE TO COMPANIES THAT SELL GOODS AND SERVICES BY MAIL THAT WE BELIEVE WOULD INTEREST OUR READERS. IF YOU WOULD RATHER NOT RECEIVE SUCH MAILINGS BY POSTAL MAIL, PLEASE SEND YOUR CURRENT MAILING L ABEL OR EX ACT COPY TO: RUNNER’S WORLD, MAIL PREFERENCE CENTER, P.O. BOX 6000, HARL AN, IA 51593-1500. YOU CAN ALSO VISIT PREFERENCES.HEARSTMAGS.COM TO MANAGE YOUR PREFERENCES AND OPT OUT OF RECEIVING MARKETING OFFERS BY MAIL. CUSTOMER SERVICE: VISIT SERVICE. RUNNERSWORLD.COM OR WRITE TO RUNNER’S WORLD CUSTOMER SERVICE, P.O. BOX 6000, HARL AN, IA 51593-1500.

R U NNER SWO R LD.COM

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Inside Knowledge WE BEGGED SOME OF THIS ISSUE’S COOLEST RUNNERS FOR THEIR BEST ADVICE

AMANI TERRELL RW+ Member, p.36 To run faster, you’ve got to run slow. When I first started running, I would do all of my runs at the same (too fast) pace and ended up not only getting injured but also not getting much faster. Now I do most of my runs at an easy pace and have had significant improvement in my speed and endurance. ALSO: Set your own personal goals and stop trying to compare yourself to other runners.

There’s always someone faster or slower, and getting hung up on comparisons sucks the joy out of running.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY COOPER NEILL

Inside Knowledge WE BEGGED SOME OF THIS ISSUE’S COOLEST RUNNERS FOR THEIR BEST ADVICE

KYLIE RODRIGUEZ Heart-Rate Training, p.48

I don’t really eat much before I run, but after, I love something cool, refreshing, and filling. I usually make myself a delicious açai bowl with lots of fresh fruit and, of course, peanut butter.

AL SO: When I run, I literally talk to myself!

I cheer myself on and say, “You are Kylie Rodriguez—you got this!”

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PHOTOGRAPH BY TREVOR RAAB

PLANT PROTEIN NUT Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez

PLANT PROTEIN NUT W

Inside Knowledge WE BEGGED SOME OF THIS ISSUE’S COOLEST RUNNERS FOR THEIR BEST ADVICE

BERNARD ENGLAND Heart-Rate Training, p.48

Since my Garmin Fenix 3 doesn’t track cadence on its own, I pair it with the Garmin Foot Pod. Using this has allowed me to really focus on tracking progress on key problems of mine: increasing my stride length with overall flexibility and keeping a consistent cadence by working on hip mobility and strength. ALSO: My high school cross-country coach used to tell me, “Once you believe that you’re the best runner on the course, you will be.”

To this day I still hear her voice whenever long tempo runs get challenging. She always tried to relay the message that the best runners not only harness their full physical capabilities, but they also practice becoming mentally stronger throughout training.

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My Running Life

Jeff Dengate RUNNER-IN-CHIEF

E X P E R T H AC K S, G E A R R E C S & RUN -T E S T E D W I S D O M F R O M O UR S TA F F

Matt Allyn Features Director; Christine Anderson Executive

Director of Commerce & Content Strategy; Brian Dalek Director of Content Operations; Leah Flickinger

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DESIGN + PHOTO Amy Wolff Photo Director; Colin McSherry Senior Art Director; Alyse Markel Art Director; Eleni Arpino Senior Designer; Ash Bartholomew Digital Designer; Kristen Parker Photo Editor; John Hamilton Associate Photo

Editor EDITORIAL

PAT H E I N E V I D E O PRO D UCE R I D O N ’ T E V E N LI KE TO DRI VE A S FAR A S I RUN

IF IT’S GOOD ENOUGH FOR BABIES Use diaper-rash ointment to prevent chafing. It costs less than a lot of anti-chafe products, stays on well while sweating, and heck, if it’s good enough for someone to use on their baby, it’s good enough for me.

RACE-DAY RITUAL

I always take a shower right before every race. I know I’ll end up gross and sweaty, so I start clean to feel fresh on the starting line and (hopefully!) run faster.

1 / Salomon Ultra Glide $140 This new maxcushion trail shoe is so comfortable and stable that the first time I wore them, I kept them on for 75 miles.

2 / Garmin Enduro Watch $900 On a recent 327-mile FKT run, this was dead-on for distance, and I only needed to recharge it once over six days.

3 / Gu Roctane Drink Mix $30 for 12 servings I’m a very salty sweater.

The extra concentration and calories of Roctane has finally made summer miles tolerable.

On the Bucket List I love running races in Europe, and my next big overseas goal is the SwissPeaks 360, a pointto-point 220-mile race across the Swiss Alps. Not only do you traverse most of the country, but you start in German-speaking Switzerland and finish in French-speaking country.

I can’t imagine a more unique race!

TEST TEAM Will Egensteiner, Jennifer Sherry Associate Test Directors; Jeff Dengate, Matt Phillips, Tara Seplavy Senior Test Editors; Roy Berendsohn, Dan Chabonov, Adrienne Donica, Brad Ford, Amanda Furrer, Morgan Petruny Test Editors; Lakota Gambill, Trevor Raab Photographers; Joël Nankman Logistician VIDEO Josh Wolff Director; Jimmy Cavalieri Production Manager; Pat Heine, David Monk

Producers CONTRIBUTORS John Brant, Amby Burfoot, Sarah Lorge Butler, Scott Douglas, Selene Yeager

Greatest Run of My Life...

While travel wasn’t very possible this past spring, I set a new fastest known time on the 327-mile Mid State Trail in Pennsylvania. It was an amazing adventure with amazing support from the local trail-running scene, including the previous FKT holder. I saw parts of my own state that I would’ve otherwise never set foot in.

FAVORITE WAY TO CROSS-TRAIN

...HARDEST RUNS OF MY LIFE

After a long race season, I like to take the winter off.

There aren’t many races happening anyway, so it’s nice to focus on other hobbies. Cross-country skiing gives me a nice, wintry cardio outlet right outside my front door, and alpine ski touring lets me haul extra weight around the mountains, building muscle while staying out of the gym.

Any 5K I line up for takes such a different strategy from the long ultramarathons I’m used to. Every step is a fight to keep myself from settling into my usual “all-day efficiency” pace.

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My Running Life E X P E R T H AC K S, G E A R R E C S & RUN -T E S T E D W I S D O M F R O M O UR S TA F F

Paul Collins PUBLISHER / CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER SALES & MARKETING OFFICES

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@molritt

1 / Lululemon Enlite Bra $98 So comfortable and supportive without being too snug. You forget you’re even wearing it, which is all you can ask for, really.

2 / Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Sunscreen SPF 30 $11 I never run without SPF. This one is lightweight, doesn’t sting, and blends in evenly.

H E ALT H & F I TNE S S DI RE CTO R WO R L D ’ S B I GGE ST FAN O F # SE X Y PACE

“Slow” Is a 4-Letter Word I wish runners would stop hedging and selfdeprecating so much. It took me a long time to own my running abilities and feel deeply proud of my accomplishments, regardless of how they stack up to others’. I love promoting “sexy pace” because it’s positive and fun—and it always makes people smile. If you run, you’re a runner. Doesn’t matter how fast. No one is a slow runner. Some are just sexier than others.

FAVE WAY TO CROSS-TRAIN

Bikes! Cycling completely transformed my running performance. I prefer to cross-train outdoors, but most days, I end up on my Peloton.

CA N’ T R ACE BE F O R E . . .

Coffee and a NYC bagel— always (even if I have to bring one with me).

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Karen Ferber Business Manager; Paul Baumeister Research Director; Alison Papalia Executive Director, Consumer Marketing; Trevor Czak Business Coordinator; Mike Ruemmler Production Manager, michael. ruemmler@pubworx.com

3 / Nike Zoom Fly 3 $150 I’m fortunate to have tested many shoes for my job, and I love this pair so much. They have just the right amount of plush cushioning, but still feel snappy, light, and fast.

A N O T E O N # S E X Y PA C E A lot of people think they hate running because they don’t know the right way to run. You don’t actually hate running; you just hate suffering while you run. So dial it back! Get sexy. Then get even sexier. You can even runwalk if you want to! One of my favorite coaches used to say, “How easy can you make it feel?” If you dial it back a little, I guarantee, with some time and practice, it’ll click, and you’ll fall head over heels in love with running.

GREATEST RUNS OF MY LIFE The local loops near my home in New York City are the least interesting, but dearest to me.

GO-TO RECOVERY ROUTINE I take in some carbs/protein (3:1 ratio) as soon as possible, stretch, massage with my Hyperice gun, then shower (and sometimes, a beer).

MEN’S ENTHUSIAST GROUP

ADVICE FOR NEW RUNNERS Overcommunicate.

I’ve been thrown into many situations in which no one communicates and suddenly, I’m running someone else’s workout. I learned to be clear about the workout and how I intend to execute it. The last thing you want is to set out for an easy 5K and end up running a five-mile tempo run you weren’t prepared for. Also: It’s OK to never want to run a marathon.

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My Running Life E X P E R T H AC K S, G E A R R E C S & RUN -T E S T E D W I S D O M F R O M R W+

WHAT AN INJURY TAUGHT ME

RUNNER’S WORLD+ MEMBER

ALEXANDER FORSETH, 26 LOV E L AN D, C O LO R ADO N E V E R G I V E UP

HARDEST— TURNED GREATEST—RACE OF MY LIFE My most difficult run ever was my first 10K, Bolder Boulder. I wasn’t prepared and thought it wouldn’t be much harder than a 5K. I was so wrong. But my second 10K, Bolder Boulder a year later, became my greatest run. I felt like I glided through the first four miles, and even finished with a 4-minute PR!

I started running for soccer in high school, but my dad nudged me into trying indoor track as a 400m runner.

I ended up switching to distance and discovered that I really enjoyed it.

SWI F T OR ST RONG? Strong. I’ve never really had a lot of speed while running, but I definitely have some endurance that helps out in longer races.

FAVE RUNNING ACHIEVEMENT My high school puts up plaques of All-State athletes in the gym hallway. When I was a freshman, I told myself I would end up there—and I did!

I finished 8th in the Wyoming state crosscountry championship.

A PIECE OF ADVICE DREAM RUNNING PARTNER Molly Seidel. She is a complete badass while keeping a great sense of humor on Strava.

GO-TO SUMMERTIME GEAR My Altra Lone Peaks.

I don’t often go on trails during other times of the year due to weather, so summer is when I get to hit the mountains.

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Running might be hard at first, but stick with it and your perseverance will be rewarded.

Also, do it with a friend!

MY RACE-DAY RITUAL I have a weird one. Before races, I do a little skip dance and then jump into the air, bringing my knees to my chest. It feels like a check-in to make sure I’m warmed up, and also cues my body that it’s time to race.

E n M o t i v e ( p r o f i l e) ; G e t t y I m a g e s (S e i d e l ) ; L a k o t a G a m b i l l ( A l t r a )

WHY I STARTED RUNNING

In 2018, I sustained the worst running injury of my life. While out for an easy run, my left foot suddenly felt like it “popped.” It was determined that I likely had a stress reaction. During a year-long hiatus, I reflected on what running truly means to me.

I was in a rut and grew arrogant—I wasn’t taking care of myself. I never want to take running for granted again. I entered physical therapy, and now run five times per week instead of six. I’ve also added cross- and strength-training to my routine. I don’t know if I’ll get back to where I was, or if the injury will ever fully go away, but I’m happy to get back into it!

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My Running Life E X P E R T H AC K S, G E A R R E C S & RUN -T E S T E D W I S D O M F R O M R W+

GREATEST RUNNING ACHIEVEMENTS Being more knowledgeable about the sport, becoming an RRCA-certified coach in 2014, finishing over 200 races of various distances, and placing in my age group in 60 percent of them.

INSPIRATION FROM MY SHERO My most special run/walk was the first time I attempted a distance of more than 13 miles. I joined my running “shero,” Angela Ivory, who walked 44 miles for her 44th birthday while battling breast cancer.

I accompanied her for 22 of those miles. If Angela could do this, I was going to be there with her.

RUNNER’S WORLD+ MEMBER

NA S H V I LL E , TE N N E S SE E RU N T H E MI LE YO U’RE I N

A DV I C E F O R N E W B I E S • Learn the sport and determine what works best for you. There’s more to running than just running. It also helps to join a club or a Couch-to-5K training program. My local Black Girls Run chapter has been a tremendous support for me. Pre-COVID, I’d often run one to three times a week with them—the members call me Ms. Linda!

WHY I STARTED RUNNING I’ve always wanted to be a runner.

In 2006, I watched the Rock ’n’ Roll Nashville Marathon and was amazed at the various ages, sizes, and abilities. I decided I would join this race the following year. I first signed up for the half and soon discovered that proper training and nutrition were essential to preventing injuries and achieving the best outcome. I completed this first half marathon at the age of 57. The training resulted in better weight management, flexibility, stress management, and overall well-being.

Running has been my health pill.

PR or Finish?

FAVE NASHVILLE RUNS I typically start my runs in Shelby Park. Many of the greenways in Nashville are connected so you can run from one part of the city to another. One route takes me through heavily treed areas, along and across Cumberland River, to the dam. Another route takes me through downtown and along another part of the river—I love running surrounded by nature, not cars.

MY PRERACE RITUAL Typically, a pepperoni pizza the night before.

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While I’d hoped to just finish my first marathon at the age of 62, I was amazed to discover I had placed—and the award was a 13-inch wooden guitar. Now I have two. So appropriate for Nashville: Music City.

My focus during training and running a race is on finishing, while having the most fun along the way. If a PR or podium placement happens, it’s icing on the cake.

Currently Training for...

My third New York City Marathon with my son. We completed 2016 and 2017 together. Another goal is finishing 100 half marathons—I’ve completed 80+ so far. I started out running one race a year, then ran 25 in 2019. 2020 was a bust, just five races. Simply, I want to get back to doing what I love—racing.

M a r a t h o n F o t o ( p r o f i l e) ; C o u r t e s y L i n d a S a d l e r ( g u i t a r) ; G e t t y I m a g e s (S h e l b y P a r k , p i z z a )

LINDA SADLER, 71

BEST RACEDAY BLING

Run Strong Programs

Run Faster DVD

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The Inside Lane wondered, “How can I become a shoe tester?” I bet so, given that it’s likely the most common question I receive from readers.

One way is to become a member of Runner’s World+, which is our all-access pass to the magazine and website, with expert advice from our coaches and staff. Occasionally, we’ll bring a handful of RW+ members into our wear-testing program so they can provide insight into the shoes they’re wearing. You can learn more about RW+ and sign up at runnersworld.com/plus.

The main way we recruit testers, however, is through our local running community. This spring, I overhauled our test team—many of the 300-plus runners had been with us for a decade or more. But the state of footwear has changed in that time, as we swung from minimalism to overly cushioned shoes and now on to recordsetting speed racers. So we brought on more than 100 new testers. The change made our test team a smidge faster overall, but more importantly, it gave us a more diverse pool of experienced runners, with a wide range of abilities, shapes, and backgrounds.

That’s important because it gives us far better insight for shoe reviews. Our staff testers are experts in the tech of shoes (and other gear). But it’s by putting a dozen or more pairs on a range of runners that we find out how various types of runners groove with a pair, and how and where a shoe shines brightest.

That data and feedback inform the longer, more in-depth reviews you’ll find starting with this issue. We’re reviewing fewer models in HAVE YOU EVER

each issue than in the past, but we’ve dialed in on some key styles and new releases with more highlights from our test process. (You’ll find far more shoe reviews continually being added to runnersworld.com.)

Soon we’ll be showing you even more from inside our testing process, as we set up the RW Shoe Lab at our new office in Easton, Pennsylvania. Though we recently opened the doors on the new space, we’re not yet fully operational because of the pandemic. But our team is in there setting up the machinery for the mechanical testing needed to get a read on a shoe’s cushioning, flexibility, energy return, and more. In the past, we worked with third-party labs—most recently at Penn State University—but as we look to expand our testing and capabilities, we’re bringing the whole process in-house. I look forward to sharing all the details with you soon.

Jeff Dengate Runner-in-Chief

THE DIGITS

2:00.78 Roisin Willis, of Stevens Point, WI, set a record at 800 meters for 16-year-olds, breaking the mark of the now-collegiate sensation Athing Mu.

14:47 5K time for Benjamin Pachev while wearing a pair of Crocs. He regularly trains and races in the footwear and has run a 1:11 half in them.

8:49.01 A Japanese men’s team smashed the 4×400-meters world record for the 90-plus age group by nearly four minutes in late May. It was delightful to see Matashiro Suruga lead things off from starting blocks.

W H AT I ’ M T E S T I N G

The fastest chassis remains untouched, but a new engineered-mesh upper boosts breathability compared to that of the VaporWeave, a ripstop nylon– like material, on the original.

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Lakota Gambill

Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

JUST SLIP ON your running shoes and go, right? Not so fast: The miles you log are only part of the equation. There’s also what you do before and after every run and during off days that counts. That’s where mobility and its counterpart flexibility come in to keep you moving fluidly and injury-free.

“Mobility and flexibility are often used interchangeably, which is confusing” says Lauren Schnidman, D.P.T., a certified trainer, owner of In Motion Physical Therapy in Chicago, and physical therapist who works with runners regularly. “For most people, that’s no big deal, but when talking about the mechanics and performance of running, differentiating the two makes a difference.” Here’s what you need to know to run strong.

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Mobility vs. flexibility

Flexibility Does Not Equal Mobility, But You Need Both to Run Well FROM PARK RIDGE, ILL INOIS

CREDENT IAL S 1 4 -Y E A R S A S A HE ALTH AND F I TNESS WRI TER AND RUNNER

JESSICA MIGALA 18

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BEST RUN EVER MY FIRST M A R AT H O N , WHEN I WA S 2 4 T IGHTEST SPOT HAMSTRINGS

F AV O R I T E MOBIL I T Y MOVE TOY SOLDIERS G O -T O RUNNING STRETCH PIGEON POSE

BEST GEAR FOR MOBIL I T Y N O T H I N G! AS A FORMER G Y M N A S T, I ’ M A BI T OLD-SCHOOL WI TH STRE TCHING.

P H OT O G R A P H BY DAV I D JA E WO N O H

Cour tesy Jessica Migala

Let’s break it down: Mobility is a joint’s range of motion. Two bones come together at a joint, and, as you move, the bones do, too. The more mobility you have, the more range of motion you’ll find in that joint. Take the hip joint, for example, which is a ball-and-socket joint where the ball rolls and glides as you move in different ways, explains Schnidman. If the muscles surrounding that joint are tight, that can also limit your mobility.

On the other hand, flexibility is all about the soft tissue. “Flexibility is the ability for muscles, tendons, and ligaments to lengthen in response to stress placed on them,” she says. Flexibility is often achieved through traditional stretching, while mobility is worked on through dynamic, functional movements (think: leg swings or squats).

While both mobility and flexibility are related concepts, it’s entirely possible to have one without the other. For example, the ability to touch your toes is a function of hamstring flexibility, but it says nothing about your hip mobility. Thing is, you’ll need both mobility and flexibility to perform best.

CBD FOR RUNNING PAINS Life really does fly by. Before I knew it, my 40s 30ish had arrived, and with them came some new gifts from dear ol’ Mother Nature— frequent knee pain, stress, low energy and sleeplessness. Now, I’m a realist about these things, I knew I wasn’t going to be young and springy forever. But still, with “middle-age” nearly on my doorstep, I couldn’t help but feel a little cheated. That is until I found my own secret weapon. Another gift from Mother Nature.

It began a few months back when I was complaining about my joints to my marathon-running niece, Jen. She casually mentioned how she uses CBD oil to help with her discomfort. She said that CBD gave her more focus and clarity throughout the day and that her lingering muscle and joint discomfort no longer bothered her. She even felt comfortable signing up for back-to-back marathons two weekends in a row this year.

That made even this self-proclaimed skeptic take notice. But I still had some concerns. According to one study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 70% of CBD products didn’t contain the amount of CBD stated on their labels.

And, as a consumer, that’s terrifying!

If I was going to do this, I needed to trust the source through and through. My two-fold research process naturally led me to Zebra CBD. First, I did a quick online poll—and by that, I mean I posed the CBD question on my Facebook page. Call me old fashioned but I wanted to know

if there were people whom I trusted (more than anonymous testimonials) who’ve had success using CBD besides my niece. That is how I found out that Zebra CBD has a label accuracy guarantee which assures customers like me what is stated on the label is in the product.

Secondly, I wanted cold hard facts. Diving deep into the world of CBD research and clinical studies, I came across Emily Gray M.D., a physician at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) Medical School and medical advisor for Zebra CBD who is researching the effects of CBD. Dr. Gray wrote “early results with CBD have been promising and we have a lot of research underway now. I’ve had several patients using CBD with good success.

It’s important that you know your source of CBD and how to use it properly.”

After hearing it from the doctor’s mouth, I returned to my online poll and was amazed by the number of close friends and family who were already on the CBD train. Apparently, I was the only one without a clue! And funny enough, a couple of friends who commented were using the same brand as my niece—Zebra CBD. There was no consensus as to why they were using CBD, but the top reasons given were for tension & stress, muscle & joint discomfort, mood support, sleep support, as well as supporting overall health & wellness.

Eventually, even the most skeptical of the bunch can be won over. With a trusted CBD source in

mind, I decided to give it a go.

When I viewed Zebra CBD’s selection online, I was impressed by its array of products, including CBD oils called tinctures, topicals, chewable tablets, mints and gummies. After reading on their website that all their products are made with organically-grown hemp, I ordered... and it arrived within 2 days!

The first product I tried was the rub. Now this stuff was strong. Immediately after rubbing it on my knee, the soothing effects kicked in. It had that familiar menthol cooling effect, which I personally find very relieving. And the best part is, after two weeks of using it, my knee pain no longer affected my daily mobility.

The Zebra CBD Mint Oil, on the other hand, had a different but equally positive effect on my body.

To take it, the instructions suggest holding the oil in your mouth for about 30 seconds. This was simple enough, and the mint taste was, well, minty. After about 15 minutes, a sense of calm came over my body. It's hard to describe exactly; it's definitely not a "high" feeling. It's more like an overall sense of relaxation—as if I just walked out of a spa, and now I’m ready to seize the day. Needless to say, I’ve really enjoyed the oil.

While it hasn’t been a catch-all fix to every one of my health issues, it has eased the level and frequency of my aches. And it sure doesn’t seem like a coincidence how much better I feel.

All-in-all, CBD is one of those things that you have to try for yourself. Although I was skeptical at first, I can safely say that I’m now a Zebra CBD fan and that I highly recommend their products.

Also, I managed to speak to a Zebra CBD representative and negotiate an exclusive offer. If you order this month, you’ll receive $10 off your first order by using promo code “Run10” at checkout.

You can try it yourself and order Zebra CBD at ZebraCBD.com or by calling 888-762-2699.

As you take each step, you need a certain amount of hip extension to make it happen, explains Schnidman. That requires length (or flexibility) in your hip flexors, as well as range of motion (or hip mobility) that allows the ball to glide forward in the socket so your leg can move as it should. When there’s a breakdown in this process or it’s impeded in some way, that’s when you can run into problems.

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The risks of skipping stretching and mobility Without flexibility and mobility, it’s not like you can’t run at all. You can—but in doing so, your body adopts compensatory movement patterns to make up for the deficits, notes Schnidman. This compensation then burdens other tissues with the task of operating in ways they’re not built for or overloading them in ways they can’t support. The results are often aches, strains, or injury.

Still, some tension can be beneficial, and it is possible to be too flexible or too mobile, adds Mary Kate Casey, D.P.T., of Prep Performance Center in Chicago. Problems arise if these movements aren’t offset with strength work. If you don’t build strength into your newfound range of motion, those muscles won’t stabilize in that range nor be able to withstand the workload you’re demanding of them, resulting in injuries such as hamstring strains or anterior (front) hip pain. “Without incorporating the strength piece into all of this, you will miss out on what could improve proficiency and performance and keep you injury-free,” says Casey.

In other words, as you focus on increasing mobility and flexibility, add resistance work to round out your training program. And this applies whether you’re racing or just logging miles for fun.

2. Transition to dynamic movements / Dynamic stretching is analogous to mobility training.

Do it right before a run for at least another five minutes. A dynamic warmup features functional movements that focus on moving multiple joints through their full range of motion and can even include plyometrics (quick, powerful movements) like skipping and hopping. Static stretching, on the other hand, can dampen the effectiveness of the fast-twitch muscle fibers essential to running, which is why you shouldn’t sit and hold stretches before a run, says Schnidman. (Save that for after.)

Good dynamic mobility movements include leg swings, high knees, butt kicks, walking lunges, and squats. Doing this opens up and lubricates the joints, which tells your body that in a few minutes, this is the range of motion you’ll demand, and the joint needs to be ready for the pounding of a run, Casey says. Your body thrives on knowing what to expect, so give it this preview.

If you’re planning a harder effort like a tempo run or speedwork, “doing a really slow and controlled dynamic warmup won’t be enough for you,” says Casey. Alert your body to the upcoming demand by focusing on plyometrics like A-skips, B-skips, power skips, and bounds. At the end, you should be breathless, but your muscles should not be tired. “You should feel mobile and loose, like the blood is flowing,” she says.

If you have time, add foam-rolling, says Casey.

Rather than walking to a park, walk around the neighborhood for five minutes, then go back home for the dynamic warmup. Use a foam-roller on hips, hamstrings, glutes, and quads. Spend more time on areas that feel especially tight that day.

As easy as it seems, don’t just head out the door.

A well-planned warmup and cooldown, plus a strength-training routine to enhance stability, will help you run well and remain injury-free.

3. Cool down with static stretching / After running is the perfect time to focus on flexibility.

“Your muscles really are longer now than they were before a run,” says Casey. Static stretching—e.g. runner’s lunge, calf stretch, hamstring stretch, figure-four stretch—will exert pressure on muscle tissues, which changes their shape and helps them lengthen further. Static stretches should be held for 30 to 60 seconds, adds Schnidman.

1. Start with a brisk walk / You don’t want to use that first mile of every run “as your warmup.”

“If your first mile still does not feel great, you really need to get those legs moving a bit better,” says Casey. Instead, walk briskly for at least five minutes. Casey, for instance, will take this time to go to a nearby park, where she does a dynamic warmup. Depending on the length and pace of your run, you may need a longer walk or a light jog.

4. Add in strength / The amount of strength work you do should match your training level. For instance, Casey says, if you’re training for a race and running three to five days per week, then plan for strength two or three times per week. This can be on nonrunning days or part of your warmup.

Just make sure you include one good recovery day per week that’s focused on rest or foam-rolling, mobility, and static stretching.

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How to fit mobility and stretching into your routine

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CAN I JUST DO A YOGA CLASS AND CALL IT A DAY? Yoga is a good way for runners to incorporate stretching into their weekly routine. But the mind-body practice won’t completely cover your body’s need for mobility. “Holding static positions in yoga can give your muscles a stretch, but if you’re not moving your joints through their full range of motion, then you aren’t necessarily improving joint mobility,” says Lauren Schnidman, D.P.T. Plus, weekly isn’t enough—mobility and flexibility work should happen daily (or almost daily). What’s more, if you want to improve performance, you should move in the same movement patterns that you use on a run.

Standing on one leg in Tree Pose is great for improving balance, but it’s not runningspecific, says Schnidman.

SUPPORTING YOUR WEIGHT LOSS Being a health and nutrition correspondent means that companies frequently send me their products, and ask for my stamp of approval. Most of the time I dive into research, give the product a try, and send the company honest feedback about what they’ll need to change before I’ll recommend it. Plus my hectic job and my determination to stay fit means I’m always hunting for a quick and nutritious way to fill up on nutrients my body needs. So I can confidently say, “I’ve tried it all”.

Last Tuesday work was especially hectic, but I’d booked with my $200 an hour personal trainer, Tony, a triathlon winning, organic-to-the-bone fitness guy with a ten mile long track record of whipping the “who’s who” into shape in record time, so I had to go. He noticed that my set count was down and playfully asked, “Feeling a little tired today?”, as he handed me a bottle from his gym bag. After one sip I figured that there was no way this could be healthy because the creamy chocolate flavor was just too delicious. Still, he’d never risk his reputation.

With more than a healthy dose of scepticism I decided to investigate this shake he’d called INVIGOR8.

Turns out, it’s a full meal replacement shake, which stunned me because virtually every other shake I’d researched had tasted chalky, clumpy

and packed with hidden “no-no’s” like cheap protein, tons of artificial ingredients, not to mention harmful synthetic dyes, additives, sugars, preservatives, and hormones. And even though INVIGOR8’s full meal replacement shake cost more than many of the shakes I’ve tried, it was about half the price of my favorite salad, and the nutrition profile looked second to none.

Wanting to know more, I reached out to a few of the people who were talking about it on trustworthy fitness forums. By the next morning three people got back to me saying, “As a trainer I love Invigor8. It’s definitely helped me to have more all-day energy, plus build the kind of lean sculpted muscle that burns more fat.”

“Yes, I’ll recommend it, it tastes great, and I really like how it keeps me feeling full for hours.”

“I’m a marathon runner and a friend recommended it to me. Drinking it has become a part of my regular training routine, because my time has improved, my energy is up, and I’m thinking more clearly than ever before.”

I decided to take my investigation one step further by researching the development of INVIGOR8.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the company went to great lengths to keep INVIGOR8 free

of harmful ingredients.

The makers of INVIGOR8 were determined to make the first natural, non-GMO nutritional shake & green superfood. The result is a meal replacement shake that contains 100% grass-fed whey that has a superior nutrient profile to the grain-fed whey found in most shakes, metabolism boosting raw coconut oil, hormone free colostrum to promote a healthy immune system, Omega 3, 6, 9-rich chia and flaxseeds, superfood greens like kale, spinach, broccoli, alfalfa, and chlorella, and clinically tested cognitive enhancers for improved mood and brain function. The company even went a step further by including a balance of pre and probiotics for optimal digestive health, uptake, and regularity and digestive enzymes so your body absorbs the high-caliber nutrition you get from INVIGOR8.

As a whole-foods nutritionist with a thriving practice I understand the importance of filling my body with the best Mother Nature has to offer.

I have always been reluctant to try new products because I was never sure of the impact they would have on my energy, and weight. INVIGOR8 is different, not only because it’s delicious, but because it helps me to maintain the energy I need to run my busy practice, while helping me to stay fit and toned. Considering all of the shakes I’ve tried, I can honestly say that the results I’ve experienced from INVIGOR8 are nothing short of amazing.

A company spokesperson confirmed an exclusive offer for Runner’s World’s readers: if you order this month, you’ll receive $10 off your first order by using promo code “RUN10” at checkout. You can order INVIGOR8 today at Invigor8.com or by calling 1-800-958-3392.

BY RU N N E R ’ S WO R LD+ COACH J E S S M OVO LD

Redefine What Fast Means to You HOW DO YOU get faster? This is a question I often get from runners looking to increase their speed, but there’s not an easy answer. For one, “fast” is relative. So I respond with the question: What do you define as fast? This shifts the perception of fast, making it more about the individual and less about a certain pace. While this may seem simple, it took me many years and countless different strategies to find my own personal definition. But now, I have a simple and effective way for you to define your fast and achieve it: FAST is a method I created and use regularly. With four simple steps—Focus, Assess, Strengthen, and Train—it will help you reach your full potential and satisfy your need for speed this summer. Here’s how.

• F O C U S // Zero in on a measurable goal. This

will shift over the years, and it will continue to evolve and change as you do. My “fast” in high school revolved around the 200- and 400-meter distances. Now, my focus has shifted primarily to the marathon, and maybe someday, I’ll work on improving my 5K. Having a specific, quantifiable goal—a distance, a pace, negative splits, hillwork— is your first step toward a big dose of speed.

Don’t run the easy pace of elite athletes or your run club. Too often, easy runs are simply run too fast because runners assume that will make them faster, but that’s not true. When you are trying to improve your speed and performance, honoring the purpose of each run or workout is pivotal. Many of the physiological changes that make you fast and efficient happen during easy running. So be honest in your assessment to find a proper plan that complements your goal.

•

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S T R E N G T H E N // In order to get faster, you

A S S E S S // Evaluate where you are in your run-

must get stronger. Reaching new levels requires both physical and mental strength. On the physical side, I never lifted heavy weights until a few years ago, as I found them daunting. But I quickly realized that lifting heavy weight is not something to fear. By applying load and resistance through strength-training, you force your body to adapt to stress, which in turn translates to running endurance, speed, efficiency, and power. Once I upped my strength-training game, new PRs and faster times followed. It also helped me build my mental toughness, which gets me through everything from hard track workouts to daunting long runs.

And it keeps me disciplined so that I remain con-

ning and what it will take to reach that goal. Take an honest look at your current training, level of consistency, and effort, then outline components that you can improve upon. In this exercise, think about all areas of your running, including rest, recovery, current weekly mileage, nutrition, and even your pace and effort on easy runs. One of the biggest opportunities for improvement I notice in many runners is their ability to stay consistent and disciplined during easy weekly mileage. It sounds so simple, right? Run easy.

And yet, it can be one of the most challenging tasks for some. Easy is an effort, not a pace.

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sistent with my training plan—even when I don’t feel like it. By incorporating strength-training, you will become more explosive, powerful, and resilient, both mentally and physically.

• T R A I N // Take the guesswork out of your prepa-

ration. Getting faster or stronger isn’t some thing that happens overnight or randomly, so it’s important that you commit to your training and follow a plan. Trust the process and remain consistent. Continue to sharpen your mental strength throughout your training, and let that empower your effort on the run. Whether it’s speedwork, an easy run, or a recovery day, trust the training.

This process worked for me when I shaved off over 20 minutes from my marathon time, and I know it will work for you in your pursuit of speed.

Remember that FAST is defined by YOU. Your fast might look different than mine, but isn’t that part of the beauty of being a runner? We define the road ahead. It’s time to set your sights on a new goal that challenges you. Write it down, and let’s go after it together!

FOR ACCESS TO STRENGTH WORKOUTS FROM COACH JESS, JOIN RUNNER ’ S WOR L D + AT RUNNERSWORLD.C OM /JOINPL US. PHOTOGRAPH BY JONAH ROSENBERG

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LINDSEY HEIN, 37, of Indianapolis, has finished more than 15 marathons in her running career. But as a mom of four and the host of the I’ll Have Another running podcast, she needed a training plan that could fit into her busy life. Hein works from home, without the typical 9-to-5 schedule, so she had some flexibility when it came to training.

After some research, she decided to transition from a traditional seven-day plan to a 10-day cycle.

This extended 10-day approach gave Hein more time for additional recovery between hard efforts and for her personal life. “The flexibility of not always running long on Saturday or Sunday mornings brought more life balance to our family,” she says.

Recovery and balance are two primary benefits of a 10-day cycle compared with the more traditional seven days, where each day of the week is typically reserved for a certain type of run (think: Track Tuesdays and Tempo Thursdays).

If you’re feeling worn down by your current training or you’re simply 10-day-cycle curious, it’s helpful to understand the deeper benefits (and drawbacks) of testing a more flexible running schedule when you train for your next race.

FROM DENVER

JASON FITZGERALD 24

RUNN ERSWOR LD.COM

CREDENT IAL S USAT FCER T IF IED RUNNING COACH

G O -T O R U N N I N G S H O E AN Y T HING F L E X IBL E AND QUASI-MINIMAL IS T !

F AV O R I T E P I E C E O F G E A R SPL I T-L EG SHOR T SHOR T S

RUNNING PHILOSOPHY WORK HARD AND WORK SMAR T

HARDEST RUN EVER 3,000-ME T ER S T EEPL ECHASE

BEST RUN EVER 3,000-ME T ER S T EEPL ECHASE

SOUL ROUTE 20-MIL E L ONG RUN IN ROCK CREEK PARK , WASHING T ON, D.C.

P H OT O G R A P H BY DAV I D JA E WO N O H

C o u r t e s y J a s o n F i t z g e r a l d (a u t h o r)

The 10-Day Training Cycle Offers More Options, But Is It Right for You?

• The pros The main benefit of the longer 10-day cycle is that you have more time to complete the key components of your training. Most great running plans are composed of at least three key workouts: a quality day that includes intervals or hills, a tempo day, and a long run. Considering you’ll want at least one day to recover after each, it’s a tight squeeze to fit it all in and still have time for strength-training, cross-training, easy running, and rest days.

The structure of a 10-day cycle offers three additional days to complete the same key work-

outs. This allows for more recovery between those harder training sessions and less mental pressure and stress to accomplish all that work in a shorter time period.

From an exercise physiolog y perspective, a 10-day cycle better prioritizes the recovery period, “which is when all of your adaptations take place,” says Mario Fraioli, a Bay Area–based coach who works with a number of Olympic Trials–level marathoners, internationally ranked ultrarunners, and competitive age-group athletes.

Hein experienced this firsthand and credits the extra days with helping her feel better and bounce back faster during marathon training.

But this benefit is most valuable to those who truly need it: older runners and those who are more susceptible to repetitive-stress injuries.

This training approach could also be used as an experiment for those experiencing a performance plateau. After all, if you’re feeling stagnant, trying something different is the only way to get a different result.

In addition to more downtime, the flexibility of the 10-day cycle is attractive, especially to those like Hein who work from home—like so many of us have and may continue to do going forward.

Because you don’t have to do certain runs on exact days like Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, you have more leeway to shift your harder training sessions around.

“You might hit the track on Tuesday, run longer intervals on Friday, and do your long run on a Monday to allow for a little more recovery and adaptation between key sessions,” says Fraioli. If your schedule is unpredictable or particularly busy on certain days, planning runs out over 10 days is one way to ensure that you’ll still be able to complete all of your priority workouts.

• The cons This flexibility that can be so appealing is also one of the biggest drawbacks. Some struggle with having too much flexibility and not enough certainty with their running schedule. The 10-day option “is not as predictable as a seven-day cycle, and the disruption to the weekly routine is inconvenient,” says Fraioli. “It doesn’t fit neatly into the calendar, so the rhythm of the week isn’t as [predictable]. In a lot of cases, it’s not worth the trade-off of the usual weekly approach.”

The seven-day schedule exists not because of some physiological reason to train on weeklong microcycles; it exists mostly for convenience.

Our calendar, jobs, family life, and most other

aspects of our lives are organized on a seven-day schedule. Planning your training on that schedule is often the simplest option. Plus, when your long run doesn’t fall on the same day each week, conflicts are inevitable. After all, it can be difficult to plan around your training if your key workouts fall on different days each week.

If you don’t necessarily need the extra recovery, a 10-day cycle might also be less effective.

By spreading the key workouts out over more days, you are effectively training less with fewer long runs and workouts completed over the longterm. Even if you stretched a 16-week, seven-day program out to a 20-week, 10-day program, you’re still only running 14 long runs instead of 16, so that reduces the density of your training, which is a factor for performance. Ultimately, this approach to planning your season might be the most beneficial only for a select category of runners: those who have the flexibility and the recovery needs to justify it.

• Find what works for you If your schedule won’t support a 10-day training cycle but you feel like you need extra recovery between hard workouts, simply reduce the number of hard workouts that you do to one per week. Coupled with a weekly long run, that’s an effective way to add more recovery to your schedule without the complexity of a 10-day cycle.

You may also benefit from swapping some easy runs with lower-impact cross-training methods.

Fraioli recommends the 10-day approach for anyone “who has the flexibility to move their workouts around freely and without consequence to the rest of their life.” If that’s you, a 10-day cycle can help you better adapt to your key training sessions (because you’re recovering better), have more flexibility with your running (to postpone or move a key session when needed), and potentially reach a new level of performance.

Remember to focus on the key workouts: faster workouts and long runs. If the 10-day cycle is doing its job correctly, you’ll feel more energized during those sessions and will be able to execute them better. Over time, that could make you into a much faster runner on the race course.

It worked for Hein. She trained for her last three marathons with the 10-day approach, and says, “I’ll 100 percent train this way the next time I do a marathon.” Considering her recent success—she stayed healthy, got to the starting line injury-free, and ran her personal best in a marathon—she has every reason to.

A SAMPLE 10 - DAY TRAINING CYCLE SUNDAY Long Run MONDAY Recovery Run TUESDAY Base Run + Strides WEDNESDAY Quality Workout (Speed/Hills) THURSDAY Rest Day FRIDAY Base Run + Strides SATURDAY Quality Workout (Tempo) SUNDAY Rest Day MONDAY Recovery Run TUESDAY Base Run + Strides

R U NNER SWO R LD.COM

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Claire Green, 25, is a professional distance runner for the Hoka One One Aggies Running Club.

BY CLAIRE GREEN

How I Teach Runners to Have Difficult Conversations About Social Justice In February of 2020, I began writing an article about my experiences competing as a Black woman at the elite level of distance running for RUNGRL, a platform dedicated to creating space for Black female voices in the sport. Less than a week later, Ahmaud Arbery was murdered while out on a run. Suddenly, the article took on a whole new weight. I was no longer speaking only for myself, I was speaking for my community.

The past year has been a painful one. But I’ve discovered that the dialogue that stems from speaking openly has helped me learn how to navigate conversations about the issues of social justice sweeping our nation, race-related or not.

Since then, I’ve hosted several webinars that focus on the experiences of minority athletes within Division I track-and-field teams. My goal is to give the athletes the tools to open and

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navigate discussions they want to have. I designed a presentation that allows students to interact anonymously. Using a platform called Padlet, I’m able to pose a series of questions on a private discussion board. Everyone in the presentation can anonymously post answers to the questions they feel comfortable sharing, and everyone is able to view the responses to each question.

I want the teams to reframe how they identify with their communities. We have a tendency to define our social groups by the most outwardly apparent shared trait. But by speaking about our relationships in terms of shared interests as opposed to shared backgrounds, it helps individuals outside our community avoid relying on stereotypes to understand what keeps people connected. And while our race, religion, and passions are all deeply important to who we are, they are no longer the sole way we define each other.

My goal with these team discussions is to help the group reach a place where they feel more comfortable initiating and navigating their own conversations. Here’s how it works.

• Discuss comfort levels First, I ask the students about their comfort and experience with conversations about race and social justice. For some, these topics were regularly discussed in their homes while growing up. For others, this may be the first time they’re having these conversations. But for most people, topics surrounding social justice have been touched upon but without much substance. The extent of these conversations is often little more than the sentiment “treat others how you wish to be treated.”

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Like anything else, learning how to foster constructive conversations about social justice takes practice. This moment may be the first time some of the students are having an open discussion about race. And it’s important to understand that a question or assumption that may come off as ignorant or uncaring is often coming from a place of genuine curiosity and misunderstanding.

When this occurs, it is much easier for teammates to constructively educate their peers on why a question may be offensive or problematic if there is a general understanding that this may be new territory for someone to navigate.

• Talk about differences Next, we look at individuals’ awareness of the physical differences in the people around us. Do the athletes notice things like skin tone, physical build, and gender? Across the board the answer is always yes. Every athlete that I’ve worked with indicated that they noticed the race and ethnicity of their competitors. This step is particularly important because after recognizing that all

members of the group see these physical differences, students tend to become more comfortable sharing their own personal experiences.

In one conversation, a student described the pressure she often feels competing as an athlete of Southeast Asian descent. She explained that as one of the few Asian track athletes in the NCAA, she feels that any track race, good or bad, will impact the perception of how successful an Asian athlete can be. Another student shared how being frequently mistaken as a member of the soccer team has contributed to her spending time thinking about her body type, something she rarely did before college. After explaining to strangers that she is in fact a track-and-field athlete, they are often shocked to find that distance running is her event. She described her frustration that although many body types are represented in distance running, strangers still believe they can assess her athletic ability simply by looking at her. Several other athletes also shared similar experiences, and this led to a discussion of how some felt that they, too, don’t fit the typical profile of an athlete in their sport and wish that it was more acceptable

to correct assumptions made by others.

Although most people are aware of physical differences, many of us are taught to act as if we don’t notice them. I believe that this way of thinking comes from wanting to treat each other equally, but I also believe it makes it more difficult to ask questions, start conversations, and learn for ourselves. By never having conversations before we make assumptions, we’re more likely to form associations with these physical traits based on widely perpetuated stereotypes.

• Be honest about challenges Finally, I ask the athletes to share what makes social justice conversations difficult for them to have. As students begin to share their struggles with these conversations, something interesting tends to occur. Their teammates, many of whom remained silent for most of the discussion, begin to speak up and provide suggestions based on their own experiences. Questions about topics from race to religion to politics begin to be presented, and thoughtful answers and opinions are always

handed back. Up until this point in the conversation, I am generally an active participant and moderating the discussion. But at this stage, I’ve found that students are more eager to take over and start teaching and learning from their teammates.

In one of my presentations, the first student to speak up was a white male who had been silent.

He explained that over the past year he had been working to educate himself on the challenges that face communities of racial minorities by reading books, listening to speeches, and finding ways to become an active ally. He wanted to support his teammates but was terrified to ask questions or make mistakes that may cause him to be seen as racist or ignorant. Other students agreed and shared the same feelings, especially a concern about not knowing when it is time to speak up and when it was time to listen. As a team, they spent several minutes discussing solutions, offering personal anecdotes, and sharing their own trial and error.

Without realizing it, these students start to navigate the discussions they are initially nervous to engage in. Because these teams have an established sense of community, students are able to

LIKE ANYTHING ELSE, LEARNING HOW TO FOSTER CONVERSATIONS ABOUT SOCIAL JUSTICE TAKES PRACTICE. learn from and educate one another on the varied experiences within the team.

• What I’ve learned Most of us are curious about groups we are not a part of, and that curiosity stems from wanting to better understand each other. We also want to help create a better understanding of our own communities. The students I’ve worked with have demonstrated a genuine desire to learn how to have these conversations amongst themselves. I’ve been amazed by their willingness to get outside of their comfort zones, make mistakes, and assist each other through the process.

Runners have a unique opportunity to start conversations and learn about nearly every facet of society because the running community is global.

People want simple solutions to extremely complex issues. There is no one solution to a problem, so our challenge is to find a way to move forward effectively. Improving our ability to tackle difficult topics enables us to learn from the experiences of others. The better we understand one another, the more we stand a chance at making progress. If we can work to redefine our communities in terms of aligned values, demographics like race, religion, and gender become unique individual attributes, as opposed to defining characteristics.

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DALILAH MUHAMMAD Record: 400-meter hurdles (2019, 52.16) / Mental strategy: Ditch distractions

BY BECK Y WADE

Steal the Mental Strategies of the Fastest U.S. Runners the Tokyo Olympics kick off in July, we’ll be clamoring to find out which of the world’s best runners have capitalized on the extra year of training, who defends their medals (or dethrones the champs), and who rewrites the record books.

As superhuman as your favorite athletes appear in high definition, performing on the biggest stage requires just as much mental resolve as physical fitness. And what separates the champions from the rest can also work for you—whether you want to run your first marathon, snag a 5K PR, or simply make running a habit. Here, five American record holders share the cerebral tricks that got them to the next level, with applications for athletes of all levels and disciplines.

BY THE TIME

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COURTNEY FRERICHS Record: 3,000-meter steeplechase (2018, 9:00.85) / Mental strategy: Talk to yourself

→ In 2017, Courtney Frerichs worked tirelessly to take the leap from Team USA member to international contender. Heading into the London World Championships, she focused as much on mental training as she did on physical training.

Frerichs chose a mantra—“Be fearless in the

M i c h a e l S t e e l e / G e t t y I m a g e s ( M u h a m m a d ) ; J E W E L S A M A D /A F P v i a G e t t y I m a g e s ( F r e r i c h s)

→ Dalilah Muhammad’s career turning point occurred in 2013, when she was fresh out of USC. She decided to go all in on track and field and to make whatever changes were necessary for success.

Muhammad started asking herself a simple yes or no question: “Is this helping you? Is this not?”

If she thought something would bring her closer to her goals on the track, she stuck with it. If it wouldn’t, out it went. That formula led Muhammad to change cities and coaches, to start working with a nutritionist, and to eliminate many of the social distractions she’d faced in college. It paid off when Muhammad ended her first pro season with a U.S. title, a spot on Team USA, and a template for continued success—like her gold at the 2016 Olympics and world-record run at the 2019 world championships.

Make it work: Take inventory of your whole running setup. Weed out the parts that aren’t serving you (too many late nights, skipped recovery fuel), elevate those that are (thorough warmups, consistent strength-training), and tackle decisions from a helpful-or-not framework.

pursuit of what sets your soul on fire,” from film director and screenwriter Jennifer Lee—and wore it as a temporary wrist tattoo. She repeated those familiar words before her race in London, and they helped her stay present each lap. She also broke the race down into smaller parts, another technique she’d practiced, ultimately crossing the line in second place with a massive 9:03.77 personal record. The next year, Frerichs set a new American record.

Make it work: Call on a helpful mantra when things get tough during harder training runs. Science suggests that positive self-talk is most effective when you refer to yourself as “you” rather than “I.”

S t e p h C h a m b e r s / G e t t y I m a g e s ( B r a z i e r) ; C h r i s t i a n P e t e r s e n / G e t t y I m a g e s ( W i l s o n ) ; A n d y Ly o n s / G e t t y I m a g e s ( H o u l i h a n )

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DONAVAN BRAZIER Record: 800 meters (2019, 1:42.34) / Mental strategy: Lighten up

→ The 800-meter specialist’s biggest breakthrough wasn’t when he won an NCAA title his freshman year at Texas A&M, or even when he took home the gold (and the outdoor American record) at the 2019 world championships. It was when he qualified for the Michigan state meet as a high school sophomore and made the improbable leap from 20th on the list to runner-up, nabbing a 6-second personal best.

That planted the seed for a possible future on the track. And it was also a time he was truly enjoying the sport and the relationships that went along with it. “Whenever I’m happiest, that’s when I run best,” Brazier says. Training feels less taxing when he has people to share the load with—as he now does with Pete Julian’s Portland-based group—and the results usually follow suit.

Make it work: You’ll stay motivated when the process is fun. Plan a destination race, mix up your training spots, or host a post-workout brunch to keep things light but engaging.

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AJEÉ WILSON Record: 800 meters (2017, 1:55.61) / Mental strategy: Just race

→ Ajeé Wilson remembers her first pro season— which was also her first year out of high school— more for her bold move in a late-season race than for her fifth-place finish at the 2013 world championships, where she set a then U.S. junior record in the 800. In another race soon after, against a stacked field that included the reigning world champion, the then-19-year-old took the lead with 200 meters to go. Wilson finished fourth and walked away with more confidence.

She attributes her improvement to the straightforward instructions her coach, Derek Thompson, fed her before each competition: Stay close, stay in the race, just get to the last 200, and see what you can do. Rather than talking through every hypothetical, coach and athlete shared the attitude, “just race to win and the time will come.”

That strategy paved the way for several global medals, indoor and outdoor U.S. records, and Wilson’s first Olympic berth in 2016.

Make it work: Don’t overthink every outcome of a race. Identify a main goal (whether it’s to win, negative split, or place high in your age group), and trust that you’ll do your best when you declutter your mind and let competitiveness take over.

HOW TO CATCH HISTORY The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are July 23 to August 8 on NBC. Here are five can’t-miss races.

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SHELBY HOULIHAN Record: 1500 meters (2019, 3:54.99); 5,000 meters (2020, 14:23.92) / Mental strategy: Bet on yourself

→ Most track fans are used to Shelby Houlihan controlling every race she runs and, more often than not, coming out on top. But she had to claw her way there. A key part of that process occurred early in 2016, before she was an Olympian.

“I WILL BE AN OLYMPIAN,” Houlihan scribbled on her bathroom mirror months before the 2016 Olympic Trials. Every time she saw those words, she’d internalize them. By the time Houlihan lined up for the 5,000-meter final in Eugene, Oregon, she says, “I felt calm, confident, and just excited to finally go do the thing I had been repeating to myself.” With a strong last lap, she finished second to Molly Huddle, and her once far-fetched dream materialized. Houlihan continued harnessing the power of her mind alongside an intense training program, with two national records and 13 national titles to show for it.

Make it work: Believing in yourself is the first step to achieving something great. Hold yourself accountable to your goals by writing them in a highly visible place (like a sticky note on your desk or the background of your phone), and allow for plenty of time to fully buy into them.

5,000 M (W) // AUGUST 2

800 M (W) // AUGUST 3

3,000 M STEEPLE (W) // AUGUST 4

400 M HURDLES (W) // AUGUST 4

800 M (M) // AUGUST 4

Houlihan is strong from 1500 meters through 10K, but we like her odds in the 5K the best.

There is a deep list of U.S. contenders, but Wilson is still the one to beat.

Don’t miss Frerichs in the women’s steeplechase as she eyes an Olympic medal.

Watch world record holder Muhammad defend her gold against a stacked field.

A consistent performer the past few years, Brazier is poised for a breakout run.

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MACRO TRACKING, CLEAN eating, carb cycling, intermittent fasting—the breadth of nutrition-focused strategies for better performance and (often) weight loss can be dizzying. For some of us, the desire to get lighter becomes a driving motivation, with the belief that more weight equals slower speed. Although aiming for healthy body composition is a worthy goal when approached using healthy habits, we might find ourselves sprinting into a gray area. At what point does managing macros and counting calories veer toward an unhealthy obsession?

The answer is different for everyone, but there are some general strategies that can help reframe your approach to eating so that daily consumption feels more like nourishment and balance rather than restriction.

● Rethink weight goals Watching elite runners cross the finish at Boston, it’s easy to believe that body fat is the enemy.

But the mistake some people make is aiming for the lowest body fat percentage possible through diet tweaks, and then finding themselves actually slowing down—even when they’re on track toward their weight goals, says Mike Matthews, certified personal trainer and author of Bigger Leaner Stronger.

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● Focus on all food groups equally When it comes to macros—carbs, protein, and fat—many endurance athletes prioritize only the first one on that list, and then tend to obsess about hitting a specific number, says Matthews.

“There’s no question carbs are important for athletes, but this single-minded focus can sometimes cause them to neglect other vital aspects of their nutrition,” he says.

For example, studies have suggested that endurance athletes need to consume around two to three times more protein than the recommended dietary intake, as a way to support performance, recovery, and muscle mass. Matthews adds that this is particularly important when trying to lose weight so you’re not shedding muscle instead of fat. ● Pay attention to food-related thoughts Thinking often about what you’re eating—as well as what you ate, what you’re going to eat, what you should be eating, and so on—is one sign of trouble. “Increased thoughts about food and plan-

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How to Nurture a Healthier Relationship With Food

“Being lighter and leaner does improve performance to a point, which is why competitive runners and other endurance athletes will always strive to be lean,” he says. “But there’s a point of diminishing returns. You want to be lean enough that you aren’t carrying too much extra body weight, but not so lean that you can’t stay healthy, feel good, and train hard.”

Part of the difficulty is that it’s tough to know where that point might be on an individual level.

That’s when you might rely on perceptions of what you “should” weigh, says Matthews. A better metric for goal setting: performance. See fat loss as a potential side effect of your training, not as the end goal in itself. And then eat in a way that fuels your running goals, Matthews suggests.

ning your days around food are red flags when it comes to a potentially problematic relationship with eating,” says Amy Gooding, Psy.D., a clinical psychologist at the Eating Recovery Center. “From there, it might progress to avoiding social situations because the ‘right’ foods aren’t available.”

Many athletes start new eating plans with good intentions, but then become consumed by compulsive thoughts around food. Even if they’re eating the way they think they should, they might implement even more restrictions or rules.

“This makes it very difficult to resume normal eating because they’re not satisfied, they keep pushing it,” Gooding says. At that point, repetitive thoughts and restricting behaviors can lead to injuries including stress fractures, chronic wounds, joint inflammation, and poor muscle recovery. “If you’re not fueling yourself in a balanced, healthy way, it’s going to show up eventually,” she says.

A good first step is to simply start noticing your thoughts around food, Gooding suggests.

If it’s taking up most of your mental energy, you may want to consult with a sports dietitian to get a more workable plan or a mental health professional to develop healthier habits.

Another tip is to pivot thoughts gently toward what you enjoy instead of what you’ll “allow,” adds Matthews. Think of it as the Marie Kondo style of mindfulness—try to identify what sparks joy, which might be anything from visualizing your last amazing run to replaying a movie scene you love. Like your body, your brain can be trained with practice, he suggests.

THE BENEFITS OF USING A LOG

FOR A HARD COPY LOGBOOK, TRY:

Regenerative and sports medicine specialist Rand McClain, D.O., suggests keeping a food log, but expanding it way beyond what you eat. Track other factors, such as energy levels, sleep, stress, mood, running performance, motivation, and even deeper potential effects, such as sense of purpose and sociability. Play around with different eating strategies to see what changes.

Believe Logbook, $18 / The logbook offers an undated annual calendar and an undated daily and weekly running log for up to six months of tracking the factors you want to keep note of.

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Fitbit app, free to download; $80 for a yearly premium subscription Log performance, sleep, nutrition, and more with the Fitbit app for iPhone and Android.

● Avoid labeling foods as “good” and “bad” Many dietitians suggest you shouldn’t label any foods as “good” or “bad” because that turns eating into a moral issue and also tends to drive cravings.

A beneficial approach would be thinking about addition rather than subtraction. That means instead of focusing on banning ultraprocessed foods altogether, lean into adding healthier choices—fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, fish—so that there simply isn’t room for all the processed options, suggests dietitian Kara Hoerr, R.D.N. “Restriction will almost always create the opposite effect of what you want,” she says. “Once you give yourself unconditional permission to have all foods, while also including healthy choices, it tends to take the power out of those ultraprocessed choices. You may even find that when you do eat them, they’re not as good as you remember.”

PHOTOGRAPH BY TREVOR RAAB

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you’re more likely to stay committed. When things get tough, focusing on the reasons you started will help ground you and keep you moving.

• Put a plan in place You should map out your runs the same way you plan the rest of your week (meals, family obligations, social commitments, etc.). Think about which days during the week will work best for running, and include a day or two for recovery as well. Add your runs to your calendar so they’re in front of you whenever you think about your day or week.

Of course, an emergency may come up, forcing you to postpone your run to a later time or date.

That’s okay; you can be flexible. But barring unexpected situations, having a plan makes you less inclined to cancel on your run. You’re making a commitment to yourself that you’ll do something, and you’ll feel proud that you didn’t bail or talk yourself out of it.

How to Get—and Stay— Motivated to Run

BY RUNNER’S WORLD+ COACH PJ THOMPSON, AS TOLD TO DANIELLE ZICKL

Running is one of the easiest sports to get into—you don’t need access to any fancy, expensive equipment. Plus, it’s something you can do for the rest of your life; 70- and 80-year-olds are still out there breaking records. But it can be hard to know where to begin when it comes to starting a running routine—even making it around the block feels intimidating if you’ve never laced up before or are coming back after a long hiatus.

The decision to start is the first step, and while your journey might not always be easy, it will always be worth it. Here are four tips to get motivated for—and stay committed to—your new pursuit.

• Find your why What are you hoping to get out of this? Have you answered that question? Do you want to meet new people? Do you hope to work through issues you’re dealing with at work or in life through movement?

Do you just want time away from technology to clear your mind? Consider what’s going on in your life and how running can enhance your overall experience. After all, running is an investment in yourself. If you understand why you’re doing it,

• Focus on the finish Think about what it feels like to be on the other side of a run. Too often we’re quick to think of excuses: “It’s too early”; “I don’t have enough time”; “It’s too hot.” Instead, focus on the feeling of accomplishment you’ll have after 30 minutes or a mile, or whatever your chosen time or distance, as opposed to the apprehension. You can also think long-term: What larger running goal do you have? Each mile along the way is one small step toward a bigger achievement.

• Stay positive As a runner, you already do something that many others don’t. That in and of itself is an accomplishment. If you start thinking about skipping a run, become your own motivational speaker. Positive self-talk and reinforcement are skills you’ll need to continue running for the long haul. Appreciate that you’re able to get out there at all. Remind yourself that it’s okay to take a walk break, catch your breath, then try again. Instead of framing those moments in a negative way—“I had to stop and walk”—frame them in a positive way—“I was able to restart.”

Practicing these four tips will help you make running part of your lifestyle, not a chore you have to check off. Soon they’ll become second nature, and you can rely on them as your goals grow with you.

F O R M O R E M O T I VAT I O N A L T I P S F R O M C O A C H PJ, J O I N R U N N E R ’ S W O R L D + AT R U N N E R S W O R L D.C O M /J O I N P L U S .

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Practicing What I Preach With Runs

GROWING UP, I was extremely shy, to the point that finding my niche was a struggle. However, from a young age, running had always come naturally for me. In high school I was introduced to a wonderful cross-country and track coach and a talented team. I found success and grew confidence. My high school career ended with several state cross-country and track titles and a state record in the 3200-meter event. Despite

my success, running wasn’t my true passion and I quit upon graduation.

Twenty-plus years passed while I started my family and became a full-time pediatrician. And over those two decades, I developed unhealthy habits and gained 40 pounds. Exercise became an afterthought, and I made plenty of excuses to avoid it. I had low self-esteem and chronic fatigue.

I was desperate for change, but the commitment was intimidating. As a pediatrician, I routinely counsel patients and their families on the importance of healthy living, but I wasn’t doing it myself.

I missed the feeling of being able to run with ease, so after years of living a sedentary lifestyle, I decided to take control of my health. I cleaned up my diet and started going to the gym. In late 2018, I stepped on the treadmill for my first run in so many years. I only made it about half a mile, but I was determined to keep going. Day after day I returned to the treadmill, frequently getting up at 4:30 a.m. to run before a full day of work. I eventually signed up for a local 5K, with the simple goal of running the whole race.

Crossing the finish line was empowering and brought emotions that I hadn’t felt in years. In that moment, I realized just how much my body and mind were capable of—I was hooked.

During the last few years, with the help of my local and online running groups and my excellent coach, I’ve gone from not running at all to running 50 to 55 miles a week. I’ve found myself reaching for goals that four years ago seemed out of my grasp—like setting personal records in the 5K, 10K, and half marathon. I’m proud to set an example for runners who are BIPOC, mothers, and/or full-time professionals.

I now run with a renewed confidence and a joy that wasn’t there when I was a teenager, and I’m setting a better example for my patients.

LEARN MORE ABOUT RUNNER’S WORLD+ AT R U N N E R S W O R L D . C O M /J O I N P L U S .

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Does Aliphine Have Your Attention Now?

BY ANDREW LAWRENCE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KYLE RM JOHNSON

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On a cloudless 46-degree February afternoon in Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park, Aliphine Tuliamuk was a vision of cool.

Comfortably dressed for the weather in aquamarine knee highs, a matching NAZ Elite long-sleeve, shades, and a crocheted red, white, and blue beanie, there was no missing her on the starting line for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Yet few saw her coming.

Her racing résumé earned her a front-line position at the head of a 450-woman field. But to her right and left were Jordan Hasay (who then held the second-fastest marathon time in U.S. history), Sally Kipyego (a silver medalist at the London Games), and Des Linden (2018 Boston champ and two-time Olympian). Running experts forecasting a too-close-to-call race barely gave the 30-yearold Kenyan émigré an honorable mention.

In their defense, this was Tuliamuk’s first Olympic Trials.

She was also barely six months recovered from a femoral stress fracture in her right leg. And she still seemed to be transitioning from a road-race specialist to the longer 26.2-mile distance. She’d also never run a marathon under this kind of pressure, or without pacesetters to rein in her aggressive tendencies that drove her to road victories but sunk her early marathons.

The trials course in Atlanta was full of undulating, washboardlike city streets culminating in a total ascent of 1,389 feet—nothing like the flat (maybe 300 feet of climbing), fast Rotterdam Marathon course, where she set her PR in 2019. But after she finished third there in 2:26:48, no one could say she didn’t belong on the sharp end of the pack here. It was a heady moment, her jangling nerves betraying her outer chill before yielding to an inner audacity. “I was pretty certain I would make the team,” she says.

When four runners including Hasay jumped the gun, she didn’t even flinch. “I wasn’t too worried about getting left behind,” she says. Once underway, Tuliamuk shrewdly hung with a pod of 20 or so frontrunners that included Hoka Northern Arizona Elite teammates Stephanie Bruce and Kellyn Taylor. All the while her coach, Ben Rosario, tracked Tuliamuk’s splits, which started around 5:36 minutes per mile before settling just above 5:40. “She was always in a good spot, but never actually crossing the [timing] mat first,” Rosario says.

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Then around the 20-mile mark, Tuliamuk broke away from the pack with marathon rookie Molly Seidel, and the world leaned in for a closer look. As Tuliamuk barreled down the streets of Atlanta toward her Olympic dream, long-sleeve and beanie gone, steam wafting from her head, the world couldn’t help but wonder: Who is this Aliphine? How did she dust the deepest trials field in decades?

And also, that hat: Does it come in a large?

ALIPHINE TULIAMUK IS crocheting. She’s been at it almost the entire time she’s been on the phone with me from her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. But Tuliamuk—the kind of bright, inquisitive soul who delights in converting social media followers into offline friends—makes no mention of this renowned hobby of hers. That is, until I do, about an hour into our first conversation in August 2020—when she should’ve been running a marathon for the United States at the Tokyo Olympics.

In June 2019, she was diagnosed with that femoral stress fracture in her right leg. Looking at eight to 12 weeks for the bone to heal, she was desperate for a mental escape from not running that could also fulfill her need for disciplined habits. She started a garden with green veggies and corn, “but I needed something else to occupy my mind,” she says with a lilting accent.

After a brief stint as an Uber driver—the income was nice, but the sitting was too much—she found her way to crocheting through YouTube. And after one how-to video, she was, well, hooked. There was something in the monotony of all that laying and looping and twisting and threading that was as relaxing as a gentle runner’s high. And soon those crochet hooks were tugging at her competitive side, with Tuliamuk making a game out of how many she could crochet in a day. One hat became five, became 10, became 20. “We could be watching a movie,” says her fiancé, Tim Gannon, “and by the end she’d might have a hat and a half.”

Twenty became hundreds. Giving some away to friends only

Ke v i n M o r r i s

temporarily solved the problem of her “alarming” (her word) production rate. Selling them presented other complications.

She considered pitting her wares against street vendors who do business inside Santa Fe’s famed downtown historic plaza. But in the end, opening an Etsy shop was a lot less work.

Early sales numbers were nothing to write home about, but that was just as well. On September 1st, Tuliamuk was healed but only jogging 16 minutes for her third run back. By the 15th she was back to 10-plus miles. Two months later she was racing her second New York City Marathon and, on a lark, wearing one of her beanies—a fashion choice that caught the attention of 2017 winner-turned-commentator Shalane Flanagan, who promoted the beanies on the air. “After that,” she says, “I had a lot of orders.”

Tuliamuk finished in 2:28:12 as the third-fastest American, and 12th in a stacked field. Rosario was gob-smacked. “I actually didn’t think she’d be able to come back for New York City in that short period of time,” he says. “At her fittest, of course, she could’ve done much better. But she needed that marathon to gain confidence for the trials.” That her rapid result was a product of patient racing is almost too ironic.

Tuliamuk celebrates her 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials win while wearing one of her beanies.

PERSON TO PERSON, Tuliamuk couldn’t be sweeter, more generous, or more welcoming. And though on a racecourse, she might appear a slight 5-foot-5 as she glides along with a gentle forward lean,

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make no mistake: she’s a shark, poised to attack. That mentality and a “monster engine” (Rosario’s words) would help shape her into one of the nation’s most productive runners of the last decade, fueling her to seven national road titles (at seven miles, 5K, 10K, 20K, and three at 25K) and the 2016 USA Track & Field Running Circuit Season championship. But it also held her back at much longer distances.

“She had gotten used to putting in really hard moves quite early in short races,” says Rosario, who began working with Tuliamuk in 2018. “But if you move that early in a marathon, a lot of times it comes back to bite you.”

To make the jump from fearsome road racer to world-class marathoner, Tuliamuk needed to learn to not burn out early—in her three marathons before joining NAZ Elite, she was flying at 13 miles and crawling by 26. Rosario got to work developing her ability to pace herself. Among other things, he had her practice her marathon speed with NAZ Elite pacer Ben Bruce, a track-and-field veteran. Rosario would make a point of getting Tuliamuk to run more evenly over the course of a marathon than she did at shorter distances, where she liked to drop big midrace surges. The arrangement set her up for success in April 2019 at the Rotterdam Marathon—where, to Tuliamuk’s great fortune, Bruce was among the pacesetters. “I went to Rotterdam with one job, and that was to follow coach’s orders and literally follow Ben,” she says. Her rewards for doing both were six minutes off her personal best and a bronze medal.

Still, Rosario wasn’t ready to pencil her in for Tokyo just yet.

“Rotterdam was essentially a time trial,” he says. “And the Olympic Trials are a race. You don’t have a pacer. There’s a lot of uncertainty.”

And then there was that stress fracture. But seeing her bounce back so quickly and turn in such a strong performance in New York with just two months of training had Rosario feeling upbeat about Tuliamuk’s chances heading into the trials.

The last four miles came down to her and Seidel, a four-time NCAA champion who was certain to test Tuliamuk’s patience. “[Aliphine] knew that if she was gonna get away from Molly, she had to do it earlier, she couldn’t wait until the very last second,” Rosario says. “Molly’s pretty quick.” Her beanie and long-sleeve long gone, Tuliamuk kept a 5:36 per mile cruising speed with Seidel trailing by a stride, her pained visage a marked contrast to Tuliamuk’s poker face—placidity she credits to her work with NAZ Elite sports psychologist Shannon Thompson to remain focused and engaged during races. As the two reached the final hill around mile 25, Tuliamuk looked over her shoulder. “At that moment, I knew that Molly and I were both making the team,” says Tuliamuk. “No doubt the earlier surge that Molly made was a big reason.” But then Tuliamuk’s thoughts turned back five weeks, to a late-race move Seidel made on her in the Houston Half Marathon—where she wound up finishing six places behind Seidel, in 19th. That’s when the shark came out. “It was time to make the last move and see what happens,” Tuliamuk says. And she charged into the last-mile hill leaving Seidel in her wake.

Entering the homestretch into Centennial Olympic Park, Tuliamuk’s lead had opened to eight seconds. It was enough time to celebrate early, enjoy the crowds, and coast in—her tactics and patience paid in full. Instead she found another gear and sprinted to the tape with a small American flag in hand, as fans 10-plus deep urged her on. Shooting her hands up in victory, Aliphine broke the tape at 2:27:23, then turned around with open arms to greet Seidel.

Next across the line was Kipyego, the other native Kenyan, who rounded out the podium in Atlanta and with Tuliamuk made history

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Tuliamuk trains part of the year near Flagstaff, Arizona, with her NAZ Elite teammates.

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Above: Tuliamuk joined NAZ Elite in 2018 with the goal of reaching the Olympics.

Right: Tuliamuk with her fiancé, Tim Gannon, and their daughter, Zoe Cherotich Gannon.

as the first Black women set to represent the U.S. in the Olympic Marathon since the women’s event debuted in 1984.

Back in her beanie for the postrace news conference, Tuliamuk would admit to reporters, “I did not see this coming.” She was still reconciling the lofty vision for herself with the actual reality of her most significant career achievement to date. She’s still reckoning with what it would mean to represent the United States in the Olympics as a Black woman who wasn’t born here.

EAST AFRICA’S LEGENDARY reputation for churning out super-elite distance runners was lost on Tuliamuk in girlhood. Such was life in Kongelai, a small village in the Rift Valley Province near Kenya’s western border with Uganda.

“Imagine this: You don’t have radio. You don’t have a cell phone.

You don’t have any way of getting news. No one knew anything about running in my immediate community. We didn’t even

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know what was going on in Kenya, let alone the world,” she says.

That community includes her 31 siblings. Her father, Lisoreng Longuranyang, kept four wives, including Tuliamuk’s mom, Koo Ruto Lisoreng. His business was sheep trading, and Tuliamuk remembers him spending a few days with her family when he wasn’t making deals in the city or visiting his other families. “He didn’t really interact with the kids, especially the girls,” she says.

Tuliamuk ran, but it was simply how you got around. By age 6 she was logging six to eight miles a day—to the river for household water, to the market for groceries, and one day to a pharmacy after an infant brother had fallen ill. “[My mother] walked with the baby while I went ahead to make sure the dispensary was open,” she recalls. “I went to four dispensaries, and they were all closed. My brother died without medical care. And then my mother had another child after that, and he also died because he never had access to medical care. That really broke my heart.”

In the fourth grade, Tuliamuk followed an older sister onto the school track-and-field team. By the eighth grade she had

“There are many ups and downs in this sport. The emotional investment is 100 percent.” scholarship to Iowa State—where a different kind of culture shock awaited.

C o u r t e s y A l i p h i n e Tu l i a m u k

earned a starting spot in a 10K state meet, her first big race, but nearly backed out because she didn’t have proper running shoes.

Until then she’d gotten by with loafers or sandals or whatever else came to hand. Thanks to her coach Geoffrey Ptormos, twotime New York City Marathon champ and Kenyan hero Tegla Loroupe dropped by Tuliamuk’s school to speak to students and gave Tuliamuk her first running shoes. She would take second against a field of older kids and begin to dream of a career as a professional runner.

Even so, Tuliamuk never though that path could lead her to America. But Ptormos did—so much so that he brought her into his family home in a nearby village to train for the next eight years. The 2005 Under-20 World Cross Country Championships in Saint-Galmier, France, opened her eyes to the professional possibilities. Modern conveniences, too. “I was surprised by how smooth buses and flights were and that some of them even had TVs,” she recalls. A ninth-place finish there at age 15, along with her stellar grades throughout high school, earned her a

AMES, IOWA , IS a far cry from Kongelai—flat, cold, and whiter than white. And when Tuliamuk arrived on campus in the fall of 2009, she could shrug off the microaggressions she encountered. “Unless somebody literally told me something to my face, that would be the only time that I’d be like, Oh, wow, that person was racist towards me,” she says. “Honestly, I felt like the people I was hanging out with, 99 percent of whom were white, were good to me. I’d forget what my skin color is because that was not something I grew up focusing on.”

Tuliamuk has fond memories of living on an Iowa farm with her host family and going on camping trips with them in the summertime. She might’ve stuck around longer if the dynamic on her Cyclones team wasn’t so cutthroat. “We had a very solid team, I think we all wanted to be the best one on the team—and in the country—and that lead to unhealthy competition at practice and races,” says Tuliamuk, who’s too polite to get into specifics.

Also: At the time, Iowa State didn’t offer any degree program in nursing—something Tuliamuk had been driven to pursue since the death of her infant siblings. When she started looking around at programs more compatible with her twin goals of making the Olympics and becoming a nurse, she decided Wichita State was the best fit. Though she’d switch from nursing to public health, the result was nine first-team All-America honors in cross country and track and a prized degree. A shark was born.

That self-determination carried Tuliamuk through her early pro years when her winning efforts were too often rewarded with second-tier results. A supremely disappointing seventh-place finish in the 2015 New York City Half Marathon nearly convinced her to walk away from running altogether. “There are many ups and downs in this sport,” she says. “The emotional investment is 100 percent, and when you don’t realize the results that you feel are achievable, it can bring you to pause.” But the following 2016 season delivered Tuliamuk’s first three national road titles at 5K, 20K, and 25K. On the other side of those disappointments was this new, more challenging phase of her long-distance running career—a 26.2mile puzzle that she had long yearned to put together. In 2018, she began spending chunks of the year in Flagstaff, Arizona, to train

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Postpregnancy, motivation wasn’t a problem. She’s a shark, after all.

Tuliamuk plans to return to racing at the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta on July 4.

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with her team NAZ Elite. And the hats-off moment in Atlanta was the culmination of an American dream. But she never imagined that someone could lose their life on an afternoon jog less than 300 miles away.

While Tuliamuk, who was naturalized in 2016, has embraced her new home country with a passion she proudly wears and crochets, she’s had to reconcile her lot against that of the alarming rise of unarmed Black people killed at the hands of police in this country. For millions, the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer lit a fuse. But hitting even closer to home for Tuliamuk was the tragedy of Ahmaud Arbery—the Brunswick, Georgia, runner who was gunned down while jogging by a trio of white vigilantes.

Now she looks back on her lonely miles logged down unfamiliar roads and neighborhoods and thinks, My god, I could’ve been shot. She didn’t hesitate to speak out against anti-Black racism on social media, even as her fiancé, who is white, fretted over the trolls it might bring to her otherwise sunny feed. But she had to.

The idea that something as simple as running could be perverted by bigotry and racism is just so completely unfathomable to her.

“Running is roaming,” says Tuliamuk of the sport she had long considered a vehicle for freedom and exploration. But racism has made running an inherently suspicious activity for Black people. And in the last year she’s spent more time prepping for runs than she ever had. “Especially if I’m doing a road trip by myself, I have to make sure it’s a neighborhood I know, that there will be people around. I might even dress up in a way and act in a certain way so that people I’m running by feel secure and know I’m not a threat. It’s really crazy to even think about running like that.

“I might even say, ‘OK, I’m just not gonna run that day.’ I just don’t want to put myself in a situation where I have to be scared.”

As a woman who also wanted to start a family, Tuliamuk saw more worrying in her future. “Part of me is like, I hope I have girls because their chances of survival are more,” she said during our August 2020 call. “And as a parent to prefer one gender over the other is really sad, right? I hope that by the time I have my children, the world will be a better place.”

I N APR I L 2 0 2 0, as a slate of canceled major races followed the postponement of the Tokyo Games, Tuliamuk sized up the great swath of potential idle time on the horizon and decided, Now’s a good time to start a family.

She and Gannon figured they had about a year to make it happen and get her back into form for the rescheduled Olympics, leaving little margin for error or delay. “I think any working mom has a lot of different issues to consider with family planning,” says Gannon, whose work as a physician’s assistant during COVID introduced another set of concerns. “But being a professional athlete is such a physical contradiction to the whole pregnancy and birth process. There’s no guarantee that if you wait, an equal opportunity is going to present itself.”

At 13 weeks pregnant, Tuliamuk briefed her team. Rosario had worried the couple might not conceive as quickly as planned.

“Sometimes nature doesn’t cooperate,” he says. But he had trusted her instincts and her career commitment.

She held off making a public announcement until December 2020. “Once I got pregnant, I was terrified I would have a miscarriage,” she says. “I always thought, What if something’s wrong? I don’t want the world to know…” She was induced 1.5 weeks early, out

of concern for her relatively small fetus, and labored for 50 hours before giving birth to a healthy girl named Zoe, “which means Life,” she says. On her Instagram feed she marked the occasion with a photo of her new family in matching red, white, and blue beanies and made a point of noting that their special delivery had come just two days shy of Martin Luther King Day—“So close!”

Tuliamuk now had roughly seven months to prepare for Tokyo.

And though she may be the newest mother at the games, she would be in good company among elite marathon moms. Britain’s Paula Radcliffe won the 2007 New York City Marathon nine months after having her daughter. American Kara Goucher set a PR while finishing fifth in the 2011 Boston Marathon seven months postpartum. And Tuliamuk had support from fellow moms on her team in Taylor and Stephanie Bruce.

Likewise, motivation wasn’t a problem. She’s a shark, after all.

While pregnant, Tuliamuk strung together an 18-week streak of 20-mile runs—a personal best—before throttling down to six miles, and then just a couple, as her due date approached. All the while she worried that her 80-miles-a-week regimen might be stunting the baby’s growth. But Zoe came out perfectly healthy—5 pounds and 8 ounces, 18 inches—while Tuliamuk escaped with little more than intermittent sciatic nerve pain. By the spring of 2021 she was back to logging 10-mile runs and working with a physiotherapist and a pelvic-floor specialist to accelerate her postpartum healing and rebuild her core muscles. Feedings and diaper changes now fill the downtime that Tuliamuk used to reserve for naps and crocheting.

When we catch up again in mid-March, nine weeks into motherhood, she’s beaming. “I’m so, so happy,” she says.

NOT LONG AFTER Tuliamuk and I hung up last summer, she texted me a photo of a beanie she had all but completed as we spoke.

And being that this was the first interview I’d ever done during which the subject created an entire garment from start to finish, man, I had to have that beanie. A few days after a quick Venmo exchange, it showed up on my doorstep—a perfect fit. Turns out she may well have sent me a collector’s item.

After some 1,700 Etsy sales, most of them stoked by her breakout performances in New York and Atlanta, Tuliamuk put a pin in her beanie business. She has an Olympic Marathon to prepare for. She’s still operating under the assumption that it’s going to happen, even as Tokyo and other parts of Japan remain under a state of emergency because of the coronavirus and (as of press time) just 3 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.

When I asked Tuliamuk if she could see herself staging some kind of demonstration on the podium akin to the Tommie Smith tributes that hammer thrower Gwen Berry and sprinter Noah Lyles drew headlines for in the pre-COVID lead-up the Games, Tuliamuk takes a beat. “The general idea of letting athletes protest in the biggest stages of their career, I’m on board with 100 percent,” she says, echoing the USOC opposition to the IOC’s ban on podium protests. “We should be able to protest against police brutality. But I don’t see myself doing anything specific.”

She might not have to if she’s on the podium again in Tokyo, as seeing her draped in the American flag and basking in the moment with her biracial family would make for its own powerful statement. And if anything else should happen to come up that would prompt a more urgent response, rest assured: She's unlikely to keep it under her hat.

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DEMYSTIFY YOUR

HEART RATE

DATA

TO TRAIN

SMARTER, RUN STRONGER, AND

RECOVER FASTER

BY EMILIA BENTON 48

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This unique method of training takes the guesswork out of the numbers and allows you to use data to your advantage, without letting it rule your runs.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TREVOR RAAB

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IT’S NOT THAT MOST HEARTRATE-BASED TRAINING PROGRAMS ARE WRONG, IT’S JUST THAT THEY PROBABLY AREN’T RIGHT FOR YOU. 50

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That’s why David Roche, a running coach in Boulder, Colorado, two-time USATF trail 10K national champion, and coauthor of The Happy Runner: Love the Process, Get Faster, Run Longer, takes a custom approach to heart-rate training with his athletes.

Back in 2016, he was training Megan Roche, 31—now a five-time USATF trail national champion in events ranging from 10K to 50K and David’s wife— while she was in medical school. Megan often had to wake up as early as 3 a.m. to get her runs in before rotations. These early morning efforts started to wear her down. The easy days felt hard, and she wasn’t recovering well.

David suggested they dial in her training by following her heart rate, but

rather than using the typical age-based equations to map out her heart-rate zones—like 220 minus age for a max heart rate—he had Megan run a field test to find her lactate threshold and use that as her guide for workout intensity.

This threshold is the level at which the intensity of exercise causes lactate to accumulate in the blood at a faster rate than it can be removed, making it the border between low- and high-intensity work. Your lactate-threshold heart rate is a better baseline than your max heart rate, which is used in other methods, says Roche, because two runners with the same maximum heart rate can have widely dissimilar lactate thresholds due to genetic or training differences.

Megan’s test revealed that her easy runs had felt too hard because they were: Her heart rate often veered into a high-intensity zone, leaving her without actual recovery days. This became especially important as her life stress increased and affected how her heart rate responded to output. She eased up on those runs, and with this slight training tweak, Megan proceeded to have a breakthrough racing season, winning eight half-marathon to 50K races and becoming the 2016 USATF ultrarunner and sub-ultra trail runner of the year.

“By training a little bit too hard all the time, or at least when things felt good, Megan was actually making herself a little bit less aerobically efficient,” Roche explains. Consistently going too fast on easy runs increases cortisol production, induces fatigue, and can impact the hormonal and nervous systems, all of which can undercut aerobic development, he adds. “So as her aerobic efficiency went back up, her speed went up with it. Even though she had these really tough work hours, it led to maybe her best season ever, and now that test is something that she can go back to in her training.”

David uses the test as well, and he retook it this past winter to check his own training zones. While Megan discovered she needed to slow down her easy runs, he found that he was able to hold a slightly higher heart rate than expected. Now, during moderately hard tempo efforts, he knows he can sustain his lactate threshold heart rate, even if it feels hard. And on longer, moderate efforts, he uses his more personalized zones to keep his pacing in check.

“My fitness is better than ever, partially because I have been less shy about running with more effort in training, since my lactate-threshold heart rate indicates that my upper-end zones are a bit higher than anticipated by my age,” he says.

HOW TO DO THE

FIELD TEST

Find a flat, smooth course that you can run for 30 minutes straight. This will give you a more steady heart rate read and less variation than a hilly or rocky route. Strap on a chest monitor, pair it with a watch, and be ready to use the lap function.

1. Warm up with 15 minutes of easy running, some strides, and dynamic stretches such as leg swings, butt kicks, lateral lunges, and hamstring scoops.

2. For pacing: Determine the distance you could cover in 30 minutes at race effort and aim to hit that pace consistently or with negative splits.

3. In the first 10 minutes of the test, ramp up to the race-like effort and pace you’ll hold for the remaining 20 minutes.

4. At the end of the first 10 minutes, hit Lap on your watch.

5. Race the final portion, running as hard as you can sustain for the final 20 minutes.

6. Hit Lap again and cool down with 15 minutes of easy running.

Back home, check your average heart rate from that 20-minute effort.

ROCHE’S METHOD TACKLES THE BIGGEST ISSUE WITH HEART-RATE TRAINING—AND

what dozens of coaches we consulted with for this article pointed out: It’s only effective if your numbers are accurate. For example, Roche says he works with one athlete who can hold an astounding 190 beats per minute (bpm) for hours, while another will only hit 150bpm while sprinting all-out. The threshold test provides each of the runners with personalized training guidance.

“The purpose of this test is to show how your body actually works in practice, and then provide a set point and zones that you can adjust over time as your training status changes,” says Roche.

The first step in Roche’s method is ensuring you can track heart rate as accurately as possible, which means a chest strap. A 2019 study in Cardiovascular Diagnosis and Therapy showed that chest straps like the Polar H7 had the closest readings to an electrocardiogram (ECG), thus providing the most reliable data.

Then, like Megan, you’ll put it through your paces with a big effort. Roche has his athletes do a Friel Test (named after renowned triathlon coach Joe Friel), a 30-minute hard run, using the average heart rate of the last 20 minutes as the lactate-threshold approximation and then calculating your training zones—recovery, aerobic (easy) runs, and threshold—from that number.

Unlike a standard max-heart-rate test, which requires the athlete to push all-out until failure and isn’t safe for many, this test is more accessible. “Most will be able to tap into that feeling when you’re pushing hard, and you’re still able to get a few clipped words out,” he says.

FIND YOUR PERSONAL ZONES The average heart rate from your field test is your lactatethreshold heart rate (LTHR). From this number, you can calculate three key zones that Roche emphasizes for training.

ZONE 3

90%–105%+ of LTHR = steady runs, tempo runs, and most intervals. These should account for 20%–40% of your overall weekly training.

ZONE 2

85% of LTHR = aerobic easy runs, which should account for 60%–80% percent of your weekly training.

Note: Newer athletes may experience a slightly higher HR.

ZONE 1

Less than 85% of LTHR = rest and recovery.

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during easy runs. “Your lactate threshold–based zones give you a baseline to understand your own body rather than rely on a formula,” he says.

Once you have a feel for those efforts, hang up your heart-rate monitor for a while. After the field test, Roche has his athletes just use those estimates for spot-checks to calibrate their efforts, rather than having them wear a heart-rate monitor on every one of their runs. → Push it to the next level Once you feel comfortable with your zones and you’re able to keep easy runs in Zone 2, focus on Zone 3 runs or tempo efforts and intervals in the upper zone once or twice per week. Tempo runs help raise your lactate threshold to sustain a faster pace at a more comfortable heart rate, build both slow- and fast-twitch muscle fibers, which leads to gains in speed and endurance, and build your mental toughness, which makes you a better runner in every situation. Intervals can make you both faster and fitter in less time than steadystate cardio.

HOW TO APPLY YOUR RESULTS TO YOUR TRAINING → Get to know your zones This is when the fun begins. Wear a chest strap for a few weeks during your key training workouts: a shorter easy run, a long endurance run, and a hard tempo run—heart rate is less helpful on short intervals. Tempo runs are executed at a “comfortably hard” effort or slightly below your lactate-threshold heart rate. This is the effort level just outside your comfort zone—you can hear your breathing, but you’re not gasping for air, and you can hold that effort for at least 20 minutes. Aim for your new personalized heart rates, taking note of how each feels mentally and physically. You can repeat this practice as many times as you like to get a clear feel for each zone.

Roche says these zones are not hard caps. You’re allowed to go a little bit over it, and you’re definitely allowed to run as far under it as you want. The point is that if you start pushing harder than the prescribed zone all the time, you’ll run yourself into the ground, which is a common mistake that runners across the board make, especially as they start out and especially

How to Not Obsess Over the Numbers While Roche believes this method can help you become more disciplined, train efficiently, and even boost your lactate threshold, he urges his athletes not to fixate on specific targets and readings.

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→ Optimize your recovery Roche is a fan of using a Whoop strap and similar tools that measure heart-rate variability (HRV), the variance in time between the beats of your heart, as a proxy for recovery state. The higher your HRV, the more recovered you are. “It’s a great tool to gauge overall stress,” Roche says.

If your device doesn’t measure HRV, you can use your resting heart rate (RHR), which is measured quite accurately by wrist-based devices and chest straps. Take note of your normal RHR when you first wake up, before sitting up in your bed. When it’s elevated 10 or more beats per minute above normal, that could be a signal you need more recovery. When it’s normal or lower, you’re ready for the next workout. → Know when to ignore heart rate Don’t bother tracking it during speed intervals and hill workouts, when your heart rate will climb above your lactate threshold or into the upper limit of Zone 3. “There’s just too much noise and not enough signal,” Roche says.

If you’re looking down at your monitor during these types of workouts, it will likely distract you or get in the way of how you’re running and might even reduce your output, he adds.

Aim for a range versus one specific target.

Be open to your numbers changing.

A few beats above or below is no big deal. “Heart rate is not this universal rule that’s going to apply to an athlete in the same way every single day, or even at multiple times within the same day,” he says.

For some, your average heart rate will drop when repeating an effort as you get more fit. But for others (like that 190bpm runner), this won’t be the case—especially during marathon training. “Peak fitness is often just being able to go harder for longer,” Roche says.

Skip the strap during races.

Heart-rate metrics can be impacted by factors like tapers, as your blood volume and cardiac output shift.

Instead, use your training to get familiar with each zone and effort, and then trust that on race day.

Polar H10, $90 The latest version of the H7, which had the closest readings to an ECG, according to a 2019 study in Cardiovascular Diagnosis and Therapy.

Apple Watch Series 6, from $399 Apple’s Series 3 had the second-most accurate readings in that 2019 study.

Series 6 is the most advanced version yet and includes an ECG app.

Whoop Strap, free with membership (from $18/month to $30/month) This 24/7 tracker calculates your recovery based on heart-rate variability, resting heart rate, sleep, and respiratory rate.

Wahoo TICKR Heart Rate Monitor, $50 Our test team and other runners love the ease and comfort of this strap, saying you barely even notice you’re wearing it.

Fitbit Versa 3, $230 This watch will gently buzz your wrist when you reach your target heart-rate zones, which can help you control your effort without overthinking it.

HEART RATE MONITORS WE LOVE Research shows that the heart-rate data your beloved watch is gathering for you is not always correct. A study published in JAMA Cardiology found that wrist-worn, optically based monitors like those used in Garmin, Apple, and Fitbit devices were most accurate at rest, and diminished in accuracy during exercise. That, paired with the fact that variables such as skin tone, activity, heat, humidity, altitude, and even pregnancy can also affect your heart rate, means it can be tough to get a consistently accurate read. Still, wristworn devices are getting increasingly accurate, especially the ones you see here.

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→ GreeneChamberlain runs at the Wayne K. Curry Sports and Learning Center near her home in Maryland.

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INTERVIEW BY ELIZABETH OKOSUN

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIN SHA

From National Champion to the United Nations: What Lillian GreeneChamberlain Has Learned in a Lifetime of Running When Lillian Greene-Chamberlain, Ph.D., was growing up in Harlem in the late 1940s and ’50s, she was told she shouldn’t compete in sports: “You can’t do that; you can’t play that; you might get hurt,” she remembers. She proved naysayers wrong and went on to become the first U.S. national champion in the 440-yard run, as well as the first African-American woman to represent the United States internationally in 400-meter and 800-meter races. Greene-Chamberlain, now 81, later served as the first director of the Physical Education and Sports Program for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) from 1978 to 1988 and speaks fondly of her time breaking barriers alongside other female athletes. “We didn’t have role models,” she says. “We were our role models. We stepped over hurdles.”

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How did you get your start? → My journey began

at 8 years old, when a New York City policeman discovered me racing and beating the boys in the elementary school. He enrolled me in the Harlem Police Athletic League, and by the time I was 12, I received the league’s Athlete of the Year award for participation in track and field, basketball, and softball.

What made you choose track and field above the other sports? → Track was my opportunity to see

the world. With basketball, you had to depend on various tournaments. Track was universal.

There were track meets everywhere. I traveled all over the world: Russia, Poland, Hungary, Greece, Great Britain.

When you were racing in the 1950s and ’60s, those were very white countries. How did they react to seeing a Black woman competing on their level?

→ In Africa or the Caribbean, they were used to seeing people of color. But with Russia, Poland, and Hungary, I was an anomaly. I did my research.

I asked questions, I read books. I learned Russian phrases phonetically to be able to communicate with the Soviet athletes and citizens. The athletes seemed genuinely interested in the warm, friendly way our integrated U.S. team worked out together.

People stopped me to speak, touch my hair and skin, were shocked that I could speak their language, and left all kinds of gifts and souvenirs for me at our hotel.

for me to meet people, to see other places, to ask questions. Also, you don’t need any equipment; all you need are some shoes that support you. It’s a freeing activity. I could do it by myself; I didn’t need a team. And it’s something you can do while you’re thinking, while you’re meditating, while you’re planning.

What goes through your mind as you’re running?

→ I’m thinking about the state of the nation. I can’t solve the problems when I’m running, but I can determine the way I allow them to affect me.

I don’t run with headphones on because I want to have a clear mind since I plan when I’m running.

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were back in the United States the next year for the 1959 Pan American Games, in Chicago. I won the exhibition 400-meter event and set an American record. A Colorado State University official was there at the meet. She asked me if I would consider transferring to CSU to help establish the first intercollegiate track team in the school’s history. I realized that I would have to find a way to pay for my tuition by working on campus, because CSU didn’t offer athletic scholarships to women. I said, “I’ll come if you do two things: I want to learn how to ski, and if you get me a horse, I want to learn how to ride.’” And they agreed.

Why those two things? → In Harlem, where do

you learn to ski? In Harlem, where would I ever get to ride a horse? I wanted that experience. Colora-

Cour tesy of CSU Athletics and Lillian Greene - Chamberlain

After competing in Europe, you attended Colorado State University. How did you end up there? → We

do, that’s horse country. Skiing? Aspen, Colorado.

How did it feel knowing that you were so instrumental in starting their track and field team yet they wouldn’t give you a scholarship? → It’s not

that they wouldn’t give it to me. When I arrived at CSU, there were only two colleges in the United States that offered track-and-field scholarships to females. Women’s athletics at CSU were primarily intramural rather than intercollegiate. So I worked in my dorm’s cafeteria. In 1962 I was placed on the Dean’s List, and I earned the first athletic scholarship for a female athlete in CSU’s history. They established the Lillian Greene Scholarship Fund with the assistance of the Denver Post, a group of

sororities, and individual donors. I was inducted later into Colorado State University’s Hall of Fame.

I was invited to give the commencement address and I talked to them about the world that doesn’t include you or doesn’t see you. I wanted them to see that I looked beyond the obvious stumbling blocks in my way because I didn’t see them as stumbling blocks: They were stepping-stones.

Those were hurdles that I just flew over.

What advice would you give Black female athletes trying to make their way? → Don’t be afraid to

be the first one to try to accomplish something.

Just because a door is closed today, don’t think it’ll be closed tomorrow. Be strong and push it

Lillian Greene-Chamberlain was interviewed and photographed for Project Tell Me, which records the wisdom and life experiences of Black Americans ages 75 and older by connecting them with a new generation of Black journalists.

The interview series will run across Hearst websites around Juneteenth 2021. Go to hearst.com/ projecttellme for more information.

open. You can’t make a mistake if it’s never been done before. Also, you have to prepare for when the cheering stops.

You were the U.N. Director of Physical Education and Sports for 10 years. What did you do there?

→ I built schools, I trained teachers, I wrote curriculums for governments. I was responsible for the conception, planning, development, and implementation of all projects, programs, and activities related to physical education and sport in the, at that time, 161 UNESCO member nations throughout the world.

Were you ever met with resistance when you were sent to help in these countries? → Oh, yes. And

that’s where you don’t dictate; you have to understand. If I’m in China, I can’t bring America’s ideas and values and customs and norms. It’s important to understand the religion of the country, just in terms of setting up the program, and knowing if people are comfortable and how religious elements interact with what will be allowed.

What was the most life-changing thing you did for the people you served? → I can’t say one in

particular, but I would say getting to open the eyes of the elders, because it’s hard to change customs and culture. I came into this world with an assignment and I can’t see a problem that I won’t try to remedy.

What do you think that assignment is? →

To help. My assignment is to give, to be kind, to assist, be considerate, helpful, respectful, gracious, patient, and generous.

Do you think you’ve completed your assignment? ← GreeneChamberlain competes in 1962. → GreeneChamberlain carried the Olympic torch (pictured) as part of the 2002 Salt Lake City Games relay.

→ My assignment stops when I stop breathing.

It has been so multifaceted, with so many things that I never thought I would do. Living in Paris and working for the United Nations for 10 years, being of service to so many different cultures—do you know how fortunate I am? When you get that kind of blessing, you’ve got to share. And the more I share, the more it comes back to me.

Elizabeth Okosun is an arts and culture journalism major at the University of Missouri. After graduation, she intends to be a culture writer or editor.

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P H O T O G R A P H Y

Tractor leads Eli Neztsosie for a run on his family’s land near Navajo Mountain, AZ.

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BY

S H AU N

P R I C E

THE NAVAJO ULTRARUNNER

AND THE IRREPRESSIBLE BORDER COLLIE PUP BY

JARE D

B E AS LEY

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LAST DECEMBER, ELI NEZTSOSIE FOUND HIMSELF 70 MILES FROM THE NEAREST TOWN, 40 MILES FROM THE CLOSEST GAS STATION, AND THREE MILES FROM HIS HORSE, WHEN DARKNESS FELL OVER THE ARIZONA DESERT. 60

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The rancher and his dog, Tractor, had been pushing 25 head of cattle down to the low country for the winter. But the trail had grown too narrow, too rugged. Even Eli’s sure-footed horse, Two Socks, could break an ankle, or worse, trip and send them both off a cliff. So Eli had dismounted, turned on his cellphone light, and called out for Tractor to push—guide the cattle—the last few miles.

Now at the bottom of the canyon, with the herd in and the gate closed, he cursed himself for getting greedy. What usually took two people and two days, he’d tried to do alone and in one. He’d always prided himself on doing things alone, but this was too much. The sun had disappeared faster than he’d expected, and now the chill was creeping into his bones. He checked his cell battery: 3 percent.

Under the moonless sky, Eli the rancher became Eli the trail runner as he burned it back toward Two Socks. His cowboy boots

shifted and turned on stones and brushy plants, his Wranglers holding back his stride like a rubber band. But within a mile, his phone was dead, and the dark crept right up to his eyeballs.

In the high desert, bad things come out at night. If it doesn’t stick, sting, or bite, it isn’t alive. Then there’s the canyon itself: A hundred-foot drop is always lurking, without a soul for miles to hear or help.

Again, Eli turned to Tractor. As Eli’s run slowed to a hike in the darkness, the border collie instinctively jogged ahead, methodically picking his way back up the trail, always sure to keep Eli close. He sees what Eli doesn’t, smells what he can’t. In streaks and jumps, Eli’s eyes strained to stay with the white spot on the back of the dog’s neck. When he lost the spot, Eli followed the sound of Tractor’s breathing. And in less than half an hour, they were back at Two Socks, who could deliver them home by memory.

For many Navajo ranchers like Eli, isolation and independence is a way of life. Needing anybody or anything is a sign of weakness.

Tractor, however, has challenged that notion in Eli. On a ranch with no running water or electricity atop an island of sand bound by canyons and coyotes, the five-year-old ranch dog has become a lifeline.

ished 13th. The next October he was back at Escalante to win in 1:37, while he improved at Naatsis’áán (now a 50K) to take fourth.

By 2020, he was at the Little Colorado River Gorge 10K, super fit but unsure of his speed at the relatively short distance. He squinted at the high school cross-country runners at the line. They are gonna thrash me, he thought. After the last turn, Eli let loose like Tractor bounding down sandstone. He rolled an ankle but pushed through, blowing by a kid half his age and setting a new course record.

Instead of basking in the win and postrace vibes, Eli returned to his truck for the 70-mile drive to his next race of the day, the Kahtoola Agassiz Uphill. It was 3.5 miles climbing 3,000 feet up the Arizona Snowbowl and bombing back down. Eli took second.

Running came during a tense period for Eli, and he needed the

↓ Eli laces up in a family home he’s been renovating. A handful of small sponsorships, including Kahtoola, have helped cover his gear and travel costs over the last couple years.

n February 2017, Eli crawled out of bed early, stressed after a sleepless night. A dirt-bike crash six years before had left him with seizures. A regimen of medication from doctors helped but took his moods south. Not used to being told how to live his life was the hardest part. So he got up and went for a walk to relieve the building anxiety. On a whim he still can’t explain, he broke into a jog. Tractor, at his side, was happy with the new pace. So was Eli. For the first time since the seizures started, he felt relief.

In the following days, Eli wanted more: five miles, seven, then 10. Just three weeks after his first strides up and down the canyons with Tractor, Eli entered the Monument Valley Ultra’s trail half marathon. Sporting cargo shorts, worn-out sneakers from high school, and a fresh case of shin splints, he planned to go out easy and just test his endurance. Instead, his competitive nature took over.

He pushed until his legs went numb, only for them to come alive again like fire. He finished in 2:13, trashed, depleted, ready for more.

Ignoring what became two stress fractures, Eli loaded up his truck for more competition. Without money for hotels and entrance fees, he excelled at sneaking into races. When he reached the finish line, he didn’t linger. Talk to no one, just go get back to the truck.

At night, he slipped into hotel parking lots, cut the lights, wolfed down PBJs, then crawled in the back to sleep. In the day, he shoed horses, found welding jobs, and moved on. True dirtbagging, he says. “If you’re passionate about something, you’re gonna find a way no matter what.”

Eight months after that initial run, Eli took second at the largely uphill Escalante Canyons Half Marathon in 1:50. Two weeks later, he entered his first ultra, the Naatsis’áán Trail 40-miler, and fin-

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→ “I’m beyond blessed with the land we live on and the air we breathe and our heritage.

I’m rich in so many ways.”

↓ Eli and Two Socks ride through sagebrush.

outlet it provided. Beyond his health issues, he was still navigating the fallout of his grandfather’s death in 2016. The old man had always run the ranch, and his loss was a massive blow to the family. On top of that, a cow had died with her calf, the bloodlines had gone bad, and they needed to find a new bull. Who was going to step up and head the ranch? Though Eli owned only 20 percent of the livestock, if he said yes, he would be responsible for all of it.

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avajo Mountain is a 10,387-foot mammoth laccolithic dome of rock and sand that straddles the Utah-Arizona border, smack-dab in the middle of the Navajo Nation. Beneath the sacred mountain lies a wrinkled labyrinth of gorges and rock

formations that Eli calls home.

His family has been self-sufficient ranchers on this isolated landscape since the mid-1800s. He lives in a hogan, a traditional Navajo home with no running water, no electricity, and no bed. In winter, he crashes on the couch, and Tractor curls up next to him.

In summer, the two sleep under the stars in the back of the truck.

Eli tried living outside the Navajo Nation once. For three years he paid $1,400 a month for a pad in Flagstaff. The convenience was nice but boring. When he returned to Navajo Mountain in 2011, the ranch was in dire straits. The cattle were half the weight they’d been. His grandfather was approaching 90 then, still making the decisions, and Eli wanted to pitch in. But then he was the one needing the help.

He can’t remember where he was going on the dirt bike or why he hadn’t taken his helmet. By luck, his sister discovered him, unconscious, on the side of the road next to his pretzled machine.

Surgery and a metal plate followed, then a medically induced coma.

His doctor told the family Eli might never be the same.

Memories of the recovery are a series of painful flashes for Eli: a wheelchair, being held up by other people just to stand, then depending on a walker. Special days were when he made it to the skybridge between the hospital buildings. He liked to stare down at the cars below like he was studying ants back home.

After Eli left the hospital, he did his best to help on the ranch.

The short-term memory loss made that tough—“there were always gaps, confusion.” It’s something he still battles. A year into recovery, progress was slow and steady, but then the seizures started.

Despite Eli’s reluctance, the doctors put him on a heavy dose of anticonvulsants, notorious for causing dizziness, blurred vision, and depression. Eli experienced it all. When the doctors grew concerned and countered with antidepressants, Eli said no.

Many traditional Navajo are skeptical of Big Pharma, believing they create substance abuse, chronic disease, and mental illness.

The suicide rate among the Navajo population is twice that of the national average, and many blame the mental health system and antidepressants. They’re seen as the enemy of Hózhó.

Hózhó is considered the most important word in the Navajo language, says Navajo storyteller Sunny Dooley. It’s also the hardest to translate because there are so many interpretations. Navajo authors on the subject describe Hózhó as that feeling you get when you stare at the 1,000-year-old petroglyphs of your ancestors or gaze up at the enigmatic Milky Way from where you come and where you must go. To be “in Hózhó” is to be one with it all. For Eli, that means an unaltered mind.

ive years after the accident, Eli was still struggling. His pipefitting job at a gas plant outside Cortez, Colorado, paid good money, and it was nice to work again. Still, the same problems of any job were there: politics, egos, favoritism. Since the crash, he couldn’t deal with BS like he used to.

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WITHOUT TRACTOR, I DON’T KNOW WHERE I’D BE NOW. HE’S MY BIGGEST SUPPORTER AND THE BEST FRIEND I’VE EVER HAD.

Some people only live to exist, his grandmother used to say. Now, that was him. So he quit, drove into Cortez to let off steam, and walked into a seed store. That’s where he saw a bulletin advertising border collie pups for $150, a great price for a herding breed. The owner turned out to be a kid. He only had one pup left and had named him Tractor. Despite growing up believing that paying for a dog is a waste of money, Eli bought the tri-colored pup and went home.

Now on the family ranch with Eli, the four-month-old dog would have to earn his spot and gain the respect of the mother cows. Protective and temperamental, the cows charged Tractor immediately.

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Tractor spun, flipped, and twisted away from their horns. Eli’s past dogs had not been so lucky. Eli himself has taken a horn to the chin.

Tractor also understood Eli. Left. Right. Push. He was able to move the herd in any direction the rancher wanted. “I didn’t have to train him,” Eli says. “He knew exactly what to do. He’s the best cattle dog I’ve ever seen.”

Before Tractor, Eli refused to admit that he had depression. He didn’t believe in that stuff. He grew up around ranchers who had survived genocide, disease, uranium contamination, the harsh desert, all by isolation and grit. He was raised to not need medicine or loans

← “Tractor’s trained almost every mile beside me and has always had my back.

I always understand him and he has always understood me.”

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↑ “I’ve learned in the last couple years of being a runner, if you seek happiness first, everything comes to you.”

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or help for anything. It made him strong but couldn’t help him counter the mood swings from the meds. Tractor did. The dog’s vibe was infectious; he was inexhaustible, curious, up for anything, and loyal.

The ranch dog was an enthusiastic running partner, with Eli every step, zigzagging across the sandstone-riddled fields, sniffing out coyotes, darting between the sage. Wherever they went, the truck was loaded with their running gear in case the urge hit.

Eli’s relationship with Tractor brought the realization that he’s attached to things in this world—that it was time to stop floating— and in 2017, he decided to take his grandfather’s place as the head of the ranch. “Without Tractor, I don’t know where I’d be now,” he says. “He’s my biggest supporter and the best friend I’ve ever had.”

Some traditional Navajo say that dogs are guardians sent to teach us, to be with us in times of need. If the bond is made, it will never

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go away, even after death. When the time comes, says storyteller Dooley, a thankful dog will walk away into the next realm. There a transformation will occur, and the dog will come back to you as a spirit companion for eternity.

t was just 7 a.m., but the air was already warm at the start of the 2020 Babbitt’s Backyard Ultra. The 4.16-mile loop 20 miles north of Flagstaff boasted a couple of hills, a few cows, and a stray goose. The pandemic had decimated the race calendar, but the mood was festive, the attire varied. One woman wore a rainbow skirt, as did the man beside her. Another runner sported a white jock strap with a furry tail. Off to himself, Eli was quiet, stoic behind his sunglasses and the bandana covering his face.

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It was his eighth ultra and his first since the pandemic arrived.

It was also his first backyard competition: Runners must complete the course loop once an hour until only one person remains. Eli had no crew and no clue; he carried all his nutrition. He told himself he wasn’t gonna last long anyway. But he was still running as the sun set, the temps dropped, and a wicked wind kicked up. At 50 miles, only six head torches bobbed around the course in the dark. One was Eli’s. Two laps later a runner fell off. The next lap, two more, so that just three runners reached mile 71. Only two went out for another lap.

Eli began lap 19, but a recurring ankle injury was flaring up. He told the leader to rock on ahead, and limped back to the start-finish line. A husky dog barked as Eli approached the camp, and a fellow runner congratulated him with a proper ultramarathon gift, a PBR. He had put in his longest run yet, 75 miles, finished second, and got a free pair of Kogalla trail lights to boot. It felt good.

As friends and couples sat around a campfire after the race, Eli quietly drank his beer. To many, he looked like a guy who’d seen his share of fights. Dawn Greenwalt, who battled through the last few laps with Eli to take the win, had seen another side: “He seemed really positive, motivated—like he was going to run really long.” Colleen Lingley in third place had seen the same thing: “He was downright chatty,” she said. “He talked about his land, spirit animals; he just opened up.”

Eighteen hours of continuous running had affected the rancher.

In the beginning, he’d run at his own pace, not sticking with any group. As the hours wore on, he clung to the leaders. Greenwalt and Lingley were both mothers from Flagstaff, and non-Native, which often makes Eli feel alienated. But in those long hours, they were the same, fellow runners suffering together. The stoic rancher who liked to do things on his own seemed to be evolving.

he winter sun rises easy over the ranch at the base of Navajo Mountain. From Eli’s hogan, smoke is trickling out in fingers, wafting over cacti and desert shrubs. He’s just lit the stove, and soon there will be breakfast. Tractor knows the drill, and after they eat, the dog is out the door in a flash. Nowadays, some Navajo are taught at an early age to run first thing in the morning. That’s when the sacred beings come out. You yell out so they can hear you and recognize you as one of their own.

Eli feels good today. The smokestack from the coal plant in Page has finally been torn down; the sky is more vibrant and alive than it’s been in decades. The cool air fills his lungs, and the sun peeks through the clouds to warm his face as he and Tractor stride down the long-deserted reservation roads. Old houses are scattered here and there, leaning in disrepair. Eli knew their families.

Carrying a 15-liter pack full of granola bars and baby food, Eli sets the pace as Tractor navigates with his nose to the ground. The dog has trained almost every mile with Eli. He knows the routes better than

T

any GPS watch. The miles pass gently as the clouds build in the sky.

Wet dirt. Footprints. Rolling hills. Ruts of ice and snow rest in the trails like tiny glaciers. A tall cactus hugs the road, and Eli imagines it’s a person, its arms stretched toward the sky cheering him on.

The rancher recently received an invite to the 2021 Leadville Trail 100, a famously difficult race he’s not sure he’s ready for. He needs more endurance to compete, and Tractor’s energy pushes him on.

By the end of the day, the two will finally return to the hogan after 52 miles. It’ll be Tractor’s first ultra. Still hyper, he’ll want more.

On their final stretch of the run, they stop in a small valley, once home to his great-grandmother. She was buried there in the traditional way, her hogan collapsed over her with her belongings laid out beside her. Now, six more family members are there; Eli helped bury most of them and runs here often. The old logs of the hogan are still visible, and steel rods anchor a chain-link fence around it. The Navajo keep fences small, says Eli—they believe big fences invite death.

Death is not something many Navajo talk about. It’s taboo. But being a rancher in such an isolated location, Eli’s seen his fair share.

He’s had to put down animals with his own rifle: cows, sheep, and several family dogs. It didn’t bother him then. He was young. He didn’t think about it. It was the way of the rancher. Now, he can’t imagine thinking of Tractor like that. It’s been five years since he brought him to the ranch. The border collie still has the energy of a puppy, yet to Eli he looks grown-up.

When Eli runs by the gravesites, he wishes his ancestors could see him now. See what he’s done with the ranch, the improvements he’s made: the water tanks, the livestock, the modern equipment, the new bull. And that progress is coming. Last year, electricity finally reached his ranch. Eli’s also been restoring an old building his grandfather built years ago. Meant to be a home, it became rundown and was used as a summer sheep camp. When Eli’s done, he’s going to live in it and put his grandfather’s sun chart over the door.

Eli says he’s somewhere between 80 and 90 percent recovered from the crash. He still battles memory lapses and tries to take each day as it comes. That’s the rancher way. And as for running, he’s still not sure what future lies down that path. For someone raised on steely grit and quiet strength in the shadow of Navajo Mountain, the races expose him to a larger world he’s not certain he wants to be a part of.

Still, he signs up, oftentimes last minute, still doubting his strength and endurance until he proves himself wrong. In April, he turned down the Leadville invite, citing that old ankle injury.

But later in the month he finished 11th at the Born to Run 60-miler, and then a week later ran his first 100, the Salt Flats Endurance Run, with a respectable midpack finish.

Even if Eli is reluctant to commit to ultramarathons more than a week in advance, commitment—to the ranch, to Tractor—isn’t something he fears. Eli considers Tractor Navajo. The pair communicate without words, and each morning they run, greeting the sacred spirits.

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BACK IN 2016, when Galen Rupp wore a prototype of the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly 4% and captured bronze in the Olympic Marathon, nobody outside Nike knew the footwear revolution to come. The Vaporfly upended the sport and, since then, most runningshoe companies have rushed to catch up to Nike and release their own super shoe for road racing. For what it’s worth, the same equipment gap has opened on the oval in this Olympic cycle, too—Brooks is allowing its athletes to wear any competitors’ track spikes they feel will give them the best chance for success at the Games.

On the roads, however, brands are closing in on Nike and are now making shoes that

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lead to sizable PRs for their athletes. The Sky is Asics’ top model and, based on the results of elite runners like Sara Hall and what we’ve seen in our own testing, it’s one of the fastest alternatives to the Vaporfly so far.

Sky is the first model available in a twoshoe collection from Asics—the other, the MetaSpeed Edge, wasn’t available before this issue went to press.

Why two shoes? Asics believes there are two ways runners can go faster—you either take longer strides or you take more steps. The Sky is built for that “stride” runner. With a 5mm drop and almost uniformly thick midsole from heel to toe, it helps those runners increase their stride length while making them roughly 3 percent more economical—runners use less energy to cover a given distance.

The Edge, by comparison, has an 8mm drop and a more gradual rocker under the forefoot. Asics claims the design helps “cadence” runners to be more efficient by reducing the number of steps they’d otherwise take (Asics reports a drop of 750 steps over a marathon).

It starts with the foam → Before this era of super shoes, midsoles were

commonly made from EVA, the standard white foam that was acceptably soft, durable, and cheap for general use. The Vaporfly ushered in Pebax, proving that a lightweight midsole compound could be exceptionally soft but also springy and explosive. Other brands are using Pebax now, while some are experimenting with different compounds that they hope deliver similar performance gains. Asics found its answer in nylon, dubbed FF Blast Turbo, which has properties similar to Pebax.

Nylon, like Pebax, compresses easily when you land, so it feels really squishy and soft upon footstrike yet firms up for toe-off. But the key difference from EVA is that it springs back to its normal shape, so you get consistent cushioning with every stride.

A stiff, smooth, rolling sole → Buried deep in that foam block is a full-

length carbon plate. It’s curved to reduce ankle f lexion, so you expend less energ y from the joint. This is something Asics has tried on shoes like the MetaRide, claiming its “Guidesole” construction reduces energy loss at the ankle by 19 percent. In that shoe, Asics uses an extreme rocker so when you land, your foot rolls directly forward to toe-off, rather than requiring you to stabilize your footstrike.

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Does it match the Vaporfly? → Over a dozen runs in the MetaSpeed Sky,

I found it to feel—and even sound—quite a lot like the Vaporfly. There’s plenty of comfort and it’s undeniably faster than most other shoes we’ve tried, thanks to a good mix of cushioning and responsiveness. We put it on the feet of 10 wear-testers to get a sense for how it performs.

Andy Po regularly logs miles in Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% and Hoka One One Bondi, so I set him up with the Sky. “My longest test run was 20 miles, which was also my longest run ever,” Andy said. “The Sky

isn’t as fast as the Vaporfly—the snap isn’t as snappy. I feel pushed forward more in the Nikes.

“The toebox felt generous when I first put them on. It’s wide around the sides, but at the front it gets really narrow so they fit tight.”

On a recent Saturday-morning group run, I noticed that Andy is a true forefoot runner, which exacerbated his issues with the toebox fit—he was sore after that 20-miler.

Our recommendation: Head to your local running store and try on the MetaSpeed Sky before you buy a pair—or, if you can’t, go up a half size.—Jeff Dengate

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Tightly woven portions of Flyknit yarn reinforce a strong and snug heel fit, while a looser weave ventilates over the top of the foot.

Visually, the waffle outsole is reminiscent of the 1970s prototypes Bill Bowerman crafted.

On the run, we found its durable full-rubber tread delivers some of the best grip you’ll find on a road shoe today.

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NIKE ZOOMX INVINCIBLE RUN F LY K N I T PR ICE :

$180 | TYPE : Road 10.1 oz (M), 7.6 oz (W) DROP : 9 mm (M), 8.4 mm (W) W EIGHT :

THE LINK BETWEEN running shoes and injury is one of the most hotly debated subjects among biomechanists and footwear experts—not to mention barefoot enthusiasts and maximalist runners. So leave it to Nike to design a shoe

aimed at injury prevention and dub it “Invincible Run.” Nike’s testing of the shoe included a commissioned three-month study with North Star Sports Medicine Research in 2020, which used the same protocols and running-focused training program as during an earlier study that compared the Infinity Run and the Zoom Structure in 2019. This time, Nike swapped in the Invincible for the Infinity, but the results remained consistent: Runners training in the Invincible reported 52 percent fewer injuries

(defined as “missing three or more consecutive runs due to running-related pain”) than runners who trained in the Structure 22.

While Nike doesn’t claim that this shoe will cut your injury risk in half, the drop in injuries among the study’s 226 runners was significant—and also makes sense when viewed alongside the highly regarded work out of the University of Calgary’s Human Performance Lab. UCalgary’s research suggests that choosing a shoe simply based on comfort may be one of the best ways to mitigate the risk of injury.

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If that’s ever proven, the Invincible Run is supremely well equipped for the job. Every tester on our team gave the shoe a score of either 6 or 7 (out of 7) in the comfort category, with one tester deeming it the “most comfortable shoe” he’s ever worn.

Most of that comfort comes from the ZoomX midsole made from Nike’s top-tier Pebax-based foam. It’s among the lightest, plushest, and most responsive around, and has the capacity to return about 70 percent of energy with each footstrike, the most of any material we’ve tested at the RW Shoe Lab. ZoomX delivers exceptional bounce and bottomless softness, without packing out or feeling overly mushy, and the Infinite Run has more of it underfoot than any other daily trainer in Swoosh’s lineup.

To keep the Invincible Run riding smoothly atop all that foam, the sole uses a slightly curved rocker while a horseshoe-shaped heel

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counter holds the back of your foot steady on touchdown. Nike also widened the forefoot and flared the foam around the heel to further stabilize landings. Still, testers said the shoe felt a bit wobbly on tight corners and crowned roads or buckled sidewalks. That said, the expanded forefoot did have one very noticeable benefit—the fit felt more accommodating to runners who had experienced cramped toes in the narrower Peg 38.—Morgan Petruny

WE AR-TEST REPORT DER EK CA LL ,

35, tester since 2015 Medium GAIT : Neutral FOOTSTR IK E : Heel TYPICA L W EEK LY MILEAGE : 40 OTHER SHOES DER EK LIK ES : Reebok Floatride Energ y, Saucony Triumph, Hoka One One R incon A RCH :

“With most of the new foams, you feel the difference underfoot in the first few steps. I felt my feet sink into the Invincible’s ZoomX foam as I was standing up from tying the laces. But the foam felt just as comfortable on the 13th mile; there was no ‘60-minute hardening’ that I’ve experienced in other shoes. The cushioning-to-energy-return ratio in the forefoot is solid—allowing me to take on hills with steep, gnarly grades. And while the shoe is a bit bulky in design, at no point did I ever feel anything underfoot but a cushy bounce. Because of the aforementioned zip, I found it hard to have a full recovery day in these shoes; even my easiest runs turned out to be five to 10 seconds faster per mile than I’d anticipated. I wore these for a month, and every run had at least one mile where I did a double-take on my pace or checked my watch settings to make sure my GPS sync was up-to-date.”

A rear spoiler adds stability and traction on touchdown while shielding against scrapes.

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$135 | TYPE : Trail W EIGHT : 10.9 oz (M), 9.2 oz (W) DROP : 8 mm

NEW BALANCE RELEASED the first version of this model back in 2015. The shoe was named for El Hierro, the smallest of the Canary Islands, where the mountainous terrain is a natural wonderland for vert-chasing trail runners. At that time, both shoe and island were crushing

energ y-centric milestones: The shoe was among NB’s first trail models to get a Fresh Foam midsole, a compound that delivered greater energy return with each stride. Only slightly more impactful, El Hierro the place was on pace to becoming the world’s first entirely energy-self-sufficient island—thanks to a huge investment in wind turbines and water power. Since then, both Hierros have made monumental progress in energy return and energy independence, respectively.

Updates from v5 extend beyond the mid-

sole—it still uses Fresh Foam. The material is largely made from standard EVA, so while the specific chemical structure is not especially avant-garde, NB’s engineering process gives the foam some unique properties. Slightly firm and highly protective underfoot, Fresh Foam has a little springiness, but not so much that it feels bouncy. Our testers described the overwhelming sensation as lightweight, shock-absorbing, and stable. And, to clear up any confusion, the tongue’s “Fresh Foam X” label refers to a collection of shoes, not a R U NNER SWO R LD.COM

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A LT R A S U P E R I O R 5 PR ICE :

$120 | TYPE : Trail 9.6 oz (M), 8.6 oz (W) DROP : 0 mm W EIGHT :

specific type of foam. While Fresh Foam X collection midsoles use different geometries for a smoother ride, their underlying chemistry is essentially the same—there’s no secret “X” ingredient that’s been added to the recipe.

The Vibram Megagrip rubber outsole also remains unchanged from the v5. That’s good, as our test team found it has a phenomenal balance of stickiness and durability. The lugs vary slightly in height, but most sit about four millimeters proud of the sole, with mirrored shapes at the heel and forefoot to match climbs and descents. Though there’s no rockplate beneath it, the lugged outsole offers good underfoot protection, and the plateless design actually helped make the shoe more versatile on stretches of pavement. “I usually run with Yaktrax for additional traction, but I found that I didn’t need them when running in the Hierro. The tread didn’t get loaded with mud and didn’t slide in the snow,” one tester said. “On roads, the lugs didn’t give me that uncomfortable nubby feeling like some trail shoes.”

So, what is new? The upper. New Balance analyzed heat maps from its internal wear-test

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data and pegged the regions where runners historically saw “blowouts.” Using that intel, the brand reinforced the sides of the mesh upper and toe with TPU fibers and added laser perforations to the surrounding areas for breathability. These new materials—combined with the updated inner bootie construction—helped create a more snug heel fit and midfoot lockdown while chipping away at the v5’s biggest shortcoming: weight. Testers who ran in the v6 and in previous versions noted that this model is tighter and lighter—it dropped more than half an ounce. But, it still isn’t quite nimble enough for super-technical trails and racing; most testers preferred the shoe for easy runs.

Six years from its debut, the Hierro has found small ways to thank its eco-friendly namesake. To minimize waste, New Balance recycled the leftover scrap materials taken from the shoe’s upper and added it to the heel to create a more durable overlay. Plus, in an effort that dovetails with El Hierro’s progress in sustainability, New Balance will donate 1 percent of profits from sales of the Hierro v6 in the U.S. to 1% for the Planet.—M.P.

THE SUPERIOR IS the closest you can get to running barefoot while still reaping the benefits of a traditional trail-running shoe—gaiter attachments, resilient mesh, a grippy tread. One standout feature of the Superior is the removable stone guard, a pliable yet protective full-length insert you tuck under the insole. This “take it or leave it” component caters to trail runners who want the extra buffer underfoot as well as those partial to the ground-feel that a thin, flexible midsole delivers. Yank it and you save nearly an ounce of weight, too.

I tested the shoe with the stone guard over a mix of cinder, gravel, and pavement. The guard’s positioning was a little awkward; the insert in my size 6.5 is slightly bigger than the bottom of the shoe. But the guard flattens when you start to run—no distracting folds or bumps beneath the insole. The shoes felt just a tad heavier and stiffer with the inserts, but my form and speed weren’t hampered.

They do offer peace of mind, however, considering the Superior’s thin sole and tread that’s tamer than other Altra trail offerings like the Lone Peak, which has claw-like lugs. So save this accessory for rocky hikes or truly technical runs on gnarly singletrack (the kind where you jump over fallen trees).

The shoe’s “burrito” tongue, which was introduced in the Superior 4, remains divisive. It connects to the upper on one side only, allowing easier entry than a fully gusseted tongue, yet it still prevents trail debris and particles from getting trapped inside. One tester called it a “huge miss,” and reported that he was unable to center the tongue over his foot. I, on the other hand, am a fan of the one-sided construction. The wraparound closure creates a secure hug around your ankle, so you don’t need any special lacing technique to get a great fit.

The rest of the Superior’s upper has a streamlined profile and plenty of flex.

Its minimalistic construction is ideal for off-road racing—it’s the trail shoe version of a racing flat. During a virtual 10K on a rail trail, I soared along at a 7-minute pace, deftly avoiding small rock piles and stray sticks strewn on the path. Its

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The removable stone guard weighs a full ounce for a men’s size 9.

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breathable upper and wide toebox also make it a suitable trainer for running long. I could enjoy an easy 10-miler and not experience any friction around my toes as the increasing heat caused swelling.—Amanda Furrer

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Why You Should Rotate Your Shoes

RW+ member G_Revers asked: “When rotating different running shoes, some with significant drop differences, is it better to rotate them daily or weekly? Or is it not a good idea to rotate?”

→ We’ve long advocated that runners should

have more than one pair of shoes in their closet—even if it’s just to have a dry pair to slip on the day after a rainy run. You also want to use the right tool for the task at hand—lightweight speedsters for track day, and thicker, cushioned shoes for long runs.

And alternating between a couple pairs of shoes can dramatically reduce the chances of you getting injured. Altra’s co-founder Golden Harper learned this as a kid working in his family’s running shoe store, Runner’s Corner, in Orem, Utah.

“My father, Hawk Harper, would often tell people who were running more than 20

to 25 miles a week that according to studies published in Running Research News, they would be 25 percent less injured if they rotated different types of shoes, such as a road shoe and a trail shoe or a cushioned shoe and a very lightweight, less structured shoe, etc.,” Harper says. “I would kind of shake my head there on the fit bench, thinking he was full of it.”

Later in college, Golden’s own research confirmed that his dad was right. A study conducted in Luxembourg found a 39 percent reduction in injuries among runners who rotated their shoes. So, yes, it’s a good idea to have a few pairs on hand.

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The multidirectional tread pattern provides traction on almost any surface.

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BROOKS RICOCHET 3 PR ICE :

$120 | TYPE : Road 9.1 oz (M), 7.5 oz (W) DROP : 8 mm W EIGHT :

T H E R I C O C H E T I S part of Brooks’s energize family—along with Levitate and Bedlam— and has a knit upper and DNA Amp midsole.

These are the shoes you choose for cranking out tempo runs. They were designed to be the shoe you grabbed for speedwork rather than your daily trainer, except there was one flaw: The lively energy return got lost in a dense, heavy, and stiff midsole that made you want to cruise slowly instead. They felt clunky. But this new Ricochet gets a reformulated version of DNA Amp, which is 20 percent lighter and doesn’t sacrifice the energy return we’d come to appreciate. One tester, who also ran in the first version of the Levitate, said the Ricochet 3 felt “surprisingly snappy and lightweight.”

I tested both the Ricochet 3 and Levitate 4 on a flat, straight course. Gone is that hulky thickness; the leg fatigue that used to crop up early in my run disappeared. Compared to the Levitate, I found the Ricochet more flexible and a touch softer, especially in the heel. Brooks tweaked the placement of Bio MoGo DNA, sectioning it off in the heel, with a patch of DNA Amp in the forefoot for stronger pushoff. The cushioning is still quite firm. Our wear-testers agreed, reserving the shoe for shorter runs and shelving them for long runs, when they’d reach for more-cushioned models that provided better support.

I was never a fan of the sock-like material and fit of older versions, which hugged my feet but the thick material trapped sweat and caused hot spots around my heels. I’ve finally found joy in the knit upper because Brooks nailed it this time, making it more breathable, stretchier, and sportier.—A.F.

The outsole has an arrow-point-shaped tread for quick heel-totoe transitions.

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WE AR-TEST REPORT KYLIE RODR IGUEZ ,

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tester since 2017

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High GAIT : Neutral FOOTSTR IK E : Heel TYPICA L W EEK LY MILEAGE : OTHER SHOES KYLIE LIK ES:

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30 Brooks R icochet 2, Brooks

Revel 3, Nike Zoom Fly 3

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“I ran in the Ricochet through snow, rain, and lots of slush. The traction was great in all conditions; however, the shoe soaked up a lot of the water due to the fabric. On warmer, dry days, it’s breathable and light, which I like.”

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How to Choose the Best Pack to Stay Hydrated and Be Prepared on Long Runs When you’re heading out on a long run on the trail, or training for an ultramarathon, a hydration pack is essential to carry not only all the water you’ll need but also the fuel and gear required for the conditions you’ll encounter.

Today’s packs vary in features and are designed with different purposes in mind—from minimal, ultralight vests for shorter runs to high-capacity backpacks for multiday efforts.

To help guide you in deciding what type of pack fits your running needs, we enlisted the help of Runner’s World video producer and ultramarathoner Pat Heine, who uses both minimalist packs for shorter training runs and higher-capacity models for multiday events.

Here, he offers advice on how to choose the right pack, which features to consider, what essential equipment (if any) you might need for longer runs, and why he wore the (nowdiscontinued) Salomon S/Lab Sense Ultra 8 Set during his 327-mile FKT (fastest known time) run on the Mid State Trail in Pennsylvania earlier this year.

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What to Look For in a Pack F E AT U R E S T O C O N S I D E R → THE RIGHT PACK / “The 4.4-ounce Salomon S/Lab Sense Ultra 8 Set has been my go-to race pack since its release in 2017 for its crazy capacity-to-weight ratio, so it was the obvious choice for staying light during my 327-mile FKT attempt this spring. Its eight-liter capacity is enough to store all the mandatory gear for a big race like UTMB or FKT, while any unused space disappears,” says Heine.

This pack is now discontinued, but its replacement, the Sense Pro 10, made our list of the top three hydration packs we recommend (see sidebar). If you’re looking for a pack for shorter, one-day trail runs, you’ll find one of those on our list, too.

→ BLADDER OR BOTTLES / Some packs store a hydration bladder in the main rear compartment, so you can carry up to a couple liters of water and sip through a bite valve and hose cinched down on the shoulder strap.

Others have pockets on the straps to store water bottles or flasks. These are typically easier to fill trailside and allow you to separate plain water and electrolyte drink mix. Some packs can accommodate both, but consider that some might not include either and will require you to buy them separately. “The Salomon I used for my FKT is not bladdercompatible,” says Heine. “Instead, it includes two half-liter flasks on the front of the vest. I filled one with water and the other with electrolyte drink, and tossed a third flask into the main pouch for longer sections without aid.”

→ SPORT/GENDER-SPECIFIC DESIGN / Many brands offer sport- or gender-specific construction to boost comfort. Some women-specific models, such as the Salomon Sense Pro 10, take into account where the straps and flasks are positioned on the front.

Adjustable straps help you tweak the fit so the pack hugs your torso and won’t move or bounce as you dash down the trail. Heine appreciates the minimal chest straps on the

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“Salomon’s 4.4-ounce S/Lab Sense Ultra 8 Set was the obvious choice for staying light during my 327-mile FKT attempt.

Its eight-liter capacity is enough to store all the mandatory gear for a big race, while any unused space disappears.”—PAT H.

S/Lab because they reduce the chance of chafing and, he says, “the toggles make it quick to adjust the fit on the fly, even with gloves on.” Vented panels and lightweight fabrics stretch and allow sweat to evaporate instead of build up.

→ FRONT POCKETS / Vest-style packs add pockets on the shoulder straps to hold gels, a phone, and other items you need to access quickly on the run without having to remove your pack. Most packs also include larger pockets capable of holding water bottles and soft flasks up front for easy access without the mess—and bounce—of a bladder.

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THE TOP 3 PACKS WE RECOMMEND

EMERGENCY GEAR

If you plan to do a multiday run with the risk of finding yourself alone or lost, it’s important to be prepared. For his FKT attempt, Heine stuffed his pack with a headlamp, vest, hat, gloves, phone, a map, a space blanket, and, of course, plenty of snacks. He recommends equipping your pack with these essential items so you don’t find yourself in an emergency situation without a solution.

BEST FOR WOMEN

SOL EMERGENCY BLANKET / $5 Yeah, it’s that standard space blanket you’re used to seeing after races. It weighs almost nothing and could save your life. If you get injured, lost, or stuck in bad weather, wrapping up in one of these will reflect body heat to keep you warm. It’s always easy to throw one in the pack—just in case.

KATADYN BEFREE COLLAPSIBLE WATER FILTER BOTTLE / $40 This 0.6L flask makes any water source a safer water source. The water flows through the 0.1-micron microfilter built into the cap, so bacteria and protozoa won’t harm the drinker. I specifically recommend the 0.6L flask for runners because the 1L size is just huge.

SPRING ENERGY AWESOME SAUCE / $35 FOR 10 These apple cinnamon–flavored gels are easy on the stomach and pack 180 calories each. They’re vegan, have loads of carbs, sodium, and potassium, and go down more like a smoothie than a gel. Other flavors include Canaberry, Speednut With Caffeine, and Koffee.

SALOMON SENSE PRO 10 / $180 Two front flask pockets are positioned lower to fit around a woman’s chest. The design also features six additional pockets, including two zippered pockets, a rear pass-through pocket, a main zippered compartment, and a top-loading pouch.

BEST NEW RACE VEST

THE NORTH FACE FLIGHT RACE DAY 8 / $149 Made of breathable, stretchy material, this pack has a hook and pull cable to help get flasks into the pockets quickly when the pack is loaded.

Lower dump pockets are angled to push gear to the side to distribute weight evenly and reduce bouncing.

ALL-DAY ADVENTURER

CAMELBAK OCTANE 18 / $125 The Octane 18 provides loads of storage and a two-liter bladder for hiking, winter running, and commuting. The winged back-panel design hugs your waist to reduce shifting of cargo, and the lofty knit material provides extra airflow so you don’t overheat.

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TESTER NOTES

I N S I G H T, E VA L U AT I O N S , A N D H E L P F U L T I P S S T R A I G H T F R O M T H E N O T E B O O K S O F O U R S TA F F, M E M B E R S , A N D 2 2 5 - R U N N E R -S T R O N G W E A R -T E S T I N G T E A M

BUSTING THE WATERPROOF “CATCH-22” Many waterproof jackets can keep you dry from the rain, only to leave you drenched in your own sweat from their lack of breathability. Our tester Tyler Allen, 37, evaluated how well this jacket managed both water and body heat.

SAM PLE TE S T CO N D ITI O N S TE R R A I N : Bridle path and sidewalk R U N D U R ATI O N : 8 miles TI M E O F DAY: Early morning TE M PE R ATU R E: 35°F, windy

The Sony WF-SP800N earbuds had the best sound quality of any earbuds I’ve ever tested—a noticeable improvement over the Jaybird Vista’s, which I thought was great. I didn’t have to crank the volume while running through Queens to hear Slate’s Culture Gabfest podcast, which is harder to make out over construction and traffic. However, you have to turn off the hear-through mode while running, as otherwise it amplifies wind noise.—Matt Allyn, 37, Features Editor

THE RESULTS // After five minutes of direct water, both Tyler and the paper towels were completely dry.

After 20 minutes, the paper towels in the sleeves were slightly damp— not wet, but noticeably softened.

WATERPROOF R ATING (MM)

This Tee’s Dollar Price Exceeds Some Marathoners’ Weekly Mileage SAM PLE TE S T CO N D ITI O N S TE R R A I N : 50% road, 50% trail R U N D U R ATI O N : Varied (Daily 6- to 7milers, 14- to 20-mile long runs) TI M E O F DAY: Evening TE M PE R ATU R E: 55°F, calm OBSERVATIONS // I typically shy away from poly-cotton tech shirts, because when I sweat, they retain both moisture and odor, and become a smelly weight around my neck that I have to lug for the rest of my run.

Unlike those other shirts I’ve tried, the Lululemon Metal Vent Tech short sleeve didn’t really add any weight as I sweated. Rather, my sweat seemed to more readily pass through the shirt’s material and evaporate, helping to keep it dry—which is amazing for a person like me who can get sweat-soaked in a T-shirt and shorts on a windy winter day.

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As a father of four kids, I’d usually balk at spending $78 on a tech tee.

But due to this shirt’s comfort, sweatwicking ability, and odor resistance, I think it makes sense to invest in such a quality piece of running apparel.—Jeff Miles, 48

T YLER’S REPORT ON BREATHABILIT Y

“The venting wraps all the way around this jacket—an upper panel overlaps a lower panel, with a large vent in between—so air moves through more easily,” he noted. “I began one sunny run noticing that it lets in more air than a windproof jacket, and as I warmed up, it also let out enough heat to maintain equilibrium. I never overheated. Praise Pre.” //

B REATHAB ILIT Y R ATING (G/M2)

0 to 5,000

Light rain

0 to 5,000

Minimal breathability

5,000 to 10,000

Moderate to heavy rainfall

5,000 to 10,000

Moderate breathability

10,000 to 15,000

Very heavy downpour

10,000 to 15,000

High breathability

Janji’s Rainrunner is rated 10K/10K for waterproofing and breathability, respectively.

• ANTIMICROBIAL ODOR RESISTANCE

How Many Wears Does It Take to Blow Out Your Socks?

• EXCELLENT MOISTURE WICKING

I got my first pair of Darn Tough Vertex socks in the early spring of 2018, and they quickly became one of my all-time favorites. I’ve worn them running at least once a week every single week, without fail. (I know this because they are never not in my weekly load of laundry.) During the final days of December 2020, I finally put a hole in one of them, right at the ankle where I pull on the sock. That’s some serious durability—about 146 wears and washes.—Morgan Petruny, 27, Test Editor

• EXPENSIVE M AT E R I A L S B R E A K D O W N Nylon Antimicrobial silver-infused nylon

49%

4% 4% Elastane

Recycled polyester

43%

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BUDS THAT STREAMED OUR PODS OVER NYC TRAFFIC

THE TEST // We asked Tyler to soak Janji’s Rainrunner Pack Jacket in his shower. After donning the jacket and stuffing the sleeves and pockets with paper towels to trap any moisture that might seep through, he hopped under his high-pressure showerhead.

Likewise, towels in the cuffs were damp, but not soaked. An elastic trim around the inner half of the cuff grabs the wrist, while the outer portion extends to partially cover the back of the hand, allowing water to run off. The towels Tyler zipped inside the chest and side pockets remained completely dry.

ISSUE 4, 2021

“Streaks are not my friend,” he says. “I relish the opportunity to mix in some other activities like easy biking, yoga, or a date with my Theragun Prime.”

Dustin Wood, 38, of Columbus, OH, is running the Boston Marathon this fall for the first time. So far he has raised more than $10,000 to support cancer research. His goal is to finish in under four hours.

Bob Kovell, 68, of Saint Cloud, MN, ran outdoors in subzero weather for the first time in over 10 years. Kovell has plans to complete 100 marathons, with 81 down so far.

Gwen Jacobson, 62, of Rochester, MN, recently purchased a Brooks Pride singlet to show her support for the LGBTQ+ community.

Vameika Collins, 39, of Dolton, IL, equally looks forward to and dreads “Hill Mondays” with her Black Girls Run group in South Holland.

Leslie Cross, 30, of Cheyenne, WY, finally found the perfect running coach—her brother. While Cross has been running marathons for more than a decade, she did not follow a training plan until now.

“It’s fun to see myself progress,” she says. “And have someone who I admire to hold me accountable.”

Ben Moody, 62, of Miami, runs half marathons to raise funds for bone cancer research in memory of his daughter, Claire. His most memorable race so far was the Miami Half Marathon when he ran with one of the doctors who’d treated his child.

Dea Mochnick, 44, of San Francisco, is now an avid trail runner.

Mochnick suffers from chronic lower back pain and finds that the Marin Headlands trails offer a scenic route for low-impact runs.

It’s all about rest days for Michael Goff, 54, of Needham, MA. He ran more than 1,500 miles last year.

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Postrun, Joshua Pritchard, 40, of Swampscott, MA, enjoys drinking a cold Tailwind in a hot bath while listening to baseball on the radio.

Emotions ran high for Crystal Cheney-Nagel, 40, of St. Louis, when she completed a half marathon two months after losing her older brother unexpectedly. The siblings had planned to run the 13.1-mile race together.

David Wagner, 55, of Wichita, KS, reunited with his favorite running shirt after a yearlong separation. “I was suffering through a scorching seven-miler and shed my sweat-soaked shirt,” he says. “I deliberately stashed it in a red cedar tree, but I didn’t get around to picking it up until now. It’s still in perfect condition except for some color fade. It had endured four seasons of harsh Kansas weather.”

Mary Jo Lawton, 67, of Green

Bay, WI, always uses her allergy nasal spray before running, due to severe exercise-induced allergies.

“If I don’t use it, and conditions are poor, my eyes water terribly and I can’t stop sneezing for three days!”

Congratulations to Alicia Hauff, 35, of Fargo, ND, who set a 24minute PR in the half marathon.

Her previous time in 2009 was prior to three pregnancies. She credits her success to consistent mileage, proper rest, muscle care, and fueling.

Ralph Dumke, 63, of Palm Coast, FL, returned home in flip-flops after donating all of his running shoes during a trip to Cuba. “I gave them to three teenage boys, since size-13 trainers are not easily obtained in the Caribbean.”

Michele Derheim, 52, of Manchester, MI, will never forget when a few former Marines joined her midrace after spotting her “Marine Mom” shirt. Derheim had signed up for the half marathon in honor of her son who was serving in Afghanistan.

Philip Kinzler, 45, of Atlanta, is learning to appreciate running without music again. “While slower, there’s something zen about grooving to nature sounds and car horns.”

Joseph Kosak, 16, of Charleston, SC, shared some miles with the “King of the Greenway,” who runs the West Ashley Greenway every day. The duo chatted about their PRs and love of running.

Lisa Wiens Heinson, 52, of Shoreview, MN, plans to keep running until she finally wins her age group, even if she’s the only one in it.

There’s nothing like training on a collegiate team for Keanan Gleason, 24, of Albuquerque, NM. “Running along dirt roads between corn and soybean fields, talking about the stresses of school and life and our hopes and ambition,” he says of his time at Grinnell College. “It was a stressful yet exciting time as I was learning about myself, the world, and how I would fit into it.”

Luiz Veloso, 63, of Rio de Janeiro, loves to run around Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon and along Leblon and Ipanema beaches.

Sara Manderscheid, 38, of Boulder, CO, is training for the Boston Marathon in her new Adidas Adizero Boston 9 shoes. “They are made of recycled materials, making a difference one pair of running shoes at a time.”

Become a member of Runner’s World+ and see your name in Club Notes!

This issue’s featured members received Nuun Sport and Endurance products. Join now at runnersworld.com/joinplus.

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Christine Spilka, 28, of Geneva, Switzerland, loves mile repeats.

“They hurt like hell,” she says. “But I know when I’m done that I’m in way better shape than when I started.”

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event finder I ADVERTISING SECTION MOUNTAIN PACIFIC

Lake Tahoe Marathon Events OCT 3-10 / South Lake Tahoe, CA Lakeside Marathon & Nevada Half, Cal Neva Marathon & Nevada Half, Lake Tahoe Marathon & Emerald Bay Half, 1.-Miler, 10K, 5K, 72-Mile Midnight Express, 4-person relay, Optimist Kids Free Pumpkin Runs leswright@sbcglobal.net www.LakeTahoeMarathon.com Multiple events run over 3 days & 2 states

Maui Oceanfront Marathon JAN 1., 2022 / Lahaina, Maui, HI 5K, 10K, 15K, Half Marathon, Marathon, Double Marathon leswright@sbcglobal.net www.mauioceanfrontmarathon.com Beautiful Oceanfront Running.

Beachfront finish in Old Lahaina

NORTH ATLANTIC

12th Annual Clearfield YMCA Fair Fun 5k Run/Walk & 100 Meter Kids Dash AUG 7 / Clearfield, PA 5K Run - 5K Walk - 100 Meter Kids Dash vj13200.@hotmail.com runsignup.com, Search “Clearfield YMCA”

SOUTH ATLANTIC

Sweet Tea Half Marathon and 10k NOV 13 / Summerville, SC 13.1 miles and ..2 miles kellynhazel@gmail.com sweetteahalf.com Use code ST21 for $5 off South Carolina’s Sweetest Race

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FOR ADVERTISING RATES contact Jackie Coker jcokermedia@gmail.com 801.668.6038

I ADVERTISING SECTION

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Human Race GUILLERMO “MEMO” PIÑEDA MORALES, 48, BUILDING PORTER, QUEENS, NEW YORK

Watch the complete HUMAN RACE series on YouTube

HUMAN RACE

My childhood in Mexico was the most beautiful part of my life. I grew up with my parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, helping out on the family farm. My father was strict, but I was close with my mother.

At 15, I left for the United States. I crossed near Tijuana, running to evade border patrol, and traveled to New York City. But in 1996, I was arrested by Immigration. Threatened with deportation, I took any odd job I could get to raise the $2,700 I needed for a lawyer. I got a green card, and by 2005, I was a U.S. citizen.

Running grounded me throughout the citizenship process. I entered my first marathon, New York City, in 1995, and finished in 3:06. By 1999, I was running NYC in 2:32, but two years after that, I had to stop running long distance after a car crashed into me and busted my knee.

I didn’t enter another marathon for over a decade. During that time, my mother fell ill.

Before she died, she gave me one last piece of advice: Return to running. I had to fulfill her final wish. So in 2015, I returned to the NYC Marathon—and broke three hours.

Now I’ve run 13 marathons, and at age 48, I am one of the fastest marathoners in the world in my age group. Running is in my DNA. It’s who I am. I miss my parents, my mother, but this is my life now.

WHY I RUN

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I believe in hard work. It’s the only way you can be successful in life, and in running. I don’t rely on advanced gear or sponsors.

When I race, I simply listen to my body, step-by-step, and maintain confidence with the help of my team, West Side Runners. My mom always said, “It’s not about being the winner; it’s about how you feel, so just be yourself.” No matter what place you finish—first, second, third, or last—you always win because you started and you finished.

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