Two more weeks with no live class on Wednesday night. I am headed to Oaxaca Mexico for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).  A little bit of a travel 180 there, but when you get invited, you say yes! 

STRENGTH TRAINING
Here is a video of Strength Training for Runners from the archives. Grab a mini-band and get in some strength work this week. 

PUBLIC HEALTH
Last week I sent a link to the Consumer Reports article about lead in protein powders. You have probably seen 100 others weigh in on the subject ranging anywhere from, this is the worst, only eat chicken breasts to chill y'all. One of you dear readers tipped me off to a great Substack, Your Local Epidemiologist who weighs in on lead, (her take, "don’t worry too much") but also has a weekly post on public health that seems like a worthwhile read. 

NOPE
Watch this ride along with the POV camera of second place woman, Hannah Bergemann, at the Red Bull Rampage. When she finished, she was hooting and hollering and I said out loud, "Well, I never want to do that again." 

VERTICAL KILOMETER
Five years ago, Remi Bonnet was going for a sub-30-hour vertical kilometer (aka VK- a race that involves a 1,000-meter (3,280 ft) vertical ascent over a maximum horizontal distance of 5 kilometers). Now it looks like he went 27 minutes and change. Red Bull needs to send up some regular athletes after him to put that accomplishment in context. For you Portlanders, Dog Mountain is almost 5k up and is a little under 3,000 feet of gain. 

BACKYARDING
If you weren't watching, last week was the Bigg's Backyard Ultra, the last person standing format where runners go 4.12something miles every hour on the hour. The winner, Phil Gore from Austria went an astonishing 114 hours and 750km (466 miles). His record is 119 hours, so this is just him doing his thing, I guess! The women had a rad day out with Sarah Perry completing 95 hours and Meg Eckert finishing 92 hours. The previous record for women at a backyard ultra was 87 hours. 

No live Strength Training for Runners this week, I am in Norway checking out fjords with my mom who has wanted to see a fjord since she was 10! 

Instead, here is a video from the archives. NO weight needed, but bring them if you have them. 

YOU MAY BE FUELING LESS THAN YOU THINK
A new study has shown that marathon runners and cyclists are fueling less than they think. Researchers asked marathoners and cyclists for nutrition plans, then asked how much they consumed and then looked through the trash. This review has a good summary of the study. "They not only ate less than planned but also overestimated how much they’d consumed. Even more interesting was that their race-day fueling success wasn’t just about knowledge or planning; it was tied to sleep quality and anxiety levels." 

"Across the full cohort of marathoners and cyclists, athletes consumed an average of 32 grams of carbohydrate per hour—that’s well below even the lower end of the 60–90 gram per hour recommendation." 

EVEN PACING
If you are planning to go for it at your next race and just 'run fast at the beginning when it feels good', I promise, this is not a winning strategy. Most people start races too fast (even pros!). Even pacing wins the day every time. Check out the data from the women's runners racing at the 24-Hour World Championships in France last weekend. At your next race, be the blue line, UK's Sarah Webster, who went on to the win and set a new record at 278km (172 miles). 

PROTEIN POWDER AND LEAD
The Consumer Reports has done independent research into 23 protein powders and found that more than two-thirds of them contain more lead in a single serving than is safe to consume in a day.  "Nearly all the plant-based products CR tested had elevated lead levels, but some were particularly concerning. Two had so much lead that CR’s experts caution against using them at all. The lead levels in plant-based products were, on average, nine times the amount found in those made with dairy proteins like whey." 
If you are want to see the brands tested, understand more about lead exposure and learn more about the health halo of protein, read up here. 

SQUEAKY PAPER SNEAKS?

• I am dumbfounded to read that there is a class action law suit by people who willingly paid a lot of money for sneakers and then the sneakers were loud and squeaky so they thought, I will sue. 
• This sneaker showing up in triathlon looks like it is made of rice paper for a salad roll. 
• Not sure what kind of sneaker is best for this event but ONLY in Paris! ​

As most of you know, I am a huge advocate of strength training for runners. Enough so that I have been teaching Strength Training for Runners on Wednesday nights for about a DECADE, and for more than four years those classes have been online and FREE to anyone wanting to join! Teaching strength training for runners is truly one of my longest-term relationships and a great joy. And yet, I am willing to bet that less than 10% of dear readers are doing any sort of strength training. I invite you every week (gold plated fancy invitation here) and I am NOT going to stop (so if this is annoying, write back UNSUBSCRIBE).

If this article on how to stick with strength training resonates with you and you want to chat about where to start on your journey to super stable lunges, confident side planks and a whole 401k worth of muscles for healthy aging, get in touch. 

"Strength training isn’t the problem. Starting is.
Most people go too hard too soon, or stay stuck doing too little for too long. They chase someone else’s program, get sore, lose confidence, and fall off track. There’s one more reason: the expectations you carry about where you think you should be on day one, day fourteen, or day forty-five compared to where you actually are." 

ITS NOT OVER TIL ITS OVER
This weekend at the Women's Ironman World Championships in Kona, the top TWO race leaders (and two favorites to win) succumbed to the heat on the run portion, and dropped, one at mile 17 and the other at mile 24 leaving room for third place, Solveig Løvseth from Norway to win it all. And while the heat took out two top pros on the run, second place, Kat Mattews ran hard running a 2:47:23 on the marathon and getting within 35 seconds of first place. So close after 8+ hours of racing. A race is NEVER over until it is over. You never know when 4th place could turn into 2nd! All the details here. 

Also, Natalie Grabow finished the race at age 80. She started triathlon at age 60 because she was getting injured from only running and taught herself how to swim from a book. 

ATHLOS
If you like track, there is something to really like called Athlos, an all-women's track meet paying the athletes big money and pushing the visibility of women's track in the US which took place last weekend in NY. In the mile the pace setter couldn't keep up! Then the two race leaders were over 100m ahead of the rest of the field. WOW. The event winner of each race won $60,000, heck yeah! 

WHAT TO WATCH
A new film, “Katharina,”follows Katharina Hartmuth as she navigates injury, loneliness and mental health while racing the biggest ultras in the world. Because running isn't therapy. "In the beginning I was for sure running away from things." 

Something that is a source of real frustration for me is seeing posts from runners who have finished an ultramarathon and then seemingly three days later are off on a long adventure run, are back to training with "just a few intervals" or are so excited after their three days of eating one cookie at night but are ready to "get back in shape". It has become so normalized to jump right into training post-race that it gets praised for being badass or hard core. This is extra annoying to me when I see this from the elite runners as I think it trickles down to amateur runners feeling like they need to do the same. I hear runners having a hard time taking one week off post a 100-mile race. Or runners get antsy at meal times post marathon because they are not working out and will get out of shape or gain weight. 

If multiple races in a season, longevity in sport and avoiding injury are your goals, then you need to take time off from hard training and build back mileage slowly post races.  Most importantly, you likely need to eat more than you think post-race and not just for one day. 

If you need a role model, follow this year's UTMB winner Ruth Croft who is back running after a full month off of running and exercise to recover the 100-mile loop in Chamonix. 

LESS NOISE
"You’ve got toughness. What most of us suck at is honesty. Being real about when we’re struggling, injured, too tired, or just not feeling it. Imagine how different running would feel if you could say, “I’m kinda burned out right now,” without thinking everyone at your local group run would judge you. Hell, I bet a whole lot of them would even relate to you. That kind of honesty doesn’t make you soft. It takes some of your self-imposed pressure off and it makes you a smarter runner—and a way more grounded human." 

Territory Run Co is starting a cohort of people that Run Outside the Noise. It is an online space where you can let go of the pressure of running and embrace the fun and community parts of running. And since it is hosted by a clothing company, there will likely be good outfits.  

SNACK SMASH

• The Feed is having a huge sale TODAY, so if you are running low on run fuel, this is a good day to get some. Second best to the day after Halloween! One item on sale is the SIS Go Energy Bakes. Super soft bars in lemon flavor, not sponsored, just yummy. 
• Need some pumpkin smashing content right now? Thanks Oregon Zoo. 

STRENGTH TRAINING 
Join me Wednesday night for Strength Training for Runners. I want to see you there! Live to your screen, no commute needed.