OCT 12, 2022
Minute 1: Habits for happier mornings
Your grandmother may have told you that you only have one chance to make a good first impression. That’s true for meeting strangers, but according to this new story, it’s also a good way to greet the day: “‘Practice gratitude’: start your day off right with these seven tips.” Having a good morning can create a domino effect of positivity throughout the rest of your day. If you’re lucky, you will wake up and feel great naturally, but more often than not, positivity requires planning and intention. If you’re prone to checking your phone first thing after waking up, resist the urge, and instead, think about the things you’re looking forward to. Even acknowledging your gratitude for simple things, like breakfast with a cup of coffee can have a profound result according to one recent study. Find out how “Giving thanks can make you happier.” Next, try dressing for success. Wellbeing experts believe that investing in our appearance cultivates feelings of self worth and pride. On a similar note, adding beauty to your home or office space has been shown to lessen feelings of anxiety and depression. That’s one of many tips you can try from “Why It’s Important to Wake Up Happy, and How You Can Infuse Your Mornings With Joy.”
Minute 2: If you want to up your mileage even as you age, read this
Many of our running friends seem to believe that after 40 or 50 laps around the sun, they probably won’t make much athletic progress in the coming 12 months. While they may not be on the bell lap of their career, they believe they are on the back half of the bell curve. If you’ve let yourself believe that your best days are behind you, you need to check out Jon Hendren’s story. Back in 2014, he was 52 and had never run before when his brother challenged him to get in shape. Jon got to work, dropped 45 pounds, and began competing in everything from half marathons to 50Ks. That’s only the first chapter of his story. To read the rest, check out iRunFar’s new profile: “Jon Hendren: Running With a New Lease on Life.” Taking on a huge distance was just the beginning of the challenges Jon had to overcome. He was diagnosed with cancer in late 2019, requiring an aggressive form of treatment to save his life. Luckily, the procedures went well, and after a long time off for recovery, Jon was able to return to running with the goal of completing a 100-mile ultramarathon. If Jon’s story has inspired you to up your own mileage, you should check out “How to Safely Increase Your Weekly Running Mileage.” Runners are often unsure of when they should focus on increasing mileage, but some experts recommend you do so at the start of the training cycle, or even before it begins. If you’re able to build up your endurance far before an event you plan to compete in, you can focus on speedwork toward the end of your cycle after you’ve developed your aerobic capacity. #LateBloomers
Minute 3: The 2024 Olympic Marathon is open to all
They say Paris is the city of love, and if you’re an aspiring marathoner who's dreamed of running alongside the world’s best runners, you’re certainly going to fall in love with the Paris 2024 Olympic marathon plans. Take a look at “The Marathon Course for Paris 2024 Has Been Announced and It’s a Beauty.” For the first time ever, amateur runners will be invited to run the very same course as the Olympic competitors. There will also be a 10K race to increase accessibility for those who want to participate. The course is focused on showcasing the heritage of Paris and France as a whole, and it’s sure to be an unforgettable experience. The Olympics are still more than 600 days away, which is good news for anyone who’s in need of training preparation. If that sounds like you, then follow these “Ten Marathon Training Tips” to make sure you’re ready for the big day. One useful method is to simulate the race day as close as possible. That means eating the same meals, drinking the same water, and running in similar weather conditions so that you’ll know what to expect. Those tips will get you started, and to finish off, you can try out the “10 Best Marathon Recovery Tips.” Experts believe performing gentle exercise after your race will jumpstart the recovery process and prevent you from becoming too stiff in the days following the event.
Minute 4: Just what is seed oil, and should we avoid it?
The rhetoric around seed oils has become a bit explosive. Literally. Fitness influencers are so fired up about the topic, some have taken to emptying machine guns into bottles of the stuff. That’s sure to garner some clicks, but is all the outrage warranted? You can find an analysis of this trend in “Why does every fitness influencer suddenly hate seed oils?” Seed oils refer to popular cooking oils made from canola, soybean, sunflower, and corn, just to name a few. They’ve been blamed for contributing to inflammation, sunburns, and Alzheimer’s disease, but not all nutrition experts agree with this assessment. Kevin Klatt, a registered dietician and researcher at UC Berkeley is doubtful of the negative effects associated with seed oils cited by these influencers, and he suspects their anecdotal evidence has more to do with the fact that they’re cutting out fried food and commercially baked goods. In other words, it's not the seed oil that’s the problem, it's the excessive consumption of any high fat and processed foods that are nutritionally bare. If you’re looking for oil alternatives, you could check out the ones listed in “The Best Vegetable Oil Substitutes for Cooking, Baking and Frying.” Some on the list are seed oils, but there’s also avocado oil, coconut oil, and ghee.
Minute 5: Quick Intervals
If you’ve spent any time looking into different coffee roasting and brewing methods, you’ll know there are a heck of a lot of options. We just came across a brew we’d never heard of before that boasts sustainability and high antioxidant content, and it’s called honey coffee. Sounds sweet, right? There are no honeybees involved, though. The “honey” comes from leaving the mucilage on the bean during processing, resulting in sweet fruity flavors and lower acidity when compared to your typical bean. If you want to learn more, read “Why Many of the Longest-Living People on the Planet Love To Drink Honey Coffee.”
If you really love running, why not do it twice a day? That might sound a little nuts to some of you (or your significant other), but there are benefits to two-a-days. In fact, doubling can actually help you save time, breaking your training workload of the day into 2 shorter sessions where you can really dial in for quality exercise. See if this method is right for you in this piece from Canadian Running: “How to double 101.”
Stress and appetite have a very bizarre relationship. For some people, stress causes them to eat more. In others, stress prevents them from feeling hungry at all. Of course, both of these can result in unhealthy habits, and if you want to learn why this happens, and how to avoid harmful effects, take a look at “How does stress affect appetite?” In addition to changing your hunger levels, mental stress can actually burn calories and expend significant energy. For details, check out this interesting twist on the phenomenon: “The grandmaster diet: How to lose weight while barely moving.”
Who doesn't love a great deal? As runners, we are always look for ways to save on gear, grub, and gadgets. Continuing a tradition we launched a few years ago, we searched through Amazon's infinite catalog to find the Top 10 Early Access Amazon Prime Day Deals for Runners. Winter is right around the corner so stock up on your extra layers now!
Minute 6: Daily Inspiration
Running a marathon is hard enough, but nobody tells you the real challenge is the first flight of stairs you’re bound to encounter afterwards. If you’ve ever run so much that you felt like a newborn learning to walk for the first time, you're not alone. The NYT documented the aftermath of a recent NYC Marathon, and we can practically feel our own quads burning after watching this footage. Check out the brief video in the link below and raise your hand if you’ve ever waddled the way these athletes have following a marathon.