Friday Thrive
Happy Friday! Each week, Friday Thrive rounds up some of my favorite things from the week. I have been reading several articles recently that have provided both information and inspiration – here are my five picks for this week!
For Once and For All, Carbs are Not Evil
This article has been circulating for several weeks already, but if you haven’t read “The Last Conversation You’ll Ever Need to Have About Eating Right” by Mark Bittman and David L. Katz, please do. Their discussion is cemented in logic and facts, poking holes in many of diet trends and misconceptions. Bittman and Katz fill this article with touches of humor and quotable snippets – such as this gem on why just because a diet makes you lose weight, doesn’t mean it is healthy:
“Not everything that causes weight loss or apparent metabolic improvement in the short term is a good idea. Cholera, for instance, causes weight, blood sugar, and blood lipids to come down — that doesn’t mean you want it!”
Good Athletes Embrace Pain
Racing hurts, whether it’s a lung-searing 5K or a marathon. Brad Stulberg examines the difference between pain and suffering in the context of racing in this article for Outside, “How to Make Friends with Pain.” Stulberg discusses how the athletes who race well are not those who ignore pain – they are those who acknowledge pain, embrace it, and then refocus.
The Next Big Female Elite? A Former Triathlete
We should all be watching Gwen Jorgensen right now – the new mom and Olympic gold medalist in the triathlon just won the Stanford Invite 10K with a PR of 31:55. This Runner’s World article examines Jorgensen’s recent success after she transition from the triathlon to long distance running. Jorgensen has recently started training with Shalane Flanagan and the Bowerman Track Club and has her eyes on the 2020 US Olympic Marathon team. Jorgensen gave birth to her son seven months ago and credits her quick comeback to seven weeks off postpartum and pelvic floor therapy. “‘I think that’s really important to get your body back and break up the scar tissue and make sure all those muscles are firing,’ she said. ‘If you can do that, you can get your body back to where it was, if not better.'”
Lift Weights, Improve Your Form
The research and practices of coaches are reaching a consensus: you really should lift weights in order to run faster and optimize your form. Jason Fitzgerald, author of the blog Strength Running and coach, details how lifting weights is a worthwhile time investment for runners, from the difference it makes in form to how power and speed can help even marathoners.
The best nugget of advice in this article: check your ego when you start lifting. When I started focusing more on lifting, a 10-pound kettlebell felt heavy and a pull-up was darn near impossible – so that’s where I started. Now, I use a 26-lb kettlebell and am able to knock out multiple jumping pull-ups (and soon, hopefully, proper pull-ups!).
Taper Right
It’s taper time for many spring races, including the Boston Marathon! Tapering (or as I like to think of it, sharpening) for a race can be more confusing than training. Should you strength train? What workouts should you do? How should you eat? Laura of Mommy Run Fast wrote a thorough guide to all of these questions surrounding the taper – 5 Marathon Taper Tips is worth your read if you are soon racing a marathon or half marathon!
[Tweet “This week’s must-reads on all things #running and #diet via @thisrunrecipes #runchat #FridayThrive”]
How do you react to pain during a race?
How do you taper for a big race?
What did you think of the diet article?
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17 Responses
It’s always good to see so much support for strength training! It’s definitely important to use light enough weights that you can maintain proper form. Hope you have a great weekend!
There seems to have been a huge explosion in support of strength training in 2017 and 2018 – which is really great!
I read a similar article on enduring pain with Malcolm Gladwell and Alex Hutchinson and put it in the Rundown for Monday. Sometimes it’s all about getting though the pain cave!! And you know I’m rooting for my girl Gwen!! I loved the video of her and Shalane running and how candid Jorgensen was about how hard the run was and how tired she was afterward. Also, her son Stanley is adorable!
Have a great weekend…
I will need to read that article! Gwen’s candidness makes here even more likable. She shows that it is hard even for the elites!
So many good reads! I loved the last article about food – because it’s so true!! Now if the world can wrap their heads around that info, we’d be much better off.
I agree! That article should probably be republished on a yearly basis to remind people!
you know I loved that article!
It’s so good! And it cracks me up with some of the one-liners they have like about eating too much yogurt.
I’ve been strength training 2x a week since I can’t really run right now. I think it’s helping a lot, I hope that when I am able to run the “gains” will really show (strength gains, unfortunately the injury weight gain already shows, bleh). As far as diets go, I think people should eat what they want and what makes them happy, and is relatively healthy. Restricting any food completely seems like a bad idea unless you have some sort of allergy or intolerance, and even then only under a doctor’s supervision. Food is fuel for our bodies but at the same time, it also brings people together and there’s no fun in life if you can’t enjoy birthday cake, ice cream, and pizza sometimes.
I agree – that’s what really gets me about hyper-restrictive diets like keto. There’s no flexibility for birthday or wedding cake or social situations. Food should be fun and social as well as fuel!
I couldn’t agree more with the strength training! I have started power lifting in the past year and my running performance has SOARED! I feel more in tune with my body and have noticed great changes in my running.
That is awesome that lifting has improved your running so much!
These are all excellent articles! Thanks for including mine in there, too.. looking forward to running the ones I missed!
Your article on the taper was such a good one!
For the most part I err on the side of running too little during the taper rather than too much – but I don’t think I’ve ever cut out strength training completely, I just stick to bodyweight exercises the week before the race.
I agree – I think sometimes in the past I’ve been too ambitious in race week workouts, and learned it is much better to do too little during race week!
I loved everything about this article about eating right!