Strength training can make runners stronger. Whether that strength automatically lowers the energy cost of climbing is a different question. In a new study, twenty-five recreational runners, including 12 women, were randomized to a resistance-training group or a control group. The average participant was 34 years old. The training group completed eight weeks of exercises … Read more

Running economy is usually treated as an unqualified good: use less energy at a given pace, and you should be able to sustain that pace longer, thereby racing faster. A small experiment shows how going without sleep affects economy and time-trial performance in a paradoxical way. Sixteen healthy recreational runners—seven men and nine women—completed a … Read more

Marathon performance is never only physiological. Pacing decisions are also made under stress, discomfort, uncertainty, and accumulating fatigue. A new study asked whether a history of psychiatric diagnosis was associated with how runners managed that load. Before the Boston Marathon, 450 runners completed surveys covering lifetime psychiatric diagnoses, demographics, training, injury status, marathon experience, previous … Read more

The first miles of a marathon often feel suspiciously easy. That is precisely what makes them dangerous: the pace that feels relaxed at mile three can become very… “unrelaxed” at mile 23. A large observational study analyzed 78,912 finishers from the 2015 through 2017 Boston Marathons. The runners were 18 to 84 years old, and … Read more

Wet-bulb globe temperature, or WBGT, compresses heat, humidity, wind, and radiant heat into a single number. Race organizers and athletes use it to sort conditions into risk bands. The question is whether runners’ physiological responses separate as neatly as these risk bands assume. A new systematic review and meta-analysis analyzed 43 studies, involving trained adults … Read more

Endurance fueling advice usually treats carbohydrate and fluid as separate targets: hit a certain number of grams per hour, then drink enough to manage thirst and heat. A small new experiment suggests the two may be more connected than that. Nine trained male cyclists and triathletes completed two 160-minute rides at 50% of their peak … Read more