Outside the News, Marathons Rarely Kill | NYTimes.com
What the researchers found was that, even as participation in marathon racing almost doubled during the past decade, to more than 473,000 finishers in 2009 from about 299,000 in 2000, the death rate remained unchanged, and vanishingly small.
Interesting data pulled from media reports (marathon deaths are not reported as such in coroner's offices). It'd be quite difficult to track all running-related deaths, but I wonder whether there's more risk involved with large races or the bulk of our training -- out exposed to traffic, etc. on the roads during typical runs.
Are Barefoot Running Transition Injuries Actually Uncommon? | TREAD LIGHTLY
Pete Larson takes a look at a new study (abstract, as the study was presented at a meeting) on injuries and barefoot running. He doesn't go too in-depth, as some very relevant (and boring, but relevant) nuance is missing in the study's abstract:
Almost every time I read a news article about barefoot running I see a quote from a medical professional claiming that they are seeing something equivalent to a wave of “barefoot running” related injuries. I put barefoot running in quotes because it’s very difficult to distinguish whether they are talking about people getting hurt while actually running with nothing on their feet, or whether these injuries are occurring in people wearing “barefoot-style” shoes, or even just one particular type of “barefoot-style” shoe.
This is something that really is under-discussed, at least outside of niche discussions of barefoot running -- and it's hugely important. Hopefully shoe style is more frequently discussed by those roaming into barefoot/minimalist territory.
A League of Their Own – Part 2: The Unlikely Elites | irunfar
The point at which I actually began to accomplish larger things as an ultrarunner was when I finally stopped trying to apply what I thought it was to be a runner, and, instead, just went out and ran for a really long time in the mountains. I think we can train our bodies to do some pretty amazing things, but when you are talking about running 50 or 100 miles I think you need to genuinely enjoy running tons of hours to find any long lasting success.
Anton Krupica, Ellie Greenwood, and Geoff Roes discuss their entering into the ultrarunning community, their previous bests, and the differences between running trails vs. running on the track and roads. Part three of the series with Max King and Kasie Enman is also worth a read.
Fatigue from Heavy Weights vs. Light Weights | Sweat Science