7 articles on training, recovery and avoiding injury

Last updated: 19-Jul-18

By Elsa Trujillo

Winter is at an end and the spring running season is upon us. Lots to do, lots to run, little time for reading. We bring you a selection of articles on medical studies on recovery, how to avoid injury and retrain your gait, a warning against the dangers of calorie restriction and our very own 50km training plan. And on a lighter note, we’ve also selected one ultra runner’s reflections on his running career and one photographer’s stunning selection of race images.

How long does it take you to recover?
According to the studies cited in this article, ultra runners take five days to recover from long distance running but longer than that to get back to their normal running speed. The study looked at participants of last year’s Western States Endurance Run (USA). Read it here.

News flash: Some runners don’t get injured!
Harvard Medical School has released a study on injuries in 249 runners. Apparently, it’s all in the “vertical average loading rate” and it has nothing to do with weight. Read it here.

Are you a stomper?
Do you want or know how to reduce impact forces when you run? We bring you more Harvard University running-related findings, this time centred around gait retraining or how to change your stride to avoid injuries. Read the findings.

The 10 things you can learn from ultra running
Tobias Mews has done his fair share or running and writing. 2700 miles, five continents, 15 countries and The Guardian’s Running Blog. He has now published his first book about running. In this article he summarises the 10 things he’s learnt from the crazy world of ultra running.

Disordered eating in distance running
Sarah Crouch writes about weight and nutrition issues in the female running world. More often than not, restricting calories to improve timings can lead to stress fractures and irreversible health issues. She warns against it in this article.

Thinking of running a 50k this year?
There’s still time. There’s plenty of races on the RunUltra calendar and here’s our recommended plan on how to run your first 50km, by Justin Bateman.

Little time for reading? Admire some images instead
Michael Hermsmeyer is a photographer that specializes in sporting and running events. Click here to see a selection of the images he took in the recent Racingtheplanet: Sri Lanka. The race is 250km long, spread out in six stages that participants run in seven consecutive days.

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