Run

Switching to a Forefoot Strike Over Winter? What Footstrike Research Shows

Changing from heel striking to forefoot running is a popular off-season project. The research shows it moves load from the knee to the calf and Achilles rather than removing it, and doesn't make you more economical.

Heel Pain in the Winter Build: Plantar Heel Pain and Load-Based Management

Plantar heel pain is one of the most common running injuries, and a winter run build is a classic trigger. What the trials say about stretching, heavy heel raises and other treatments, why recovery is often slow, and how to manage running load.

Running in the Cold: Performance, Warm-Ups and What Actually Needs Protecting

Cool weather is where marathon times are fastest, so winter running isn't the enemy. Why the first kilometres feel slow, how to warm up, and which parts of you actually need protecting when it's cold, wet or windy.

The Winter Half or Marathon: Useful Training Race or Spring Setback?

A winter half marathon or marathon can give a triathlete focus and run fitness, or cost weeks of recovery and an injury. What marathon recovery data show, how long the damage lasts, and how to decide whether a winter race fits.

Can't Run? Aqua Jogging, the Elliptical and What Keeps Run Fitness When Injured

Deep-water running trials show trained runners can hold run fitness for 4 to 6 weeks without running. What aqua jogging, the elliptical and the bike can and can't preserve, and how to return to running safely.

Quads Gone by 30 km: Downhill Running and Eccentric Strength for the Ironman Marathon

Late-race leg failure tracks muscle damage more than dehydration. What downhill running and the repeated bout effect can do to protect your quads, what the trials show, and where the evidence stops short of race day.

Strides and Hill Sprints: The Cheapest Speed Work a Triathlete Can Do

Short, fast running costs little fatigue and may improve running economy. What explosive-training, uphill-interval and sprint trials in trained runners show, what they don't, and how to add strides safely.

Bone Stress Injuries in Triathletes: The Warning Signs Before It Becomes a Fracture

Almost a quarter of German elite triathletes reported a stress fracture. Why swim-bike-run athletes are at risk, the early warning signs, and how energy availability and run load fit together.

Critical Speed for Runners: The Field Test That Sets Your Run Zones

Critical speed is the running version of critical power and critical swim speed. How to estimate it from two or three hard efforts, how reliable it is, and how to use it to set training and race paces.

How Long Does Your Ironman Long Run Really Need to Be?

There's no trial of Ironman long-run length, but marathon data from nearly 1,000 runners, an 85-study meta-analysis and a 5,205-runner injury cohort give useful limits. What they suggest for long runs, bricks and spikes.

Why the Ironman Marathon Falls Apart After 25 km: Running Durability and Heart-Rate Drift

Most of the time lost in a long-distance run is lost late. What data from 82,303 marathoners shows about heart-rate drift and durability, and what it means for pacing and training an Ironman run.

Walking the Aid Stations: Does a Run-Walk Strategy Cost You Time in an Ironman Marathon?

Planned walking breaks don't have to cost you time. What the one randomised marathon trial found, why an Ironman run is different, and how to walk on purpose rather than walk because you've blown up.

Should You Raise Your Cadence? What Step-Rate Research Shows About Injury and Speed

A higher step rate reliably changes how your knees and hips are loaded. Whether it prevents injury or makes you faster is far less certain. What the research shows, and how to change cadence safely.

Running Power Meters: What They Actually Measure and Whether a Triathlete Needs One

Running power looks like bike power on your wrist, but it isn't measured the same way. What validity studies show about foot pods and watches, where run power is weak, and when pace or heart rate does the job better.

One Pair or Three? Shoe Rotation, Shoe Mileage and Injury Risk

Rotating running shoes was linked to a lower injury risk in one 264-runner study. The famous 500 km replacement rule rests on 1980s machine tests. What the evidence supports, and what it doesn't.

Treadmill Miles: Does the 1% Incline Rule Hold, and What Transfers to the Road?

The 1% incline rule comes from a 1996 study of nine trained men. What it actually showed, how treadmill and road running differ in effort and mechanics, and how to make winter treadmill miles count.

Double Threshold, Single Reality: What Age-Groupers Can Take From the Norwegian Method

The Norwegian double-threshold method is everywhere in endurance media, but no controlled study has tested it. Here's what's plausible to borrow — and what to leave to the elites.

Forget the 10% Weekly Rule: The 5,205-Runner Study

A 5,205-runner cohort found neither weekly mileage change nor ACWR predicted overuse injury — but a single run far longer than your recent longest run did, in a dose-dependent way.

The Bike-to-Run "Brick" Problem

Dead legs off the bike are real and measurable — research points to altered mechanics and coordination, not just fatigue, and shows what dose of brick training actually helps.

Do Carbon-Plated "Super Shoes" Actually Make Age-Group Triathletes Faster — and Are They Safe Off the Bike?

Carbon-plated racing shoes give a real but modest running-economy boost, with huge individual variability and a new, still-preliminary bone stress injury signal — here's how to use them sensibly.

Feeling Fine After a Marathon Isn't the Same as Recovered

Myth: A winter marathon is free run fitness once your legs stop hurting.

Forefoot Running Moves Load, It Doesn't Remove It

Myth: Switching to a forefoot strike makes you faster and injury-proof.

Heel Raises Aren't a Quick Fix for Plantar Heel Pain

Myth: Heavy heel raises fix plantar fasciitis in a few weeks.

Cold Weather Isn't Bad for Your Running

Myth: Cold weather makes you a slower runner.

Injured and can't run? Your run fitness doesn't have to vanish

Myth: if you can't run for a month, your run fitness is gone.

Dead quads late in the Ironman run aren't just about fuel

Myth: if your legs die at 30 km, you just didn't eat or drink enough.

A few seconds of fast running isn't wasted on a triathlete

Myth: 20-second strides are too short to make a long-course triathlete faster.

Walking the aid stations doesn't have to cost you time

Myth: any walking in the Ironman marathon costs you time.

The Ironman marathon is lost to durability, not just speed

Myth: fading in the marathon means you need more speed.

You don't need a lab to set your run zones

Myth: accurate run zones need a lab test.

There's no magic 180 cadence

Myth: every runner should hit 180 steps a minute.

The 500 km shoe rule has little behind it

Myth: replace your running shoes at 500 km.

The 1% treadmill rule is a default, not a conversion

Myth: set 1% and the treadmill is exactly like the road.

Swimming and cycling don't protect your bones

Myth: swimming and cycling protect triathletes from stress fractures.

Run power is an estimate, not a measurement

Myth: run power measures your effort like a bike power meter.

Your Ironman long run doesn't need to be a marathon

Myth: you need to run the full marathon distance before an Ironman.

The 10% mileage rule is dead

Myth: never raise your weekly mileage by more than 10 percent.

Don't copy the Norwegian running plan

Myth: copy the Norwegian double-threshold plan and get their results.

Why your friend's super shoe result won't be yours

Myth: the same super shoe gives every runner the same boost.

More bricks isn't always the fix

Myth: doing more brick sessions makes dead legs off the bike go away.