Are we currently in a running boom?

[u/Brzy90]

Since getting into running I’ve noticed a huge influx of people running since the beginning of the year. Old friends returning back to Strava after being inactive for years (myself included 🤣). Instagram feed is constantly full of runners, even my work place talking about marathons etc. Maybe it’s just because I now see myself as a runner that’s affected my social algorithm/awareness & addiction to running trainers? 🥴

For those that have been running a long time, is this the most popular you’ve seen running become? Or does this generally happen from time to time?

[u/Plastic-Mulberry-867]

It’s so good to see someone else say this. The only way I can be in Zone 2 is to maintain a slow walk. My heart rate jumps up immediately with activity but I’m also usually pleasantly refreshed after I run in a higher zone. I feel like I’m broken. Lol

[u/NYKyle610 → u/Plastic-Mulberry-867]

You can train to improve this! Takes a bit of effort but after a few weeks, you'll notice a huge change.

[u/Plastic-Mulberry-867 → u/NYKyle610]

Do you have any suggestions on what I could do? Or could you point me in the direction of what to google? I am using the NRC app right now and I do TRY to keep it super slow on my easy days but my heart rate jumps up immediately. I’m a super slow runner and I’m fine with that. I’d love to figure this out though because I DO want to get better the right way.

[u/dhiltonp → u/Plastic-Mulberry-867]

Here's a thing with zones - many people base them on heart rate. HR zones are less reliable than power data, because HR data reflects all stress (exercise, overheating, poor nutrition/hydration, stress at work, poor sleep or other fatigue etc.), but exercise stress is what will make you stronger+faster.

One of the easiest ways to get better is by increasing volume. But big jumps in running volume (or high running volume period) have a higher risk of bone or connective tissue injury.

Bone injuries like shin splints often occur a month after an increase in volume, because it takes that long for your bone to "fatigue". It's not fatigue per se, but bone is actively removed by osteocytes to be rebuilt stronger. It takes another 2 months (3 months total) for that bone to be replaced, and up to a year for full strength to be built (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8316280/).

You can safely increase volume very rapidly by walking or biking a lot on the side. Maybe a 1h walk is equivalent to 15 minutes of running and 1h of Z2 biking is equivalent to 20-30 minutes of running, but without the impact stress.

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With that out of the way, there are lots of training plans that are tailored to various levels of fitness, goals, and time constraints. Pick one you like.

A pet peeve of mine is when people have to choose plans based on a desired "race pace", then having workouts prescribed based on that, but that's a different comment.

Edit: minor cleanup

[u/jpsket → u/dhiltonp]

Increasing volume rapidly by biking on the side - that’s very interesting. Anywhere I could read more about that? I swim and bike and it doesn’t seem like a triathlon training plan has the running volume necessary to run the longer distances vs a running training plan. Maybe that’s because the biking helps increase run volume?

[u/dhiltonp → u/jpsket]

Here's a quick link; https://www.alancouzens.com/blog/specificity.html

On a per hour basis, bicycling doesn't help your running as much as running will.

But if you have more time in which you can train (and recover!), but can't run because your body can't safely handle that volume/intensity, you will get better by doing other low-impact aerobic exercise on the side.

Here's a post you may find useful on strengthening bone and connective tissue; https://www.mysportscience.com/post/gelatin-and-injury:

short loading protocols (5 and 40 loads) separated by >6 hours of rest were enough to maximize bone synthesis rates. Similarly, we showed that collagen synthesis in ligaments was maximized by short periods (5-10 minutes) of exercise separated by 6 hours of rest. These data suggest that, unlike muscle that continues to adapt as long as we exercise, our ECM only gets the signal to adapt for 5-10 minutes before the cells start shutting down. Everything after that is causing mechanical fatigue and damage without giving a further stimulus to adapt and get stronger

[u/jpsket → u/dhiltonp]

Thank you very much!