Category: Readers Roundtable

Readers Roundtable: Sore Throats, Sniffles, and Other Nonsense
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The days are slowly getting longer here in Berlin — it’s even almost light out when we get up during the week! But in all other respects, it’s solidly still winter. Dark, damp, dank, and everywhere you go there’s at least ten people coughing and sniffling.

I already took a week off from running in January due to a dumb sinusy cold that came with some serious fatigue. I thought that might be it for the winter, but last Wednesday my husband came home with a scratchy throat and cough. Three days later, I had that telltale scratchy throat and wondered if I’m really sick enough to miss my weekly long run? Or is short but intense rest the way to go, and get back on my feet quicker? Read more >>

Readers Roundtable: What You Wish You’d Known Before Your First Marathon
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Reading up on LydiardMarathoning: on the one hand, it’s so simple. Just put one foot in front of the other for several hours until it’s time to stop.

On the other hand, it can seem really, really complicated, even from the moment of registration! Is there a lottery? Do you need a qualifying time? Can you even afford the registration fee? Assuming you figure all that out, it’s time to train. Which of the 4,000 training plans out there will you use? Should you opt for high mileage or run less, run faster? How long is a long run? How will you ever learn to choke down the glutinous, saccharin globs of gel that are supposed to fuel the whole endeavor? And is it even possible to finish without those supersonic $250 Nike shoes? Read more >>

Readers Roundtable: Is Run Coaching a Luxury or a Necessity?
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Lately, it may seem like everyone and their Instagram followers has a running coach. Of course world-class Olympic athletes have coaches. And sure, it makes sense for runners trying to qualify for the Olympic Trials. (Indeed, the ready availability and increasing popularity of run coaching may have helped feed the enormous boom in this year’s Trials qualifiers.) But what about us non-elite, non-Olympic, pretty average runners? Do we need coaching? Or is it an extra “thing” to spend money on in this supposedly cheap sport? Read more >>

Readers Roundtable: To Draft or Not to Draft?
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As we journey through fall and prepare to greet winter, the temperatures drop, leaves fall, and we face less-than-ideal conditions on our outdoor runs. And then there are the dreaded headwinds. You know the ones I’m talking about: your eyes water, snot smears across your cheeks, your hat blows off, and every step feels like you’re a football player pushing the sled down the field.  Read more >>

Readers Roundtable: What’s Your Fave Running Podcast?
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Runners – as you know – don’t just run. We like to talk about running, read about running (why hello there!), and listen to other people talk about running. Luckily for the running-obsessed amongst us, there are plenty of podcasts to help us get our fix. Daylight is waning and it’s treadmill season, so this post is for those of you who are looking to update your podcast subscriptions.
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Readers Roundtable: How Would You Improve Race Coverage?
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It happens like clockwork, and it happened again yesterday.

No, I’m not talking about the need to change the clocks on our stove twice a year, though that’s annoying, too. I’m talking about when a World Marathon Major is on TV, runners everywhere get excited to watch…. and the race commentating is barely even phoned in.

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Readers Roundtable: Would You Tune In for a Fall Olympics?
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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced last week that they are planning to move the marathon and race walking events in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to Sapporo – 500 miles north of Tokyo – due to concerns about heat and safety. (It’s a bit unclear if they will actually move, as the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee is interpreting this as just a “proposal”).

The aforementioned heat is no joke. A 2017 heatwave saw record high temps in Tokyo of around 106 degrees. This got me thinking, why award a Summer Games to Tokyo in the first place? After all, the last time they were the host city in 1964, the Games were in October.

In 2000, the IOC established July and August as the months to hold the Summer Olympics. They’re the ideal time window for TV networks to cover the event.

But does that really matter any more, with all the ways we have to watch?

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Readers Roundtable: Kipchoge or Kosgei?
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GavelIn case you missed it, this was a pretty all-around amazing weekend for running.

First, Eliud Kipchoge bettered his own time to become the first human to run a marathon in less than two hours. Then Brigid Kosgei smashed the long-standing women’s world record in the marathon by running 2:14:04 in Chicago.

Which is more impressive?

You be the judge. Read more >>

Readers Roundtable: Was Having the World Championships in Doha Really So Terrible?
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The IAAF track and field championships in Doha wrapped yesterday, and while there were some amazing performances, much of the coverage has focused on Doha as a venue – calling it terrible for the sport and calling out IAAF for making a decision based only on money.

Much of the criticism has focused on the less-than well-attended events, which led to empty stands and cheerless victory laps. Others have called out the ridiculousness of hosting a marathon that begins at midnight to avoid the heat of the day, and where reportedly 41% of the field dropped out.

Yikes! Right? Read more >>

Readers Roundtable: Where Are the Sports Movies About Women?
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A few months ago, I read that A League of Their Own is getting a remake. (Well, sort of. It will be an Amazon series focusing on a different team.) That got us Salties talking behind the scenes. Not only the familiar, “Why does everything need a remake?”, but also, “Why can’t people tell more stories about women athletes, instead of just updating the old ones?”

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Readers Roundtable: What Do You Love Most About Fall Running?
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Y’all, I just love fall.

The crunch of the leaves, the faint sounds of high school football I can hear from my back porch, the cider and pumpkin of it all. I know these things are all so cliché, and yet, I simply do not care: fall is far and away my favorite season. Even though the calendar says today is the first day of fall, “far and away” seems to be exactly where fall is this year! Read more >>

Readers Roundtable: Clumsiest Non-Running Way You’ve Sidelined Yourself?
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My reputation as clumsy is legendary in my family. There are fridge door handles that my parents stopped replacing because I’d tripped and tore the handle off the door so many times (grasping the handle in a futile attempt to keep myself from falling). My sister loves to recall the work day where she heard me fall down an entire flight of cement stairs, coffee in hand, when my stiletto heel got caught in the cuff of my pants.  I don’t just fall down stairs, I fall up stairs, and not gracefully. Ballet, ice skating lessons… nothing my parents put me in as a child helped. Read more >>

Should You Buy Used Running Shorts?
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Ebay - search used running shorts
It was one of our more philosophical discussions: if a crotch sweats on some pricey running shorts but you weren’t there to see it, and then you buy those same shorts for a very low price on eBay, did the crotch sweat ever really happen? What if you wash the sweated-on shorts twice before you wear them? Three times?

In other words, would you buy used running shorts? How low does the price of used name-brand or “designer” running shorts have to be to make you even consider putting them on? Read more >>

Reader’s Roundtable: 2020 Boston Qualifying Standards
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So the Boston Marathon has changed its qualifying standards once again. A few years ago, the open women’s time (ages 35 and under) went from 3:40 to 3:35. Now, as of the 2020 Boston Marathon, that standard is moving down to 3:30. And it’s not just young women: The B.A.A. tightened qualifying standards across the board, all ages and genders. We want to know what you think: Read more >>