Table of contents for September 2016 in Runner's World

LIVE FROM RIO • Runner’s World staffers will be on the ground at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro to bring you the inside scoop on all the running events. Get complete coverage at runnersworld.com/olympics. GET FIT FAST • Do you have 10 minutes to spare after your run? (The answer is yes.) Then you can get stronger and faster with our new Run & 10 DVD starring fitness expert Jay Cardiello. I’M A RUNNER • Check out a behind-thescenes interview with Pulitzer Prize–winning composer John Luther Adams at his favorite place to run in NYC. Hint: It’s not Central Park!…

THE INBOX GOOD TO HEAR I listen to a lot of podcasts, most of them of the sporting variety presented by experts in the field. But just because they’re experts doesn’t mean they’re good podcast presenters. That’s where The Runner’s World Show is different. Everyone sounds professional, and the topics are fascinating. I hope you can keep it up for a very long time! —ITHAMAR JOTKOWITZ, SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS SUCCESS STORY Eighteen months ago, I was 244 pounds. Stories in Runner’s World have been both inspiring and helpful for my weight loss, and today, I am 180 pounds. I went from a 42-inch waist to a 33-inch waist. I’m now a healthy role model for my kids. —TODD TILZER, VIA FACEBOOK NOT AMUSED I found it incredibly unfortunate that “Are We…

While many runners look to escape city streets, Bill Fulton prefers to log his miles through the concrete jungle. “Running through a city is one of the most stimulating things you can do,” says Fulton, who is the former planning director of San Diego and the current director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University in Houston. It also connects him to his work. “When you experience every single footstep, it helps you understand what’s working and what’s not in a city,” he says. Here’s what Fulton looks for on his urban adventures. 1/ QUAINT ’HOODS “I love the varied streetscapes you find in older neighborhoods, which usually have narrower streets. Traffic moves more slowly, and streets tend to be lined with interesting shops and historic homes…

There was a time when I was obsessed with minutes. Getting my marathon time to 3:20 to qualify for Boston, or getting my halfmarathon time down to 1:30 just because that seemed cool and hard to do. Now I am obsessed with inches, specifically, four of them, which is the current distance between my heel and the mat while I’m doing a downward-facing dog. ¶ Yes, this is another column about an old man discovering yoga. ¶ These are the reasons, in no particular order, why I have resisted doing what everybody (friends, ex-wife, trainers, doctors, physical therapists, probably even a few strangers) advised me to do, and pick up yoga: It’s boring and easy, and boring because it’s easy. It’s for girls. It’s all about woo-woo and inner peace…

Manny Castellanos knows what it’s like to run from something and toward something at the same time. “I tell my kids that the person they want to be is in front of them,” says the 29-year-old coach. “I tell them they can be that person if they don’t stop and just keep running.” Castellanos offers this nugget of wisdom as he presides over an informal Saturday morning practice at a city park in the San Fernando Valley, 25 miles north of Los Angeles. His studentathletes, all of them Latino teenagers who attend Lakeview Charter High School, are about to cruise a few easy miles. The park is bursting with greenery, and jagged mountains rise right up the block, but the picturesque tableau belies a community with genuine problems. The man…

GET FIT, EAT SMART, RUN STRONG As any November Project devotee can tell you (with an F bomb), running up stairs is an effective way to build strength and endurance—and it’s a lot more fun when you do it outside. The plyometric motion works the same muscles as lunges and squats, and targets the gluteus medius, which gets neglected during runs. A study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that short bouts of stair climbing five days a week for eight weeks improved VO₂ max by 17 percent among young women. You can tackle stairs in similar short bursts (after a thorough warmup), or take them slowly and purposefully. Bonus benefit: They’ll make your next hilly run feel that much easier. Find more tips for mastering hills on…

THE ATHLETE’S PALATE WHILE DRIED FIGS are available year-round (as in Newtons), fresh figs are a seasonal treat. Ranging in color from dark purple to bright green, the fruit peaks in late summer, when Patricia Wells picks them outside her home and cooking school in France. “Plump, ripe figs are a great way to add fiber to your plate,” says the cookbook author, a runner since 1968. For more, see patriciawells.com. FIG, CHEESE, ARUGULA, POMEGRANATE, AND KUMQUAT SALAD Eat the kumquat fruit peel for fiber and antioxidants. ½ cup pomegranate seeds 8 fresh figs, stemmed and quartered 4 kumquats, cut crosswise into thin slices, and seeded 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper 4 cups arugula 2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil ½ tsp. fine sea salt 1…

The cascade of doping scandals flooding over the sport during this Olympic summer was set loose by a 2014 German TV documentary by Hajo Seppelt. Based on secret recordings made by 800-meter runner Yuliya Stepanova, it uncovered a vast state-sponsored doping system in Russia fueled by bribery and intimidation. Those revelations sparked an investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that resulted in a late 2015 ruling by the IAAF, track’s governing body, suspending Russian track-and-field athletes from international competition. In June 2016, citing continued Russian intransigence, the IAAF extended the ban through the Rio Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed that decision, but allowed for exemptions for athletes who could prove that they had undergone reliable drug testing outside of Russia. At press time, some 68 Russian…

“What I crave in life, running, music, and art is direct, unmediated experience.” MUSIC IS NOT just what I do, it’s how I understand the world. A lot of it has to do with place, listening more deeply to where we are. I RAN TRACK as a kid. I did sprints and hurdles and was a good jumper. There’s nothing like that feeling of competing and winning— feeling young and strong and healthy and alive. BUT I LIVED most of my adult life in Alaska, where the geography and climate made running tough, so I did other things. As I got older I began to struggle with the long winter darkness and, as a way of fighting back, I started running again. It’s become essential. NOW MY WIFE and I…

HEIDY LOZANO 53-year-old marathon winner At 53, Lozano assumed her chances of ever winning a marathon were past. But in May, she broke the tape at Denver’s Colfax Marathon in 3:10:41. Lozano, who works for a mentalhealth organization in Boulder, Colorado, was nursing a sore hamstring and started conservatively. Around mile 17 she took the lead of the women’s race. She finished nearly two minutes ahead of the runner-up, who is 25 years her junior. Since taking up the sport in 1990, Lozano has completed 15 marathons (PR of 2:51) and seven Ironman triathlons. “It’s so important to not give up on yourself at any age,” she says. —NOVA SIENKIEWICZ GASHAW DUHAMEL Deaf runner joins college team When he first started running track at the Tennessee School for the Deaf…

A man is arrested after attempting to dump water on the torch relay for Rio 2016 as the flame travels through Brazil. Lance Armstrong runs a 31:21 fivemiler in Aspen, Colorado, and finishes fourth. Caitlin Jenner wears her ’76 Olympic gold medal on the cover of SI, says she keeps it in her nail drawer. Mike Rossi, who earned notoriety after being accused of cheating to get into the Boston Marathon, is arrested for criminal trespassing at a Kenny Chesney concert. Andrea Barber does a birthday four-miler with Fuller House costars Candace Cameron Bure and Jodie Sweetin to celebrate turning 40. Kevin Hart tells Kelly Ripa about his sports-bra conversation with his daughter: “I was like, ‘It’s time to hold ’em down. … You gotta strap ’em up.’ ” John…

It was bound to happen. It happens to every runner, if the runners I know are to be believed. One day, they assure me, you wake up with every intention of running, but then…you don’t. (You have your reasons.) But so what! One day is some big deal? No, of course not. You’re a human being, not some spandex-clad cyborg. You’ll get back out there. You’ve been doing it all this time, and there’s every reason to believe you’ll continue. ¶ And then—whoops!—there goes another day. But you’re busy, okay? You’re a busy person. Plus, you’ve barely slept. Plus, you’re burned out at work. Plus, there’s such a thing as overtraining. (You’re nowhere near that threshold, but why quibble with details?) Then another runless day passes—I mean, you couldn’t run…

WHEN THE WORLD’S BEST marathoners toe the line in Rio’s famous Sambódromo, the American team will have one advantage over most of their Olympic rivals: They’ve already faced the pressure of a do-or-die race—in wilting heat, where placing top three is all that matters—and succeeded. While most countries rely on committees and long-term performance records to pick their Olympic marathoners, the U.S. takes the top three men and top three women at a selection race—this year’s Marathon Trials were held in February in Los Angeles. The format means that in an event whose unpredictability is one of its greatest challenges, even the strongest favorite is just one mistake away from oblivion. It makes for edgeof-the-seat viewing, and it offers useful lessons about the thin line between marathon success and failure.…

WHEN OLYMPIC MARATHONER Shalane Flanagan sits down for postrun bison meatballs (see page 75), she’s doing her body a big favor. Protein, made up of amino acids, is so important to muscle repair, recovery, and building that runners should have a greater portion of the nutrient after their workouts than at any other time of day, according to new research from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (the Academy), and the Dietitians of Canada. Indeed, instead of looking at general intake guidelines, runners should plan their daily protein consumption around their workouts— and readjust intake on days when they aren’t exercising. This, researchers say, will help your muscles become stronger and more adaptable to training. “Protein helps build back damaged muscles to prevent…

1 / SHFT $299 Pods on your chest and shoe sync with your smartphone. BEST FOR Measuring power and running efficiency UPSIDE We love that the pods gather a wide range of data to compare your stride with power usage, determining optimal ranges to maximize efficiency and then coaching you on how to improve. It’s a complete system that you must trust and follow. DOWNSIDE The coaching is too prescriptive—“Your ground contact time should be between 280 and 295 milliseconds”— but you can turn it off. 2 / GARMIN FORERUNNER 630 $500 GPS-enabled watch and chest-strap HR monitor BEST FOR Tracking cadence and ground contact time UPSIDE The data is simple and reliable, and the touchscreen navigation is intuitive, easy to read when running, and customizable. Plus, the stride metrics…

With the Olympics coming to South America for the first time, there is no shortage of drama. There are athletes, like Mo Farah and Usain Bolt, who will likely extend their winning streaks to historic dimensions. Americans Ashton Eaton and Allyson Felix have the chance to solidify their status as track legends. But there’s the dark side, too: Drug scandals—including a ban of most Russian runners, suspicions about Kenyans, and the arrest of Jama Aden, the high-profile coach of an Ethiopian world record holder—have no doubt tainted the running picture at the Rio Games. They have also, for now, increased the probability of a strong U.S. showing. Here are the runners we think will bring home hardware at the 2016 Summer Games. FINALS TIMES (NBC) ALL TIMES EDT August 13,…

NAME Fabio Iskandarian AGE 33 PROFESSION Personal Trainer PEOPLE HERE have always been into outdoor sports and staying fit. But running has boomed since Rio got picked to host the Olympics. I think most people are really excited for the games—we’re the first South American city to host them, and there’s a lot of pride about that. As far as running events in the Olympics, our best marathoners are Solonei Rocha da Silva [2:11:32] and Gilberto Silvestre Lopes [2:16:39]. To be honest, I don’t think the podium belongs to them. They are in a level below the top. Rio de Janeiro is crowded; we have more than 6 million people and lots of traffic. But there are plenty of places to run. You can go to the beach and run…

WHAT DOES IT TAKE to become an Olympian? We know the obvious answers: incredible talent, years of dedication and arduous training, the good fortune to be injury-free and at the top of your game when it counts. In July, at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials, I watched all those elements come together for dozens of athletes at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Ashton Eaton won the decathlon. Galen Rupp and Molly Huddle won the 10,000-meter finals. Allyson Felix won the 400. It was awe-inspiring to see. But because the margin between third and fourth place (the top three in each event make Team USA) can be so small, I was reminded that glory can be complicated and that the Olympic flame is partially fueled by failure. At the…

NEWS, TRENDS, and REGULAR RUNNERS doing AMAZING THINGS Carey-Campbell launched her first blog (Bangs and a Bun) in 2007 to talk beauty and style. Then she signed up for a half marathon. Soon, training postings infiltrated her fashion coverage. Some readers grumbled, but many more raved. So she started a fitness blog (Spikes and Heels). “I want to encourage women to do whatever leaves them breathless, sweaty, and euphoric,” says the four-time marathoner who is also the fitness editor of Elle U.K. And her fashion sensibility is still intact. “I don’t see the need to abandon who I am because I work out,” she says. “I might end a workout with messy hair and a red face, but at least my outfit will be on point.”…

ARYA FARZIN BEFORE 365 LB. (ABOVE) TODAY 190 LB. (BELOW, IN WASHINGTON, D.C.) In 2007, Arya Farzin’s mom gave him a Christmas gift that changed his life: a 2XL-sized sweatshirt that didn’t fit. “That was the breaking point,” says Farzin, who weighed 365 pounds. “That’s when I knew I needed help.” Help came from an uncle, who had lost 40 pounds himself. He invited his 19-year-old nephew to move into his home in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he could focus on getting healthy. “I had tried many diets but never lost more than 10 pounds,” Farzin says. “My family is Persian and the culture is food-oriented.” Farzin started eating six small meals a day, lifting weights, and walking—short treadmill walks at first, then outdoor walks, then run/walks. Eventually Farzin was logging…

Hall is featured in this issue’s HR logo. You might know Hall as a track star (four-time Olympic Track & Field Trials qualifier), marathoner (she ran 2:30 in London), and wife of Olympic marathoner Ryan Hall. But she now answers to a new title: Mom. Last October the Halls adopted four sisters—Hana, 16; Mia, 12; Jasmine, 7; and Lily, 5— from Ethiopia. Here’s how she manages. TALKING THE TALK “I learned as much Amharic as I could. I wanted to meet them halfway instead of expecting them to do all the changing.” MAKING STRIDES “Getting the girls running has been gradual. The oldest two made great strides in middle school track. They got down to around a six-minute mile.” ROCKING OUT “It’s pretty normal for us to have dance parties.…

While running with my dog, is it okay to toss a bag of his poop into a stranger’s garbage can? —Melissa M. (& puppy Ryder), Towaco, NJ I don’t run with my dog, because he is a maniac, but I walk him daily in our quasi-respectable residential neighborhood, and what to do with the full poop bag is definitely a vexing question. Over time I’ve developed a sort of internal algorithm for these situations: If the garbage can in question is at the curb and is full (i.e., will be emptied soon), and if the bag is intact and knotted tightly and not too aromatic, then yes, I will place a bag of poop in a stranger’s can—unless I am so close to home or a public garbage can that it…

TIPS FOR BEGINNERS FROM AN EASYGOING COACH Many new (and veteran!) runners fall into one of two camps: those who are scared of hills, and those who hate them. I get it—when running on flat ground is still a challenge, it’s hard to embrace the ascent. That said, making hills part of your routine builds strength, improves efficiency, and boosts confidence. The return of cool weather is a good time to use hills to reach any of your fall goals. TO FINISH A 5K Run a variety of gentle to moderate hills, going slowly at the beginning of each and easing into a run/walk pace that curbs huffing and puffing. If the course has hills, practice on those as much as possible—even one run there will give you some idea…

NUTRITION ADVICE FOR HEALTHY, HUNGRY RUNNERS FROZEN TREATS, from fruit bars to full-fat ice cream, have a place in a runner’s freezer. Just don’t eat the whole pint—not even the lower-fat versions, which are loaded with sugar. Listed serving sizes are generally . cup, but by July 2018, nutrition labels will list servings as 2∕3 cup to better reflect how much people really eat. And to burn all that off? Run about a mile for every 100 calories. FRUIT AND VEGGIE BARS These make for a refreshing treat before a hot run, with few calories (about 60 per bar) and less sugar (9 grams of mostly natural). For an extra healthy kick, look for one made with beet juice, which has been shown to improve running performance. FROZEN YOGURT At…

NINE DAYS AFTER TURNING 30, 80 days before the start of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, 94 days since his commanding victory at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, 349 days after publication of the BBC/ProPublica report whose allegations sucked him into the doping cloud choking his sport, and approximately 5,000 days since he began working with Alberto Salazar, Galen Rupp approaches the line for an interval workout at the Michael Johnson Track at Nike’s world headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. “What do you see that’s different?” Salazar asks me. I’d expected that a year of dealing with the fallout of the BBC/ProPublica story would’ve taken a toll. I thought that Salazar, who oversees the Nike Oregon Project (NOP), might appear drawn and frazzled, but the opposite is the case. He…

WE ALL KNOW what “run fast” means, right? Kick some @#*! It means not just surviving but also thriving in our insanely fastpaced lifestyles that don’t seem conducive to having the time (or energy) to cook. But what do we mean by “eat slow”? It represents a way of eating that includes preparing nourishing meals from scratch, sitting down at a table instead of eating on the go, enjoying food in the company of friends and family, seeking out foods that were grown or raised with care, and tuning in to what our bodies need to thrive. Leading up to a big race, Shalane will limit sweets. But mostly she focuses on a balanced diet rich in wholesome foods that keep her energized. Although runners are often put on a…

THE SHOE FINDER HELPS YOU PINPOINT SUITABLE MODELS BASED ON YOUR RUNNING HISTORY AND OTHER SHOES YOU LIKE. FOR MORE DETAILS ON FIT AND PERFORMANCE, SEE OUR REVIEWS ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES. STA RT HERE DO YOU KNOW THE TYPE OF SHOE THAT WORKS WELL FOR YOUR SIZE, STRIDE, AND PREFERRED RIDE? YES Proceed directly to the grid below. Shoes are arranged in terms of cushioning, weight, sole height, flexibility, and stability features as measured in the RW Shoe Lab. You’ll find lighter, less-supportive shoes in the bottom left and highly cushioned, more stable shoes in the top right. Shoes in the middle provide a balance of performance and protection features and can work well for many runners. NO Put yourself into a runner group using the table at right.…

TIPS, TRENDS, and MUST-RUN EVENTS Between the southern coast’s sandy beaches and the rocky shoreline of Long Island Sound, the fashion, the nightlife, and the accents change from one Long Island community to the next. September’s Ocean to Sound Relay—which starts at Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh, New York, and finishes at Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park in Oyster Bay—allows teams of eight runners to sample the diverse cultures of the island. After fast, flat early miles in shore towns and suburban developments, the 50-mile relay culminates with challenging climbs through the wealthy, historic communities on the bay. Read on to learn what runners love about this 31-year-old classic. September 25, Oyster Bay, New York, glirc.org BE A TOURIST Take a tour of Sagamore Hill, home to President Theodore Roosevelt…

NORTH ATLANTIC SEP 18 - Navy Air Force Half Marathon & Navy 5 Miler Washington, DC Contact: Joint Base Anacostia Bolling MWR, 12 Brookley Avenue, Washington, DC 20032. navyairforcehalfmarathon@gmail.com www.navyhalf.com SEP 25 - Richard S. Caliguiri City of Pittsburgh Great Race, 10K Run, 5K Run & Fitness Walk Pittsburgh, PA Contact: Brian Katze, Race Director, 459 City County Building, 414 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. (412) 255-2493 info@rungreatrace.com www.rungreatrace.com OCT 2 - Divas® Half Marathon & 5K in Long Island East Meadow, NY Contact: Continental Event & Sports Management, P.O. Box 56-1154, Miami, FL 33256-1154. info@runlikeadiva.com www.runlikeadiva.com Save 10% - Use RWLISEP16 (Exp. 9/30/16) OCT 2 - OctoHalf Half Marathon Hatfield, PA Contact: ACT Sports Management, P.O. Box 488, Lionville, PA 19353. (610) 308-3993 info@octohalf.com www.octohalf.com OCT 22 & 23 -…