Table of contents for June 2018 in Runner's World

IT WAS SEPTEMBER of 2012, and Mark Davis was scrolling through high school race results on the running site Mile Split. Something incredible caught his eye—a 13:57.04 in the 5,000 meters posted by Newark, New Jersey, junior Edward Cheserek. The typical teen-runner’s time for that race is closer to 17 minutes. Davis, a photography student at New York University at the time, was floored by Cheserek’s speed—so much so that, for the next five years, he traveled nationwide to photograph Cheserek’s journey as a near unbeatable athlete. “Watching him for the first time, I was blown away by how easily he ran so fast,” says Davis. “A runner myself, I had a sense of how impressive his times were.” What’s more, Davis added, he knew what the majority of runners…

Coconut Oil CLAIM TO FAME: Boosts weight loss Some research has suggested that the oil’s medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) may be easier to burn off than to store as body fat. Not so fast: “Coconut oil contains much lower MCT levels than what has been used in research to increase metabolism and weight loss, so you can’t assume it will have the same impact,” says Marni Sumbal, R.D. Dieters also claim that coconut oil boosts feelings of satiety, making you eat less. But a 2017 study in the European Journal of Nutrition found that it did a worse job at taming hunger than olive oil and had no impact on fat-burning metabolism. VERDICT: HYPE. “Simply adding caloriedense coconut oil to your diet without trimming calories elsewhere will lead to weight gain,”…

CONNECTED SUNGLASSES Although face-mounted technology never quite took off (looking at you, Google Glass), a new generation of connected glasses is making a comeback. The Oakley Radar Pace will give you audio feedback on your stats, and the Solos Smart Glasses project a tiny, see-through display pane with heart rate, pace, cadence, and running power. The Smith Lowdown Focus hits the mental side of running: It senses how stressed out you are via built-in EEG sensors along the arms of the glasses, and its companion app then guides you through calming breathing exercises. These advancements aren’t just needless features, either. “The technology will help you get more precise,” says Ray Maker, founder of the DC Rainmaker tech blog, noting that instant, effortless data tracking is especially useful on long distance…

WHEN I THINK of the summer I spent on Nantucket, I think about my six-mile runs to the ocean. What I remember most is taking in the sights of still ponds, the buzz of open-air jeeps, and the feel of uneven cobblestones beneath my sneakers as I cut through the town center. No music. No phone. Just me and a few uncomplicated, tech-free miles in a picturesque setting. Taking it all in left me feeling calm and centered. To reach this zen-like state—one in which we exert physical effort with ease—we have to tune into our senses, explains Christina Heilman, Ph.D., certified strength and conditioning coach in Driggs, Idaho, and author of Elevate Your Excellence. A “sensory run” is one in which you let go of your mind and focus…

MIY ALARM GOES OFF when it’s still dark outside my tent. Well, that’s what it’s technically called, but this tent comes with a four-poster bed, a cut-crystal decanter filled with port wine, and a wooden terrace overlooking the rolling grasslands of Singita Grumeti, a private reserve northwest of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. Even in the presence of such luxuries, I can’t shake the knowledge that, right now, alone in the black of night, I am completely surrounded by creatures. I can’t see the animals, but I can hear and, even more clearly, imagine them: There’s a rustle of frantic scurrying just behind my bed, then some kind of desperate struggle in the dirt, all sounding close enough that I could touch whatever is making that noise. There’s snorting coming…

THE BUGLE BLARED “REVEILLE” at 0600 to mark the start of Presidents’ Day 2018 at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. The tune is used to wake soldiers on base, but it was unnecessary today. Hundreds were already up. Gathered at a makeshift starting line, 533 servicemen and-women stood at attention. Ahead of them was a long stretch of Perimeter Road. This dirt, gravel, and sand path ran straight and along the side of the base that had been home to the 35th Infantry Division of the Army National Guard, a unit from Kansas and Missouri, since June 2017. It was a road the soldiers had come to know well from their shifts during the past eight months. And it was one they were about to grow enormously sick of during the…