Would you read Slow Runner magazine?

Going to the Well

Running magazines provide great utility and can occasionally inspire. When I was a new runner, I found these magazines to be a useful source for information about terminology, practices and setting expectations. But just as there are no magazines to help you become a run-of-the-mill decorator or a mediocre cook, the focus of every running magazine seems to be about improving performance. Up until recently, I appreciated that focus. Now I'm a little conflicted.

The reason for this comes from recent studies published by the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health and the Lancet. Both of these studies concluded that mortality rates for those who exercised moderately were lower than the rates for sedentary people or high performing athletes. If running greater than 20 miles per week or pacing in the seven minute pace range causes a health concern, I'm certainly not going to do that. Not that I could run a sustained 7:00 pace anyway.

I'm curious to see whether running magazines will ignore these studies or dismiss them as inaccurate. If not, will they acknowledge the facts and modify their editorial focus? After all, the topic of minimalism started getting regular coverage after Christopher McDougall published "Born to Run". Covering running without a focus on performance may be a hard sell for Running Times, but many titles already devote pages to nutrition, human interest and lifestyle.

Given the choice, I'd always choose an article about running experience over a new approach to running intervals. Maybe that's a new market segment for Rodale to cover.

The call of the running club

I picked up a copy of New England Runner on my way home last night. I read this magazine for the first time after the Cape Cod Marathon where they gave out copies at the Expo. It's an interesting publication that serves a good purpose: covering the many local races in NE with some overlap into NY, including LI. The writing is secondary to the subject matter, more like a newsletter than a magazine, although they do have some feature articles. It really demonstrates how many people run and race and how much of running involves a community of runners. I have not joined a local running club because I'm concerned that it will take up time that I want to spend with my family. All the same, there may be reasons to do it. If my family thinks it's worthwhile I will consider doing that next year.

I got out this morning for a run. Conditions were just right, cold but not freezing, breezy but not windy. I'll credit the treadmill on Sunday for one thing - it forced me to pay attention to pace. I've defaulted to running at equilibrium, whatever pace felt right was the one that I maintained. The problem is that to improve performance it isn't about feeling right. It's about pushing to the point of suffering. I went out at a brisk pace and although I didn't switch the display on the Garmin to "pace" I knew I was pushing faster than usual. In the end I covered 2.3 miles at around 9:00/mile which is good for me at 4:00 AM.

With 11 days to my next race I need to keep pushing. 9:00 per mile works fine for early morning running  but I want to do a lot better than that for my 5K.