Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 203 posts

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#141

Post by twawaaay »

js2 wrote: post #72
scns wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> speed up a bit on the downhills That is bad for your knees. [edit] I highly recommend the book Born to Run by Cristopher McDougall.

My $0.02: Sitting on the couch is bad for your knees. Over-striding is bad for your knees. A weak core is bad for your knees. Running slightly faster on downhills is not bad for your knees. FWIW, I've read nearly every running book there is including that one. I still have healthy knees at 51 and have run tens of thousands of miles on them over all sorts of terrain.

See my sibling comment.

Repeated stress of right intensity makes bones, joints and tendons stronger. Avoiding all stress is a bad advice I have heard many times in my life I am sick and tired of it. It is the stress that causes the body to need to recover and it is during recovery that it becomes stronger.

The only really important thing to remember is that the right intensity is crucial and that it is very easy to suddenly overload a part of your body you have never even been aware of. Even a slight change in technique caused by something like different shoes or an aching toe can shift forces to places that are not ready yet and cause an injury.

That's why good running technique is crucial -- because it is nothing else as a discipline to put your body through predictable motions in response to predictable loads. If you can do it you can now make sure your loads don't change too much over time and you should be relatively safe from injuries.

Lots of injuries are caused by people running for longer duration but slipping with their technique because, for example, their core muscles get fatigued through the run. And this shifts loads to new places and causes things to get overloaded.

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#142

Post by brianzelip »

myself248 wrote: post #136

A funny headline, given that I was just reading up on the history of the "Black Ghost", a nickname given by other racers to a muscle-car which would dominate Detroit street races in the 70s, but never hung around to socialize. The car would just show up, win, and disappear, sometimes for weeks or months, before surfacing again to win, and again to vanish. Nobody knew the driver, nobody could get a look at him, and he…

Great story, thanks!

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#143

Post by alistairSH »

Eupraxias wrote: post #133
bookofjoe wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Running Does Not Increase Symptoms or Structural Progression in People with Knee Osteoarthritis: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6095814/ >History of Running is Not Associated with Higher Risk of Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis: A Cross-Sectional Study from the Osteoarthritis Initiative https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5179322/ >Running does not lead t…

This is dangerous. My friend blew out his knee pushing too hard with trailrunning, and now he can never run again.

"Blowing out a knee" is a completely different issue to osteoarthritis of the knee.

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#144

Post by haspok »

kashyapc wrote: post #119
haspok wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As you know, carbs are precisely we need when going the distance. This is completely false. You deplete your carb stores after a few hours (depending on pace etc), and then YOU ARE RUNNING ON KETONES, whether you like it or not. You physically cannot eat and digest enough carbs to sustain your pace for any longer period of time. Carb depletion can be a real shock for the first time. What happens is that your body i…

There is so much misleading "advice" in the above comment that it's not even worth refuting. I just want to warn to others lurking here to be cautious with it. From the little I know (which is nothing!), going the "keto" route needs a specialist advice[1]. Diet is a charged topic; it would do us good to stay grounded. It's tempting to dole out uninformed advice on the internet. Please resist. The point you raised at…

> It's tempting to dole out uninformed advice on the internet.

...says he, and then links to a page of advice on the internet. The "Keto Diet Risks" section on that page is such an epic, "that it's not even worth refuting".

>> Fuzzy thinking and mood swings. "The brain needs sugar from healthy carbohydrates to function. Low-carb diets may cause confusion and irritability,"

This shows that whoever wrote this has never even tried proper keto. Because the brain does not need sugar (otherwise you would die after a few days of fasting), and fuzzy thinking is only for the first couple of days until your body adjusts and your brain gets enough fuel again.

It is in fact quite evil, because if someone starts keto or fasting and feels "confused and irritated" at first, they might just stop doing it out of fear of the unknown. Luckily in our modern society were are past such diseases as type-2 diabetes, right? So nobody should bother checking out something that might actually help with that.

But let me ask about your personal experience with keto or fasting. Did you try either? Did it work for you? I could link a hundred web posts about the benefits of keto, and another hundred about the dangers of it. In fact, anybody could google this for themselves, so I don't find this "I read this and that about something" contributing much to any discussion.

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#145

Post by Eupraxias »

richeyryan wrote: post #85
random314 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Running is a Great exercise to damage your knees.

This is technically true if you go out and start running a lot from zero if you are overweight or ignore your body and the warnings it gives in the run-up to injury. If you build up running gradually and treat it as a skill that you learn and improve on your technique and always listen to the feedback your body is giving you, then running is a great way to improve the health of the joints, muscles and bones in your l…

Can anyone point to more details about the kinds of injury one sustains when going to "a lot from zero"?

What can be done to fix such injuries?

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#146

Post by chiefalchemist »

BurningFrog wrote: post #140
chiefalchemist wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aside from the other comments / suggestions...check your diet. It's possible you're eating something(s) that triggers inflammation; and when your running that inflammation manifests as pain in your knees.

OK, but how would I check for that? I mean, how do I know if it's the bacon, the coffee, or the cheese, etc?

Process of elimination. Keep a food diary. Look for patterns. Start with knowns (e.g., sugar, dairy, gluten, etc.) and work your way into the weeds.

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#147

Post by haspok »

banDeveloper wrote: post #138
haspok wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As you know, carbs are precisely we need when going the distance. This is completely false. You deplete your carb stores after a few hours (depending on pace etc), and then YOU ARE RUNNING ON KETONES, whether you like it or not. You physically cannot eat and digest enough carbs to sustain your pace for any longer period of time. Carb depletion can be a real shock for the first time. What happens is that your body i…

> You deplete your carb stores after a few hours (depending on pace etc), and then YOU ARE RUNNING ON KETONES, whether you like it or not. You physically cannot eat and digest enough carbs to sustain your pace for any longer period of time. What do you mean, this is precisely why all professional runners and cyclists consume gels. Not only is it possible to not deplete your carb stores, it's actually pretty easy to k…

Pros are pros, but you are not one (are you?), you don't have the experience, the time, the regeneration, the genes, the attitude, the money. So you might as well ignore most of what they do, because you are not one of them.

> Sure you won't feel a loss of energy, because you've never had that energy in the first place. I don't understand why you would remove a major fuel source entirely.

That's a bold statement. Have you ever tried it? Did you have energy?

Imagine that you don't bonk, no matter if you eat or not, and you can still keep roughly the same level of intensity for the entirety of your session, however long it might be. As a matter of fact, you feel just as fresh mentally at the end as at the start. That's why.

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#148

Post by renewiltord »

myself248 wrote: post #136

A funny headline, given that I was just reading up on the history of the "Black Ghost", a nickname given by other racers to a muscle-car which would dominate Detroit street races in the 70s, but never hung around to socialize. The car would just show up, win, and disappear, sometimes for weeks or months, before surfacing again to win, and again to vanish. Nobody knew the driver, nobody could get a look at him, and he…

Terrific story. Thank you!

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#149

Post by scott_w »

boppo1 wrote: post #102
js2 wrote: post #45

In an amateur context, I've paced about a half dozen races, half marathon and marathon distance. I've also served as a pacer for runners in the second half of a 100 mile race a couple times. The purpose of a pacer for amateur runners is to set a consistent pace and provide encouragement to runners who may be running their first race at that distance. Or maybe someone trying to set a new PR. Since most courses are not…

How do these runners knees not succumb to problems? Genetic lottery? I run 6 miles on a treadmill with zero drop & pronation inserts, stretch withe a calf wedge & still feel like I'm flying close to the sun with my knees.

Two things:

1. Genetics that allow their bodies to push harder and recover faster (at the elite level) than an average human.

2. Years upon years of building up resilience by increasing distance, time, intensity in a semi-controlled manner.

That said, there's millions of people worldwide who run far below the elite level whose bodies don't crumble to bits. It's a total myth that running destroys your knees.

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#150

Post by scott_w »

felipemnoa wrote: post #107
mclouts91 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The old myth that running is bad for your knees. It isn’t unless you have a condition. What you may not have is tendons ready for the effort or the right supporting muscles. These can be worked on.

Go on, don't leave us hanging. Any suggestions on a workout to strengthen the muscles?

There's a few things that will help:

1. Run slower. Then run slower again.

2. Run a shorter distance/time and gradually build up over time (weeks/months).

3. Lose weight (on average, people are overweight). If you're underweight, then eat more.

Post reply on HN