This is basically the equivalent of running-research-gossip

Read: NERD ALERT. (I'm just gonna own it at this point because you are my people.)

I've waited a hot minute to deep-dive into this particular research article. And the whole time I've been reading and re-reading it, the IG algorithm has still not put it into my feed.

So if you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's the title:

"How much running is too much? Identifying high-risk running sessions in a 5200-person cohort study."

And this is why it's so terrifying:

It looks high-powered, like it should be a really good, impressive study since it has 5200 runners in it!

Then, this study goes on to claim to have found that:

• Running 10–30% beyond your longest run in the past 30 days increases injury risk by 64%
• A 30–100% spike raises risk to 53%
• Going over 100% farther (doubling your longest recent run) raises risk by 128%

If you're half-panicked, half-eye brow raising, you're not alone.

It was actually Elisabeth from Running Explained that first tipped me off to this study. And it's been an itch in my brain ever since.

Especially because I started to notice a little more content being made surrounding particular questions like:

• “Can a single long run cause injury?”
• “How much further can I safely run?”
• “Why did I get injured after just one long run?”
• “Why doesn’t the 10% rule ‘work’ anymore?”

Let me be real with you: these ARE GOOD QUESTIONS. But when you couple these questions against the scary numbers above...

It starts to sound like you can only ever increase your running by <10% of your longest run (in the past 30 days).

But aren't long runs 20-30% of your weekly mileage?

YES, EXACTLY.

So can this ONE study completely overturn YEARS of running research and standard practice?

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

The point is: I'm answering all 4 of those questions in this week's blog post with nuance, looking at the entire picture of YOU as a runner who has a job, family, a dog etc... while deconstructing and poking holes in the argument of this paper.

So even if you don't give 2 pennies about whatever research says, you still get your burning questions answered.

Because there's a misconception that all scientific literature should be treated like a holy-text: infallible and absolute.

And that's frankly not the case.

Because if nothing else, check out the END of my blog post because I include exactly how the authors literally OUT THEMSELVES. I'm not joking.

I want you to be armed with knowledge.

I don't want you to fall prey to the over-hype. Because if we're being honest, this kind of stuff doesn't get the traction of social media.

The fear mongering does. The scary stats do. And I want to show you how these research papers can be debunked.

I also don't want you getting in your own head about how you ran a few extra miles because you felt really good last weekend and start to believe your leg is going to fall off your body because a "research paper said so." (Ok, that's probably so nerdy that only happens to me...but you get the point.)

So let me take your hand and walk you through this.

Because it's not nearly as scary as those stats make it seem.

Dare to Train Differently,

Marie Whitt, PT, DPT //@dr.whitt.fit

P.S. NERD ALERT: This research paper we're debunking this week is like the runner version of the movie "The Big Short". (I know, super niche. But a good movie).

Except we're not crashing the stock market and causing the great recession....we're preventing it.

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