1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,200 You're listening to episode 309 of the Marathon Running Podcast. 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,480 In this episode, we're going to talk about the four most Googled 3 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:10,640 questions forerunners by runners in 2026. 4 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:13,320 Welcome to the Marathon Running Podcast by Marathon Journal. 5 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:16,040 Join us every week for the insights and inspiration you 6 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:18,880 need to get from the starting line to the finish line and 7 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:32,720 beyond. Hey runners, and welcome to the 8 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:34,920 Marathon Running Podcast. My name is Letty. 9 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:37,480 My name is Ryan. And Ryan, it has been a while, 10 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:40,120 hasn't it, that we've recorded a podcast together, a few. 11 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:42,000 Weeks, I think. Yeah, I think more than a few 12 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:46,760 weeks to record pre to. I've taken the liberty to record 13 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:49,480 some of the intros myself just because everything has been so 14 00:00:49,480 --> 00:00:51,200 busy around here with spring break. 15 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:53,560 ETC. It is springtime. 16 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:55,440 Spring is in the air. Spring is sprung. 17 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:56,800 We wouldn't know. We live in Florida. 18 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:59,360 Yeah, I don't know for everyone, but here it's warm. 19 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,960 Yes, and pretty soon next week I will find out how the weather is 20 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:04,800 in Boston. So you'll be in Boston soon? 21 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:07,040 Yeah, did you know that? I mean, you just told me. 22 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:09,520 I talked to you about before it. This is how well my husband 23 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:11,040 listens. To me, you might have mentioned 24 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:13,600 it sometime. I guess we'll have a week of 25 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,320 vacation, huh? Yeah, vacation from the big 26 00:01:16,320 --> 00:01:17,800 boss. So are you running this year? 27 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:19,560 I am Ryan. Oh, good. 28 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:20,760 What are you going to run? I'm going. 29 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,200 To run a relay on Saturday before the actual marathon race. 30 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:25,840 I'm not running this year. I've not been training. 31 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:26,840 Why not? I don't know. 32 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:28,720 I feel like I'm kind of an offseason right now. 33 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:33,040 Obviously not work wise because I'm still all into marathoning, 34 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,080 but I just kind of took a little, not even a break. 35 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:38,320 I still run everyday but just, you know, kind of ease up a 36 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:41,680 little bit for the time being so I can roll into training for the 37 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,000 Sydney Marathon in the fall. You're going to wait all the way 38 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,200 until Sydney? Yeah, Can you believe it? 39 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,440 No, I don't believe it. No, it's really true. 40 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,760 I'm just running a relay. I'm running a relay at one of 41 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:55,800 the events during the Boston Marathon weekend, which is at 42 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:59,080 the New Balance track. They do a relay every year, or I 43 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:01,480 guess this is the second year, and it sounds like fun. 44 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:05,840 So it's like a marathon distance relay with a team. 45 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,440 So we have a ton of people on our team, so I think we just get 46 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:13,960 to run maybe a mile each, but that just goes to show that our 47 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:15,360 marathon's going to be a lot faster. 48 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:17,320 It's only a mile each. Yeah. 49 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:19,080 So I don't know how many teams there are. 50 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:23,560 I think about 20 teams that are all running marathon relays. 51 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:26,640 So it's quick turnover. Does it have to be a certain 52 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:28,240 number of people? I don't think so. 53 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:30,600 I think they're aiming for 10 to 20 people. 54 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:33,240 We have 17. Oh, with 10 people you'd have to 55 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:34,640 run. No, I think, I'm sorry. 56 00:02:34,640 --> 00:02:37,000 We have. We have, I think 25. 57 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,200 OK, that would make so everyone just runs a mile. 58 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,680 But I was wondering, so did they they have like a minimum and 59 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:45,080 maximum or did they just kind of give you? 60 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:48,640 I think they were aiming for 10 to 20 people, so this year they 61 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:53,000 did not take any new teams. However, they had a team for 62 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:56,240 people that wanted to participate in the relay that 63 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,720 weren't teamless. So myself and my 9 friends 64 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:02,600 signed up for the teamless team and we didn't know how many 65 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,600 people we're going to have until today when we got the e-mail and 66 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:08,760 it looks like there's 25 people in our team. 67 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:10,800 Which it OK sucks. I mean, I understand that most 68 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:14,200 people are there to run the marathon, I am not, so probably 69 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:17,160 have liked to run a couple miles, but I guess I'll just get 70 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:19,680 them in some other time. Yeah, that's what I was kind of 71 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:21,840 confused about. It was just like what was the 72 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:23,040 setup? Yes. 73 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,560 It sounds interesting though. Yeah, it sounds fun, looks fun. 74 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:28,840 They have, you know, food, music and all that stuff and it's a 75 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:30,560 good event. It was a good event last year at 76 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:32,840 least. We'll we'll let you know how how 77 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,360 it goes this year for us. But yeah, so that is just one of 78 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:40,040 the hundreds of events literally that are going on during the 79 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:45,280 Boston Marathon weekend. We, as you know, have created a 80 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:49,040 schedule on our website where we put all the different events 81 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:54,800 that we could find for shakeouts and panels and food events, all 82 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:57,360 sorts of thing, all sorts of things. 83 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:01,400 And we have put them in there by date organized with location. 84 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:03,000 You can click on it takes to Google map. 85 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:05,360 It gives you the place to RSVP and everything. 86 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:06,880 So just to make it easy for everybody. 87 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:10,040 So yeah, if you're going to Boston and you want to find 88 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:12,400 stuff to do, you can hop onto our website. 89 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,920 It's the featured article until the Boston Marathon Marathon 90 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:17,519 journal.com. So what are we getting into 91 00:04:17,519 --> 00:04:19,440 today? Yeah, so today we are going to 92 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:25,360 go over the four most Googled questions by runners about 93 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:30,360 running for 2026 this far. And there's some really cool 94 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:32,960 ones there. Like I said, there's four and I 95 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:36,320 guess should I name them first or should we just hop into them? 96 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,400 Name them first all. Right, so the first one is that 97 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:42,600 running is bad for your knees. Or I guess the question is, is 98 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:46,040 running bad for your knees? The second question most googled 99 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:51,000 was how many carbs can your body process per hour? 100 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:55,280 The third one was does more foam in running shoes equal more 101 00:04:55,280 --> 00:04:57,880 protection? And the fourth one was whether 102 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:03,440 lifting makes you bulky and slow while running eats your muscle 103 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:05,280 mass. And I can't believe that 4th 1 104 00:05:05,280 --> 00:05:07,440 is still something that we Google. 105 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:10,000 I thought, you know, that kind of sounds like a question of the 106 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:12,200 early 2000, back when we didn't have Internet. 107 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:13,440 I mean, that's a reasonable question. 108 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:15,680 All right, so let's hop into our first one. 109 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:18,600 Is running bad for my knees? Is it? 110 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:23,800 I guess the reason that we think that is because you use 111 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:27,760 something and it wears out. So then I think that's where the 112 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:30,840 idea comes from, that running is bad for your knees because 113 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:32,560 you're using your knees constantly for running. 114 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:36,240 You're pounding on pavement, which wears out your knees. 115 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:40,000 As humans, it's hard for us to understand that our body is 116 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,440 dynamic, right? I think that's the most common 117 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:47,160 thought of thing because osteoarthritis specifically, 118 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:51,160 which is a specific type of arthritis is kind of a long term 119 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:53,640 debilitating disease. And so it's not like an acute 120 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:56,920 injury, but you don't want to end up that way if you can 121 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:00,560 prevent it because that can lead to long term pain and disability 122 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:02,120 essentially. And actually the original 123 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:05,280 thought was cartilage, like other parts of your body, 124 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:09,200 including neurons and sometimes even nerves were not very 125 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:11,000 active. And once the cells developed 126 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,360 into what they were finally were, they kind of just sat 127 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:15,080 there. And if they died and there was 128 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:18,320 no regeneration or coming back from that. 129 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:21,840 But it seems more and more that there is regeneration of those 130 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:25,240 cells, it's just a lot slower than other cells and more 131 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:27,920 limited than other cells. But that doesn't mean it doesn't 132 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:31,800 happen. And despite the previous thought 133 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,200 that running would be bad because you only have a finite 134 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:39,760 amount of time on your knees, instead it actually does provide 135 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:43,280 some regeneration of the cartilage and menisci and other 136 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:45,520 stuff, and can sometimes even be healthier. 137 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:49,560 I think even recent studies have shown that somebody that even 138 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:53,040 has osteoarthritis already can have decreased pain if they stay 139 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,400 active, not necessarily running. Obviously it's dependent on lots 140 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:58,360 of factors, but can decrease the pain. 141 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:01,080 So do pain meds. But anyway, so OK. 142 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:05,200 So you found one study that is related to cartilage thickness 143 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:08,040 in running, right? Yes, I found a study then. 144 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:16,440 It's a study from 2023 published in April of 2024 that shows that 145 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:20,240 recreational runners actually showed increased thickness and 146 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:22,960 volume in specific regions of the knee cartilage. 147 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:26,440 And so, I mean, I guess that's the ultimate myth Buster because 148 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:29,200 instead of wearing down the cartilage and runners, it 149 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:32,800 actually appears to hypertrophy. Hypertrophy. 150 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:36,040 Hypertrophy to handle the regular mechanical stress of 151 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:37,760 running so. That's a good example of 152 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:42,880 adaptive changes in the body, like if if the cells were just 153 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,760 fixed and they never changed, they would just slowly get 154 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:48,600 thinner or the cartilage would slowly get thinner and thinner. 155 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:52,040 But this is showing that with running, they can actually 156 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:55,280 increase in size instead of get thinner can have a little bit of 157 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:57,760 protective effect, which is really kind of cool. 158 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:00,640 Other things that I've learned about too is that some of these 159 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:03,560 areas, like the cartilage don't have a lot of blood supply to 160 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:05,760 them and they get a lot of their nutrients from the joint, 161 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:09,200 synovium or fluid itself. And the compression of the joint 162 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:12,840 squeezes the cartilage like a little sponge and then it pushes 163 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:15,160 in and out the nutrients that help it grow. 164 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,560 So that might be 1 factor as to how it does it, but. 165 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:22,720 That's actually funny because I found a study that says exactly 166 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:26,040 that. Ryan, It's from 2019 and that 167 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:29,400 study also says that running marathons increases or I mean 168 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:32,280 running marathons training for marathons increase or running in 169 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:34,520 general or increases synovia of fusion. 170 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:37,440 So the fluid volume. And while this sounds like 171 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:39,919 swelling, it's actually the joint increasing its own 172 00:08:39,919 --> 00:08:43,360 lubrication to reduce friction during high repetition 173 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,360 movements. So normally we know that 174 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,480 swelling is a sign of injury. It can be the body's way of 175 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:52,120 oiling the hinges. But in healthy runners, that 176 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:55,000 fluid actually drains without affecting your performance. 177 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,160 I mean, you did also find some other studies that show adaptive 178 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:02,200 changes in the knee related to running, like some of the 179 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:05,160 structures in the knee including the infer patellar fat pad. 180 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:08,240 That can change with marathon runners. 181 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:12,200 And then there's also bone changes, bone marrow changes. 182 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:16,440 People that run can get more stresses on the bones and 183 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:19,800 sometimes they can lead to stress fractures, but as long as 184 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:22,680 you stay below the injury threshold, it can probably 185 00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:25,360 increase bone density and help strengthen the bones. 186 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:27,200 Yeah, and that's Wolf's law, right? 187 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:30,720 It's actually a German surgeon who stated that healthy bones 188 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:33,800 adapt to the mechanical loads under which they are placed. 189 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:41,600 All right, so you want to move on to the next topic? 190 00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:44,040 What's the next most googled thing about running? 191 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:49,800 The next most googled thing was how much carbs can your body 192 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:51,560 take? And I guess the whole reason 193 00:09:51,560 --> 00:09:55,880 that we have that question is because we as runners want to be 194 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:59,120 able to take in as many carbs as possible. 195 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:04,400 So that way we can use glucose instead of using our bodies fat 196 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:06,000 stores. Meaning that when you run a 197 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,000 marathon, you're not going to hit the wall sooner. 198 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:11,600 You can, you know, hang in there for longer. 199 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:16,040 And the myth used to be that the human gut can only process 60 to 200 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:20,080 90 grams of carbohydrates per hour and anything more is just 201 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:22,960 wasted because you're just not going to absorb it. 202 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:25,760 That myth came from older studies that focused on single 203 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,560 source carbohydrates like just glucose and not fructose too, 204 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:32,160 which we know now because we just had a study that we talked 205 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:34,960 about in a full podcast just a couple weeks ago that that is 206 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:36,280 not true. What is the limit? 207 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:39,040 Or is there a known limit? That's the big question, Ryan. 208 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:42,520 What is the new number? Well, you brought a study here 209 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:47,120 that tested at 60 grams an hour, 90 grams an hour and 120 grams 210 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:49,920 an hour of carbohydrates while they were running. 211 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:53,000 They also did a pre workout thing too. 212 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,120 But it shows that even at 120 grams an hour, which is the 213 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:58,560 highest that they tested, your body still becomes 214 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:01,960 metabolically, actually becomes metabolically more efficient and 215 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:04,920 burns those carbohydrates into energy. 216 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:10,200 But at that level, GI distresses were more common and so they 217 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:14,280 recommended a balance at the 90 grams per hour level. 218 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:17,960 But in how it relates to the myth is that you can, I mean, 219 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:19,960 they didn't see the limit in this study. 220 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:23,240 I mean, maybe the limits higher. So there isn't necessarily a a 221 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:27,120 myth as to how much carbs you can absorb while you're running, 222 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:30,360 but it's more whether or not how much you can tolerate. 223 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:32,240 Yes. And then you were mentioning 224 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:36,160 that you became or those people became more metabolically 225 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:38,000 efficient. What does that mean? 226 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:42,640 In a study that they have, it seems to show a greater amount 227 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:46,800 of energy production from the higher intake, 120 grams per 228 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:50,360 hour proportionally more even than the 90 or 60. 229 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:53,200 Meaning that the opposite of what the myth was is actually 230 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:57,720 true in that the more carbohydrates take in the the 231 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:01,160 better your body will be at converting those all to energy 232 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:04,160 as opposed to the lesser amount. I mean, it's a small difference 233 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,360 it looks like based on their numbers, but it certainly does 234 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:11,360 not prove that 120 is too much. Right. 235 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:14,360 And it probably also has to do with the fact that instead of 236 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:17,280 just taking glucose, we now also know better and we know to take, 237 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:19,200 you know, the other types of sugars too, right? 238 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:23,000 Glucose, fructose, maltodextrin. But yeah, So what that means for 239 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:27,720 you listeners, if you want to get fast and you want to take 240 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:30,880 more carbs, you can do. So the way of probably best 241 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:33,480 doing is is to train your gut like a muscle. 242 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:36,400 And you know, just when you doing your practice runs, your 243 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:41,840 long runs, just consume a lot of carbs and see if your gut can 244 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:44,080 handle it. Because if you're not doing it 245 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:47,840 and you're training and then you do it on marathon day, then GI 246 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:52,080 distress is probably more likely to happen once you hit that Max 247 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:54,400 number of carbs that your body can take. 248 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:58,080 I wouldn't worry about taking too many carbs, your body will 249 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:01,880 change it into energy. It's just if it starts causing 250 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:03,920 GI upset, maybe you settle down a little bit. 251 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:05,360 Yeah, and that's the thing, right? 252 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:07,680 You don't want to be pooping your pants or throwing up while 253 00:13:07,680 --> 00:13:09,440 you're running. So you have to find that fine 254 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:12,000 fine line of that you don't want to cross. 255 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:13,440 Yeah. And if you want to get into 256 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:16,640 technicalities, I guess that last study showed 90 grams per 257 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,640 hour is about what they thought might be optional. 258 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:22,920 But you can you can check and try yourself too. 259 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:26,040 And that probably also depends on whether you're male, female, 260 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:28,160 your body weight and all that. I'm sure. 261 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:30,480 I mean, yeah, the bigger you are, the more energy you're 262 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:32,800 going to need. So very cool. 263 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,880 All right, moving on to the next most Google question. 264 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,280 Basically, is a shoe with a stack height of 50mm safer for 265 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:45,600 your body than a 30mm shoe? I beg to differ because your 266 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:49,600 chances of getting injured when you roll your ankle probably the 267 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:51,800 increase too when your stack height is higher. 268 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:54,800 I think so. I mean, I think it depends on a 269 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:58,640 lot of different factors. Like if if the base of your shoe 270 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:02,800 is wider, you're going to have less likely of a chance to maybe 271 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:05,240 twist your ankle in a normal scenario. 272 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:08,760 But the higher your stack height gets, and sometimes the wider 273 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:12,320 the base gets, when you do roll your ankle, it can be worse. 274 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,840 Yes, and I think that's exactly, you know, where this myth or 275 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:18,040 where this thought comes from because we've had this 276 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:22,520 maximalist marketing boom of running shoes in the early 2000 277 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:24,720 twenties. So at first it was just Hoka 278 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:28,840 that had this crazy huge platform in your shoes. 279 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:33,040 And now there's so many other shoes that are also very tall, 280 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:36,160 but now also very wide for your recovery shoes. 281 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:39,080 A lot of them are very tall to give you that cushioning, but 282 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:41,760 also they have some kind of plate in it or they have a 283 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:45,040 certain width that is there to prevent you from rolling your 284 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:46,440 ankle when you're running in these shoes. 285 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:52,560 And so then with that, it begged the question of whether running 286 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:56,160 in a shoe of a certain stack height, whether the midsole 287 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:59,560 thickness has no negative impact on your bio mechanics or 288 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:03,120 stability. And there was a study done, of 289 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:04,680 course. I think a lot of that also 290 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:07,600 depends on the material. It's made out of density. 291 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:10,440 You know, lots of things other than just the height. 292 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:12,960 So I guess the question is whether or not running shoe 293 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:17,480 stack heights has an effect or effects running style and 294 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:21,160 stability. And there was a study conducted 295 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:26,120 by Frontiers in Bioengineering and that was, I think it was in 296 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:28,760 2025. I'm going to link that study 297 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:34,800 where they had 17 runners that were tested through capturing 3D 298 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:39,600 motion and a stability analysis across three different heights, 299 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:45,560 one being 50mm, one being 35mm, and one being low 27mm at 300 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:49,720 different speeds. And the conclusion was that high 301 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:53,320 stack heights, for example the 50mm stack height resulted in 302 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:57,880 decreased local dynamic stability of the hip and longer 303 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:01,520 foot aversion, so more rolling inward during the stands. 304 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,840 Essentially, the taller shoe made the body work harder to 305 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:06,680 stay stable it. Makes sense? 306 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:08,840 Yeah, it makes sense, right? Because if you're picturing 307 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:12,800 yourself running on a trampoline or anything that is unstable, 308 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:17,080 then that's what happens. At the same time, your body 309 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:19,000 might benefit from it too, right? 310 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,520 Because it's learning to fight instability. 311 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:23,800 Yeah. I mean, I think, I think it's 312 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:26,480 always a, it's always a balance between, you know, enough 313 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:30,360 stability from the shoe and preventing your body from 314 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,280 strengthening the muscles it needs for its own stability. 315 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:35,920 So I guess that begs the question whether or not if you 316 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:40,560 have a pre-existing like hip or ankle issue, will running in the 317 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:43,960 shoe with a higher stack height meet you're running make your 318 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:48,800 your ankle your make your body's ability to become more stable. 319 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:51,760 Does it make it better or does it make it worse? 320 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:53,840 I think it depends on a lot of factors. 321 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:56,240 I don't think it's it's hard to just choose one. 322 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:59,200 It's hard to say like this is better, that's better. 323 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:00,880 So I don't know what that conclusion is. 324 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:02,960 I think that they were showing that there are differences 325 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:05,599 between these higher stack height shoes compared to regular 326 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:08,440 shoes. I feel like over time the stack 327 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:11,240 height has gotten higher and this foam has gotten squishier. 328 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:14,319 So in a way it's gotten a little bit less stable, at least with 329 00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:18,880 some of the running shoes, the maybe the marathon day shoes 330 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:22,520 that I've tried out. I don't necessarily think that's 331 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:28,000 a bad thing because some of that instability can help you 332 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,800 strengthen the muscles of your ankle and keep your whole foot 333 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:36,200 more stable to begin with. But I think that changing to 334 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:39,360 drastically from a shoe that maybe you're used to to a shoe 335 00:17:39,360 --> 00:17:42,520 that's less stable can be or higher stack height and 336 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:46,200 therefore less stable can be a bad thing if you do it too 337 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:49,280 quickly. Also, I think that with a higher 338 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:54,600 stack height and less stability you can potentially open up the 339 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,360 possibility of getting bad injuries or worse injuries the 340 00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:00,960 higher you are off the ground and the higher your foot is off 341 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:03,880 the ground. If you do roll it, say on a curb 342 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:07,880 or something like that, it's more leverage for for your 343 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:10,360 weight to just twist your ankle. That's true. 344 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:13,920 So I guess all we can say with that one is more isn't always 345 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:17,240 better. And also have more than one shoe 346 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:19,400 in your shoe rotation, right? Because if you're running on a 347 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:22,640 daily basis, it's probably better to have a variety of 348 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:24,960 different shoes, different stack heights and all that stuff there 349 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:30,200 so your body doesn't get abused by any of the shoes with 350 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:32,040 whatever bad stuff they bring with them. 351 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:36,400 You need to analyze your goals and what you want, and if the 352 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:40,640 benefit of the added performance and the higher stack height is 353 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:42,960 what you want and you don't really have ankle injuries, 354 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:46,800 you're not prone to rolling your ankle or having injuries in that 355 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:50,240 sense, then maybe lean towards the thing that makes you faster. 356 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:55,040 But likewise, if the stability is a more of an issue and other 357 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:59,280 things and go for a shoe that's more stable, I think that maybe 358 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:03,000 over time, since it seems like some of the higher stack type 359 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,440 things are relatively new, maybe there'll be a better study that 360 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:11,280 discusses like the injury rate and other things over a long 361 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:14,000 period and then greater number of runners so we can get some 362 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,840 more stronger evidence as to whether or not it's causing more 363 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:19,080 injuries or not. Yeah, that's good. 364 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:21,760 Some ways maybe it's causing less injuries because of the 365 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:24,400 impact forces, but who knows. Yeah, I think you can just 366 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,440 tolerate more mileage. You know, when you have these 367 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:32,160 shoes that are plated and cushioned, I'm sure it feels 368 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:36,040 much better to run in those shoes than in the 1980s running 369 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:39,840 flats that were like Converse basically where your feet 370 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:41,960 muscles just had to work really hard. 371 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:45,760 Now you work hard, but then you also probably get much better 372 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:47,880 recovery. So I guess it's a balance. 373 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:49,880 At the moment, I think maybe they'll get better. 374 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:53,120 I think the ideal shoe personally for me would be the 375 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:58,360 one that gives you 100% rebound of energy, doesn't absorb any of 376 00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:02,240 the energy in terms of, you know, making it faster and also 377 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:05,400 the lowest it can be to the ground also, but still giving 378 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:08,720 you the return of energy. Because then your chances of if 379 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:10,880 you were to roll your ankle, it's not going to be as much 380 00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:12,680 leverage or force on your ankle, but. 381 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:16,200 You still get the benefits of having all the spring back, but 382 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:18,680 who knows, maybe they'll come up with better shoes in the future. 383 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:20,680 But those shoes that I'm picturing right now that you're 384 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:24,640 describing, I'm picturing you running on just a pure sheet of 385 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:26,880 a carbon plate. I've thought about that. 386 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:28,840 Yeah. But then that's probably not 387 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,840 comfortable. So it's sustainable. 388 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:34,680 It depends. Comfort, comfortable depends, 389 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:38,160 you know, if like I said, if it gives you the same amount of 390 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:42,320 rebound or reactive force, then potentially it could be just as 391 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:45,680 comfortable. Like foam thickness is used a 392 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:48,320 lot of times. And a lot of the newer foams, I 393 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:52,200 think the ones that specifically that make the marathon runners 394 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:56,120 faster probably have a really good rebound in terms of all the 395 00:20:56,120 --> 00:20:58,280 energy put into them is giving back. 396 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:00,880 You know, there is a whole question of how fast it's giving 397 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:04,120 back and other things. But ideally, from an engineering 398 00:21:04,120 --> 00:21:09,360 standpoint, whatever force you put into the shoe should be 100% 399 00:21:09,360 --> 00:21:11,920 given back. That way you're not losing 400 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:15,240 energy as you run. So anything that does not give 401 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,000 you 100% energy back is lost energy or lost movement. 402 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:22,960 Now there's probably like a determining factor of how fast 403 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:24,760 that energy. Like obviously if you were to 404 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:29,360 run barefoot, you're getting nothing absorbed, so there's no 405 00:21:29,360 --> 00:21:33,920 waste of energy there. But the impact fast forces back 406 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:38,440 are so fast and so firm that you're not really benefiting 407 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:40,320 from it. So you need some of the spring 408 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:44,440 to give you the benefit. And I don't know how where the 409 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:47,040 right balance is in terms of height. 410 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:49,480 Maybe it's like a super tall shoe, like the people that like 411 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:51,760 blade runners or things like that, I don't know. 412 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:53,600 They give you like a whole bunch of spring back. 413 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:56,040 I mean, they are fast. So maybe that's the fastest. 414 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:59,000 So you'd have to wear these gigantic shoes with big blades 415 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,000 on them would be the fastest. But then you have the weight 416 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,280 problem too. I'm just picturing you in the 417 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:06,680 carbon plated flip flops. Ryan is notoriously wearing flip 418 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:09,520 flops for every occasion in his life, including our wedding, 419 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:12,080 childbirth, everything. Ryan shows up in flip flops. 420 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:14,680 So carbon plated flip flops. That's what I'm picturing you 421 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:14,960 in. It's. 422 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:16,440 Good for the compete. Is it? 423 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:24,560 Anyway, let's move on to our last Google topic. 424 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:26,800 And this was the one where I said, I can't believe this is 425 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:30,600 still being Googled in 2026, whether lifting heavy is good or 426 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,800 bad for runners. And then I realized it is 427 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:37,240 because, you know, back in days, we used to say if you lift heavy 428 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:39,200 weights, you're going to get bulky. 429 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,440 And if you're just a runner, then, you know, running burns 430 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,800 all your muscle mass. So that myth came from the 431 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:49,000 interference effect theory, which suggests that the 432 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,400 endurance and strength signals in your body cancel each other 433 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:54,520 out. It was believed incorrectly so 434 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:57,640 that runners should be doing high reps and low weight toning 435 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,000 exercises to to avoid weight gain. 436 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:03,160 But yeah, so there was a study that I found on the National 437 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:07,640 Library of Medicine, which is called the effects of heavy 438 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,320 Strength training on Running Performance and Determinants of 439 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,640 Running performance and female endurance athletes. 440 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,160 And the purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of 441 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:19,080 adding strength training to normal endurance training. 442 00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:22,640 And this is particularly about heavy training, heavy strength 443 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,040 training. And the conclusion states that 444 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:28,240 adding heavy strength training to endurance training did not 445 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,120 affect 40 minutes, all outrunning performance and 446 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:33,960 running economy compared to endurance training only. 447 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:36,600 I think better determining factor would be your weight. 448 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:38,960 You know, like if your strength training, it's probably good for 449 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:41,920 you overall, but if you're significantly increasing your 450 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:45,080 weight to the strength training, it might slow your running speed 451 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:47,120 down a bit. Yes, but just to kind of get 452 00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:51,280 back to the lifting heavy thing, so not just lifting for reps, 453 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:54,280 lifting heavy, there are studies and you know I've mentioned one 454 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:57,120 of them, the effect of strength training programs and middle and 455 00:23:57,120 --> 00:23:59,640 long distance running, the effects of strength training on 456 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:02,960 running performance in general. It says that if you're lifting 457 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:09,400 at more than 80%, with reps being 3 to 5 Max, that 458 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:13,160 significantly improves your running economy, muscular power 459 00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:16,280 and time travel performance and runners without causing 460 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:18,880 excessive. Hypertrophy. 461 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:22,120 And this approach is more effective than lightweight high 462 00:24:22,120 --> 00:24:25,080 Rep training for boosting endurance with two to 8% 463 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:27,680 improvements in your running economy. 464 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:31,200 And you know, we've, we've seen the study before. 465 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:34,680 I remember we had podcast over the last few years on it and 466 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:39,680 then we went into topics as to how to lift and what exercises 467 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:41,920 to do. But yeah, this is just for the 468 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,920 people who have not heard about this yet that I may be new to 469 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:48,720 running or I wondering that because I guess there's a lot of 470 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:50,480 people that are Googling this topic. 471 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:52,480 Yeah. I mean, I think it's good that 472 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:56,080 you can lift heavy and you can strengthen your muscles and be a 473 00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:59,280 good runner at the same time. Yes, and one day I will practice 474 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:03,200 without preach, I guess. You know what I also learned 475 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:07,880 while I was reading all this stuff and thinking that I never 476 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:11,520 do any kind of weight lifting? There was a tip on one of the 477 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:15,080 websites and it says consistency beats complexity, meaning that 478 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,200 you don't need a complicated bodybuilding split. 479 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:22,520 Maybe just do some consistent sessions of some exercises that 480 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:25,880 are heavy and just try to be consistent, because if you're 481 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,000 not consistent then you're not going to do it. 482 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:31,400 Is that it? Yeah, I guess that wraps up the 483 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,080 foremost Googled questions from runners. 484 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:37,880 I hope that this is helpful to somebody listening. 485 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:41,120 If not repetitive, or even if it is repetitive, it's sometimes 486 00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:43,440 good to hear things over and over because it kind of 487 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,360 reinforces that in our brains. Yeah, I think it's good to 488 00:25:46,360 --> 00:25:49,120 revisit the topics. If they don't change, then that 489 00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:50,480 means the research is pretty good. 490 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:54,520 But sometimes the research changes and so if we revisit 491 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:55,800 then we'll find that out. Yes. 492 00:25:55,800 --> 00:26:00,000 And if anything changes, we have our finger on the pulse and we 493 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,640 read those studies or I make Ryan read them, so then that way 494 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:06,560 we can have good information. Medical studies are just really 495 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:08,960 hard to read. I think I'd rather be reading 496 00:26:09,120 --> 00:26:12,520 law studies or cases. I mean, we're just looking at 497 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:14,680 stuff that's interesting to us and there's not as much, you 498 00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:19,480 know, studies related to running only, But if you go into more 499 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,040 detail, you can see which ones are actually good studies, which 500 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:23,720 ones are not, and stuff like that. 501 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:26,640 But we're kind of just figuring out as we go along, you know, 502 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:29,360 the stuff that's interesting and related to running. 503 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:33,400 Yes, and I always try to see how many participants the study had 504 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:37,400 and also remember correlation is not causation. 505 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:39,040 Yeah. So a lot of times the study will 506 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:42,320 show something and it'll show a correlation between two things. 507 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:46,200 And usually most studies that are good will say this needs 508 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:50,640 more evaluation or further studies can help determine if 509 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:53,840 this is true. And those are the keywords. 510 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:57,680 Taking something from a study or a correlation that's seen and 511 00:26:57,680 --> 00:27:02,240 immediately determining that that's the cause is dangerous. 512 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:04,800 Absolutely. All right, so that wraps it up 513 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:07,080 for today. Thank you so much for tuning in 514 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:09,640 next week. Well, we're going to have a pre 515 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:12,520 recorded episode because I am traveling, as Ryan just learned 516 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:14,640 today, I'm going to the Boston Marathon. 517 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:18,640 And again, our website, marathonjournal.com has all the 518 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:22,640 information on all the best shakeout runs and gatherings. 519 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:25,960 So obviously, you know, take it with a grain of salt. 520 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:29,640 If you're running Boston, make sure that you don't do 20 521 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:31,640 shakeout runs before your marathon unless you're just 522 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:34,080 doing it for fun anyway. And then I encourage you to do 523 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:35,360 that, OK? And with that. 524 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:38,840 Have a great week of running. You've been listening to the 525 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:40,960 Marathon Running Podcast by Marathon Journal. 526 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:43,760 If you've enjoyed the show, check us out at 527 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:46,640 marathonjournal.com or follow us on social media. 528 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:47,760 Happy training.