If you’re new here, welcome to Run the Shoes, a not-too-serious newsletter about running and fitness. If someone forwarded this to you, subscribe to get emails like this in your inbox — it’s free!
Hello from the stairmaster, where I started drafting this newsletter in my notes app and where I might be when it hits your inboxes. I rejoined a gym and forgot how much I love to just putter around and use different machines. The equipment is pretty worn down but the gym is literally a two-minute walk from my apartment, and my stance is that the best gym is the one that’s closest to you. Getting yourself to the gym is half the battle.
Anyway, a quick admin note. In an effort to publish more, I’m trying to standardize my newsletter format, with the goal of sending out two newsletters a month. One will be a recap of my own running and be training focused, and the other, like today’s, will be more of a digest where I share things I’ve been thinking about and content I’ve been consuming, running and fitness-wise. I also hope to throw in the occasional interview feature.
On that note, let’s get to the July digest:
Speaking of gyms, this is a great time to join a gym. For one, if you’re in the North or Southeast part of the United States, it’s too hot and humid to enjoy exercising in the heat (also not that safe). I went on a run at 5:30 am today to beat the heat but it was already 80 degrees with a 70-degree dew point. I can’t exercise at 5:30 am most days, nor do I want to, so having a gym to go to during my usual 8 am time removes the pressure of getting my workout in. Second, we’re all going to get inspired to move our butts and find our muscles once the Olympics start in a few weeks. Expect commercials like this. Every four years I recommit to my lifelong goal of being able to do a pull-up, maybe Paris 2024 will be the year I achieve it.
Related to that, I’m sensing a trend of women wanting to get strong. Influencer Lydia Keating is trying to make #hossgirlsummer a thing. It’s the idea that you’re strong like a horse, I think? Bit of an unhinged concept but I like the message. Wanting to get strong is partly why I decided to join a gym. After weaning from a year of breastfeeding, my bone density is at an all-time low and weight-lifting helps build bone.
How many athletes at the Olympics are doping? According to my favorite running nerd podcast, The Real Science of Sport, 10% of all athletes use performance-enhancing drugs, and they suspect there are more than 1,000 athletes at the Olympics doping. Feels like a lot! I’ve been thinking about doping lately because I've been watching the Tour de France and idk, there’s no way a sport that was so dirty is now clean, right? I can be quite naive and I like to think that every athlete is just putting in the work and not partaking in any funny business, but there are crazy fast times being broken on the track that it makes you think.
Have you joined a running club yet? The New York Times loves a running club trend piece. They wrote about the one my husband runs with (Upper West Side Run Club) last September, and followed up with a piece about running x dating last month. My hot take on run clubs is that they’re a great way to meet people and an even better way to motivate you to run. Duh. I’ve never committed to one as the timing/location/paces of those in New York City have never worked for me—and I find large groups of people running intimidating—but my husband loves his.
Sneaker technology keeps getting crazier. Also from the NYT: a profile of the shoe that Helen Obiri wore when she won the Boston Marathon this year. They’re made by On Running, the Swiss company that I find endlessly confusing and fascinating (why is there a Q in the logo? Is Cloud part of the name? Why do the mega-rich love them?) I had looked up the ones that Obiri wore in Boston back in April because I was intrigued by the lack of laces, but they were just a prototype at the time. Soon, however, they can be yours for $330! (If you’re going to buy them, here’s an affiliate link. Had to.)
Speaking of gear, I created a list of my top summer running essentials here. It’s running bucket hat szn!
That’s all for this month’s digest. Let me know if you like this format, or if you have any tips on things to share next month.
Before I go, gotta drop the…
Baked Good of the Month
My new apartment is almost equidistant to three cookie shops: Levain, Crumbl, and Chip City. Levain is a classic, Crumbl is kind of gross, and Chip City I’ve come to love. I was pretty meh on it the first time I went but now I like to stop by once a week and get two cookies—one chocolate chip and one wildcard flavor—and cut them in quarters to eat throughout the week. If you do try Chip City (biz note: it’s funded by Danny Meyer and is in Shake Shack-esque expansion mode), please know that I only recommend it if you like a soft and slightly undercooked cookie. It’s not for everyone!
That’s all for today. Thanks for reading,
Elaheh
gr8 tip on chip city ownership.
I think On Running has a fancy person following because of the uber chic elegant swiss athlete Roger Federer. #marketing