Everyone's a coach these days
Including me! Plus another look at how to run when the air quality is bad, and a cool fundraising update.
I took my USATF Level 1 Running and Jumping coaching training back in July 2018. My aim wasn’t to become a coach per se, but to understand my favored activity a little more deeply. I did it for me. I say that this publication is about thinking more deeply about running. It helps me organize my thoughts (a journaling journalist — who would’ve thought), and I hope you can achieve something similar.
Recently, I undertook a marathon specialist training course as part of my USATF running coaching re-certification. I’m very happy to say that I passed the exam! Here’s the certificate. Another one to not hang on my wall.
Am I taking on more coaching clients? It’s not my intention, but if you want it enough, maybe you can change my mind.
Am I going to run a marathon? No, thanks! The thought of waking up at 3am to go for a run at 7am after standing around on the start line for two hours chills me to the core. I’ll run an easy half with you any day, though.
How to run when the air is bad
Back to those pesky fires we had in Los Angeles. Sure, they were one of the worst ecological and humanitarian disasters in the modern history of this country, but what about our running?
Fire being whipped horizontally at 75mph. Whole neighborhoods ablaze. Tens of thousands of buildings burning. AQI at 500. Lead and asbestos in the air. Sure, but I had a 10-mile workout planned for the morning.
That might seem like a silly paragraph, but runners are silly people. We have our routines. We have our runs planned out. We have marathons in our calendars, so do not get in the way of our long runs. So what do we do? I spoke to Lindsey Burdette, a respiratory therapist in Boulder, Colorado.
A lifelong asthmatic, Lindsey now works in a pulmonary department herself because she felt like she “had some lung knowledge just being in and out of the hospital with bronchitis growing up,” and “related more to that patient population.” Lindsey is also a runner, of course. She ran at University of Toledo before moving to Boulder AKA the “Happiest City in the US.” How does Lindsey stay happy? By running 5-6 days a week.
Colorado and California are both affected by wildfires in the late summer months, so Lindsey has a few years of experience with running in bad air.
“I'm very conscious if there's wildfires here, so I always look and see what the air quality is. I am in the sensitive groups, because I do have asthma.”
An AQI of over 50 is dangerous for sensitive groups. I don’t have asthma, but if I go for a hard run in anything over 50, my eyes are watering, and my nose is running. Deeply uncool, yes, but as someone proclaiming to run for their health, it might not be that good for my body.
“I do notice it does flare up my asthma if I don't take any precautions and run in unhealthy air quality. I either run on the treadmill or I do have a runner's N95 mask that I'll wear some days outside to run if I'm tired of the treadmill. I tend to notice in the mornings, it's usually better air quality.”
Solutions:
Run in the morning
Run on the treadmill
Wear a runner’s N95 mask outside
Any treadmill tips?
“If I'm just doing an easy run, I'll put on a movie or music videos. Just something distracting. I have an easier time with speed workouts because it breaks it up. You're just focusing on the next rep or next pace change.”
Having shifted my running routine from early mornings to mid-afternoons, I have been running in the gym the past week, myself. I’ve been watching Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown while on the treadmill. I honestly don’t hate it, but I do miss waving to other runners. (It’s apparently ‘weird’ to do that in the gym.)
What if your primary reason for running is to run with friends? The surge in popularity of run clubs during the pandemic helped so much with mental health, but when you’re a run club founder, bringing people together in dangerous situations is a (literal) liability. What’s the move? Get out of town. Travel to where the clean air is. Make a little field trip out of it. You might even have more fun than usual.
A bit of further reading on running in bad air quality with the run club that runs in the worst air in the world:
Buy some merch. Save the world.
Last week’s t-shirt and merch drive has raised just over $1,000 for wildfire-related charities. Well done, everyone.
I’ve already sent $500 to Pasadena Humane Society to help with the 1,000+ animals that they have taken care of in the aftermath of the fires, and once I pull in another $500, I will be able to fund a cool event, so if you haven’t yet…
PLEASE BUY A GLENDALE T-SHIRT FOR L.A. WILDFIRE RELIEF
What’s the point of building an audience if I’m not going to use it (you lovely people) to make the world a little better?
February is birthday month
All I want for my birthday is for you to purchase an upgraded subscription to Running Sucks. What do you get?
The coolest Running Sucks sticker pack
The chance to win a $100 Janji gift card every single week
A profile of a runner who I believe is doing something amazing in the sport.
A weekly roundup newsletter with links to anything running-related that I think is cool.
You’ll support my independent journalism. You help keep all this available to read for free.
Discounts on all merch and events.
Click here to make my birthday the best one I’ll have this year!
Running Suck Haiku of the Week
Zone 2 runs are cool
Much easier on treadmills
Zone 2 or zone out?
Long-time readers and friends will know that my number one pastime is watching TV and film, so adding 4-5 hours of screen time is very welcome. I’m currently hurtling through the Bourdain back catalog. I love how he marries a local food culture with a bigger headline. I’ve got to catch up with the Oscars picks next, but if you have any recommendations, send them over!
I’ve also signed up for a few months of personal trainer sessions, so that’s something new for me as well. I’m looking at it as the reasonable next step in the rehab of last year’s back injury. Have you tried anything new recently?
Housekeeping
SUPPORT - Upgrade your subscription for just $1 a week to support my journalism. If you forward this newsletter and get your friends to sign up, you will be rewarded with FREE UPGRADES because both are really great and supportive.
WIN - You can win a $100 Janji gift card every single week of 2025 if you upgrade your membership for $50. You see the economics of that are hugely in your favor, right? It’s the first newsletter of a new month, so if you’re one of the upgraded ones, it’s time to click the link!
MERCH - Buy the last of the Running Sucks x Fractel hats or a sticker pack and I’ll donate 100% of profits to Pasadena Humane, who have taken in hundreds of animals displaced by the fires.
Thanks for reading
- Raz
I'm training for my first marathon with Runna! Do you think that is a good starting point for a first? How would I find your pricing/interest/availability? :)
I love your impulse to wave at others while treadmill running 😂! Go ahead and be weird.