The most famous joke in music involves a lost tourist in Manhattan who asks a passing musician how to get to Carnegie Hall. The reply: “Practice, practice, practice.” This quip popped to mind when I was reading a new study about the caloric requirements of 100-mile mountain ultramarathons. You’ll burn something like 16,000 calories during one of these races, which...

　　If you’ve been in a park or on a trail any time in the last few months, you’re likely to have spotted them: the weighted vest walkers. Like rucking, exercising with a weighted vest is a simple way to add a challenge to even the most basic of activities. Unlike rucking, where you’re carrying the weight on your back in...

　　This article was first published by RUN. 　　You’re sitting on the couch watching television when inspiration strikes. You hear someone on the news recount their story of going from feeling unhealthy and sluggish to running a half marathon. You see the glow on their face and the energy in their body and suddenly you realize: This is it. This is...

　　Have you ever wondered why your mind suddenly feels unburdened in the presence of trees? Or why the ocean so effortlessly lulls you into a meditative state? Outdoor spaces are scientifically proven to soothe the nervous system—and quickly. 　　Think about it: Forests ground you. Mountains lift you. Water opens you. Jungles awaken you. Even sitting in a park beneath a...

　　Back in 2011, I went to an international conference in the Australian town of Bathurst called “The Future of Fatigue: Defining the Problem.” The feeling you encounter, say, 20 miles into a marathon may seem too self-evident to require any deep explanation, but it turns out to be surprisingly difficult to pin down. In psychology, there’s a widespread belief that...

　　It’s easy to judge when you spot someone cruising out of your local coffee shop with an extra-caffeinated beverage in hand. The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal knows this all too well. He raised eyebrows earlier this year after paparazzi snapped a photo of his Starbucks order: a quad espresso with two extra shots, a drink Jimmy Kimmel later...

　　We know that sunscreen helps protect your skin from sun damage. That’s not news. But what about your lips? I’ve personally never really thought to put some form of sun protection on my lips, because, like, why? I assume it would also just come off my lips anytime I absent-mindedly lick them, take a sip of water, or eat literally...

　　Before I became a yoga teacher, I sat at a desk for eight hours a day, five days a week, and commuted an hour each way. I thought I was taking care of myself by practicing yoga after work, but all that sitting still created tremendous pain in my lower back. I tried taking breaks and standing up every hour...

　　To be a sports fan in the modern era is to be at least somewhat numb to the steady drip of doping positives. Occasionally, though, a bust is so big that it changes the trajectory of the sport. Ben Johnson’s positive test in 1988 almost crushed track and field for a decade. The BALCO scandal, which in the early 2000s...

　　In March 2023, on a trail run in the mountains near Tucson, Arizona, I caught my toe on a rock. I was descending a steep and technical section of trail a little more quickly than I’d normally go. I had a plane to catch. I’m not sure how long I was airborne—maybe a second or so—but it felt like a...

　　Your triceps are tiny muscles that are responsible for a major movement. While your biceps help your elbow bend, your triceps, those horseshoe-shaped muscles towards the top of your arm, help your elbow extend. Though we tend to think of training these muscles primarily for aesthetic purposes, we also need them to be strong to perform basic daily functions like...

　　I ran my first marathon in a basketball jersey. Not just any basketball jersey, a vintage Chris Webber Golden State Warriors number, bright blue and straight from the mid-nineties. As racers lined up at the starting line of the Sunflower Marathon in Mazama, Washington, I looked out of place next to technical T-shirts and space-age microfibers. But in many ways,...