Mile 14: Calibrating a Smooth Running Experience

2025-11-05

Mile 14: Calibrating a Smooth Running ExperienceSome runs feel effortless: fluid, rhythmic, even meditative. But what if that smoothness isn’t a sign of good form… just a well-rehearsed inefficiency? In this episode, we unpack Chapter 14 of The Runner’s Paradox, where comfort isn’t always your friend and familiar doesn’t always mean functional. We explore how running that feels right can quietly carry the seeds of injury, fatigue, and plateau. Drawing from new research in biomec...

Mile 14: Calibrating a Smooth Running Experience

Some runs feel effortless: fluid, rhythmic, even meditative. But what if that smoothness isn’t a sign of good form… just a well-rehearsed inefficiency?

In this episode, we unpack Chapter 14 of The Runner’s Paradox, where comfort isn’t always your friend and familiar doesn’t always mean functional. We explore how running that feels right can quietly carry the seeds of injury, fatigue, and plateau.

Drawing from new research in biomechanics and wearable tech, we examine the hidden costs of gait patterns that go unchallenged—and the power of calibration to realign comfort with actual efficiency.

This is an episode for anyone who’s ever said “that run felt good”—and still ended up limping two days later.

Based on The Runner’s Paradox by Ying. More at therunnersparadox.com. Best experienced mid-run, especially if you’re starting to wonder whether your ease is coming from mastery… or just muscle memory.

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