Happy Women’s History Month! Thank you to all the women who challenged and broke barriers of the past so we can continue to build on their progress for the future. Although it’s a small part, I want to recognize just a few who have fought for the opportunity and rights of women in running and around it. 

Either you look forward to it, or you dread seeing it in your weekend workouts: The weekly long run. It’s a staple of training for most runners racing above the 5k (even then it can still be good for 5k and under athletes). But why do it? Why have to carve out 1-2.5 hours of your weekend to just slog some miles that mostly are slow?

Let’s be honest, workouts are hard. Some more than others; so wouldn’t it be nice to know why they’re so hard. 

Threshold or T Pace is an effort that’s basically at the edge or slightly over your aerobic capacity or lactic threshold. Past this point, your body can’t get enough oxygen to your running muscles and instead uses your non-oxygen energy systems (anaerobic) to meet its needs. Too much of this and you eventually bonk…hit the wall…feel the burn.

The secret, as you might have guessed, isn’t all that exciting. To build into your best runner you need to first have a clear goal of what success means to you and the consistency/discipline to work at it every day.

It’s ok to admit it, you’re not the only one. We’ve all done it at least once in our training lives. Stopping your watch when you walk on a run….taking longer breaks between your interval reps…taking a 30 sec break between your repeats instead of the whole minute planned in your training.

If you’re early in your training with me, or even just starting, you may have noticed something referred to as “repeats” in your early workouts. These short but sweet workouts are a crucial building block for your early season foundation, regardless of your goal race distance.

How well did you do meeting your goals for 2022? Did you stick to your resolutions? Did you make it past January? For most, it’s probably NO. This isn’t pointing fingers, this is just the reality of what all of us do when we want to make a change in our lives. We like clean slates, it feels nice to unload the baggage of last year after the ball drops…

Ready…Set…Let’s Go! Time to do your time trial. This is an important fist step in your workout plan. In order to get the most out of your training we need to know where to begin. Your time trial will give us an idea of where your running fitness is now so we can give you the right paces for your easy runs and workouts.

Running and Strength Training can be like oil and water for lots of runners. As a running coach and personal trainer I hear all the excuses from “It’s not helping my endurance” Some mess around with body weight because it’s easier, less time consuming, and will keep you from putting unwanted size. Problem is this does’t do anything for you. You need to lift heavy to see the benefits. Lets break down why these excuses don’t hold up under the weight ;)

Injuries suck….But we don’t have to be a victim of IT band syndrome or runners knee this winter if we work on building our body’s ability for stability.

We’re in the thick of the holiday season, the time of year where the stresses of holiday shopping and family time can make getting that pesky easy run or strength session infinitely tougher. But don’t fret…there’s a better way that can see you have your family time and running too!

Mobility is the usable range of motion in our joints. The more range we have, along with strength and control throughout that range, the better we can perform in training and races. This week, we’re highlighting three hip mobility exercises to target your pesky tight spots : Couch Stretch, Hip Cars, and 90/90 shin boxes.

Run slow to run fast. Sounds like an oxymoron to most, but it’s a training principle that works well for most runners (many of my athletes included) and provides a lot of benefits in training and life.

Welcome to the post season everyone…well mostly everyone. With all but a few big races to go this year, the only thing left to do is kick up the ole running shoes and hang up the hydration packs and take it easy, right?

Wrong!

Crossing the finish line I was out of breath but my legs felt strong. I ran in line with my current fitness, a 3:48:54 finishing time. My A goal was 3:45, so I was very happy hitting my B goal. I eventually stopped my watch and got my heat foil. I continued walking to exit the finishers shoot and was fully convinced I walked straight past the medals, don’t worry they are just closer to the exit area that I am used to for races.

It’s a combination of physical, mental, and emotional factors our body experiences from the rigors of months long training for a big goal and hard racing.