How Balanced Are You?

When I start working with a new athlete, I analyze how balanced they are between their speed and endurance. 

Just like the program in…

If you are experiencing "runners Knee" with discomfort on top of knee, under knee, or on the medial side of the knee, you might be keeping your legs too bent.

If your legs remain too bent throughout the running gait, you are prone to stressing your quads too much and 'turning off' or not using crucial…

Warning, this is almost longer than the race itself.....above PC @ Charles Danforth.

After 14 hours of driving, I arrived in Sheridan WY on Wednesday evening before the race. My two pacers/crew, David…

I stood high on this peak during the Fall season in the Tetons, enjoying the reward of magnificent views that come from 6,000+ feet of running and climbing.  I took the below winter photo during a ten mile run.  These two photos grasp the beauty of the Tetons in different ways, BUT also show the SAME peak in…

By Katie Rosenbrock for The Active Times

What if someone dared you to sign up for a 100K ultra marathon right now? Would you take on the challenge or completely dismiss the idea?

I would tell that someone they were crazy.…

I believe an effective “peak” in fitness first starts with a well thought out training plan and more importantly, a prioritized race schedule.  This all sets the stage for the peak process, making your run fitness as race specific as possible. Peaking is a mysterious art and for many reasons, it is just not easy to…

I coach because I love to help athletes explore their own potential and the rewarding part of this for me is witnessing the self-discovery that my athletes experience throughout the process.  Writing my book, …

Hello again! I completed my long run of Week 5 yesterday (Sunday in India). There is not much to say except that my body and mind have got conditioned to the schedule and I am enjoying it. 

My long run yesterday was 2 hours and I felt at ease and strong even at the end. My legs felt a little fatigued in the afternoon, but by evening I was fine. I woke up this morning on my Off Day and am feeling fine. 

The discomfort on the inside of my left foot went away within a few minutes…

Hello again! I got tied up with other stuff and realised just now that I have not posted my update on the Foundation Program for over 2 weeks now. Well, the good news is that I have just been lazy in updating this blog, but I am chugging along on the Foundation Program (I'm in Week 5 currently).

Weeks 3 and 4 went by pretty well. I felt a little bit of fatigue and my legs didn't feel so good after 3 days of Week 3.  I looked ahead at the Week 4 schedule and it had 2 Off Days.…

Every season I have races that are high priority races with a few lower priority races. As an athlete, I go into every race with a race plan ready to give it my all.  Sometimes I might go into a lower priority race a little tired but that doesn't mean I can't have good results. Lower priority races are a…

The War Eagle races are on the beautiful single track, mild to slightly moderate technical trails of Hobbs State Park in Rogers, Arkansas. I do a lot of training runs out here and have run the 50k event the past 3 years, so I know these trails…

Question:  How do I peak for my big race.

Answer:  This is a tricky…

For those that are interested; I again performed the 20 minute run test on Friday night at the same place as I performed my initial 20 minute test 11 weeks ago but this time in the dark. By the time I had returned home from work, changed and headed out it was all but dark. I drove to the local oval, a different one to where I did the Mile test, put the light on my head and started my warm up as per the Strategic Running Program.

By the time I had completed the warm up it was dark and…

Hehe...ohhhmyyyy it was tough getting my run on this morning. Most of my posts are about the joys of my long runs and races, and a healthy helping of imagination. One could (falsly) surmise that all my runs are met with eager anticipation and satisfaction. You shoulda seen me this morning.…

Yesturday I again completed the mile test which is completed as part of Phase 1, Week 12 and I shaved 43 seconds from my initial test completed before I began the Strategic Running Foundation as outlined in TCI.

I ran my initial mile test 11 weeks ago in 7.57 (rounded down to 7.55 for the speed zone calculations) with me running 7.14 this time that I will round up to 7.15 so I can adjust my speed zones accordingly.

My average HR for the test fell 10 BPM from 169 to 159 and my…

It’s 3:10am. 24 hours ago I was chasing the moon up the steep GA mountains. It seems a bit surreal...until I doze off and somewhere between consciousness and deep sleep I start dreaming. I see my feet in my headlamp and about 6ft of rocky, rooty, wet trail in front of me. I’m…

I had heard him coming before I saw him.  Huffing and puffing, rhythmically out of breath and out of sight, but nearing me as he ran to the top of the ridge.  It was hard to tell what kind of runner he was, as his breathing provided no clue. The trail was so steep that his slow speed presented his silhouette like a…

Wow it was nice to sweat today.  Got in the first 'dry' trail run of the year and boy did it feel great.  My early Spring strength running really paid off as I put in 2,000 feet of climbing in 6.5 miles.  I really was curious to see how I would feel on this climbs and felt in mid-summer form, which…

Hi! I got back to Bangalore after spending a week at Coonoor, up in the Nilgiris Hills in Southern India. I had planned to start on the Strategic Foundation Program (Week 1)  and was looking forward to it. Unfortunately, I got started on the program on Tuesday last week as planned, but could not get anything else done the rest of the week due to bad weather. It rained continuously for 4 days with dense fog. I know that most trainers would say that we have to train through adverse conditions…

Yesterday was one of my planned races before my current goal of a half-marathon this year. This particular 10k race is in my hometown and draws about 5000 people every year so it's equal parts race and festivities. 

As the course is rather flat and I've now spent 4 months working on running form and transitioning to minimalist shoes, I was hoping to be able to get close to my personal best from 4 years ago (which was the last time I did some serious…