The Trails Are Open. But how's your IT Band?

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What goes up, must come down. And for the most part, run form should not change relative to speed, or in my case today, terrain. Especially footstrike.

It is fairly easy to have goog forefoot to heel strike going up, and challenging to have good foot placement coming down, as…

This race is directed by Chrissy Ferguson. Need I say more? She is a powerhouse and puts on top notch events. The MANY volunteers were awesome. The weather was extremely challenging, with almost constant rain, very heavy at times, wind, and temps in the low 50s. I don’t know how they kept from freezing to death waiting…

Too many strength programs focus soley on building concentric strength, with full range of motion exercises.

These movements are loaded and usually too slow to be very functional for running. And target building muscle fiber MASS/DENSITY rather than utilizing MORE muscle fibers. More fiber mass just requires more oxygen and energy - not…

Spring time. Sprint time.

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Sprinting plays a tremendous roll in endurance development for ALL distances.

Here's how:

- improves isometric strength, one of the key strength factors in cadence and forward propeltion.

- trains precise and efficient use of the reflex muscle tension during eccentric landing. This helps your down…

Spring is in my step.

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The great Grete Waitz ran 19 marathons in her career, winning 13 of them.

She was the first woman to break the 2:30 barrier, eventually lowering the world record to 2:25:42.

She believed that speed training was imparative for all runners of all distances and abilities.

Her marathon training reflected…

Sometimes you have to HOLD YOURSELF BACK:

Today was a recovery run. After taking the day off yesterday to heal a mild cough in the lungs, my legs felt great!

I stayed patient, with my sights on the upcoming week.

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Patience + Practice = Performance

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At the 1972 Olympics, all of the pre-game buzz was on rock star USA…

With Teton National Park 30 minutes up the road from my house, this usually gets most of my attention for running.  But this Fall I decided to change things up and look to create some run projects that are even closer to home and focus on exploring more vertical gain, peaks, and off-trail ridge line link ups (…

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 both shots.  Two ways of looking at the same thing - two different…

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 The Cool Impossible, at start up, I have my athletes perform two field…

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 muscles very well - all leading to a vicious cycle of…

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 Newman and James Reeves, right picture…

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’ve never even completed a marathon. How could I possibly cover more…

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 achieve one’s highest possible level of performance on the…

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, The Cool Impossible, was the culmination of a life long dream and a way for me…

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 great place to gain race experience, practice race strategies or use as…

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 well.. This year I would be doing the 25k for the first time. The…

Question:  How do I peak for my big race.

Answer:  This is a tricky question as I believe an effective “peak” in fitness first…

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…