We need focus when the running gets tough, so it’s best to practice good focus during workouts and harder runs. It’s not necessary to be really dialed in for easy and slow running, so give free rein to your thoughts!
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Zoning out during a run can be a great way to de-stress and get some easy miles in. But when it comes to performance, a wandering mind is actually detrimental.
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So you know how to dress for the deep cold weather, but sometimes temperatures aren’t the problem, it’s the footing. We can’t dress for slippery, icy roads!
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Here are my definitive recommendations for running in cold, and in deep cold temps.
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Recap of my webinar “Your Running Form: What Matters and What Doesn’t”
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Are you sidelined from running due to injury?
Do you have pain that just won’t seem to go away, even after some time off?
You might need treatment.
In fact, you do need treatment.
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Recovery and healing take time, but “time” does not heal - it’s what we do (and don’t do!) during that time that determines whether or not we recover.
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Realistically, most of us don’t have ideal training, nutrition, sleep, and stress levels. Let’s not sacrifice “good” because we can’t have “ideal,” but let’s also not pretend we’re working at full capacity. We can’t train as hard when we’re tired, and that’s ok. It doesn’t have to be “all or nothing.”
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Pro Running Virtual panel discussion with 2x Olympian Nicole Sifuentes, Dr. Laura Owczarek MD of Henry Ford Health Systems and 2x Olympian & Boston Marathon Champ Des Linden
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I have never written a shoe review before. I paid full price for the Saucony Endorphin Pro. This article isn’t meant to be an endorsement and I’m not being compensated in any way for writing it. There are no affiliate links.
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The Swedish word Fartlek means “speed play.” A fartlek involves intervals of changing speeds and efforts, and there are no stopping breaks.
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Sadly, runners are way too hard on themselves.
This is easier to recognize now that I’m a coach, but I was once an athlete myself and I get it. The world doesn’t really care about anything except the last lap and there’s no glory for “almost.” Falling short of our goal often feels like failure.
But the truth is, the opportunity for success in racing is so much bigger than a PB, a win, or hitting the goal time.
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The mile generally doesn’t get a lot of love in the world of recreational running. As runners are always looking to run farther and longer, the mile isn’t even considered a respectable goal. But when runners set their sights on the mile the challenge isn’t in the distance, but in covering that distance as quickly as possible.
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For runners, winter is often a “just get through it” season. But in truth, we want more than to “just get through” winter.
We want to hold onto all the fitness gains made through the spring, summer and fall.
We want to be positioned well for our goals in the new year.
We want to maintain our sanity when poor weather, limited daylight and unsafe roads constantly interfere with our running plans.
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Strides are short running intervals of about 15-20 seconds in duration. All runners should do strides. Long distance runners, middle distance, and even sprinters can benefit from strides (read on to find out why!). The only runners who should not do strides are injured runners.
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Cadence simply means “steps per minute” (spm). In running there is a commonly accepted “good” cadence goal of 180 steps per minute, but cadence varies quite a bit from person to person and at different speeds. In fact, cadence is directly related to running speed, and we can actually run faster by intentionally taking more steps.
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Here is my rule for injury prevention:
Pain or discomfort of level 2/10 (on a scale of 1-10 where 10 is maximum pain) is the maximum allowable pain level where running may continue.
If the pain is 2 or less AND remains steady or decreases, running may continue.
If the pain is above 2 AND/OR is increasing, running must be stopped immediately. Not after the workout. Not after the run. Just stop.
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The TOP reason for injuries in runners is running through pain. To be fair, there’s a lot of trial and error in running. Some small pains can and will fade away, and are inconsequential - but this is the exception. Our default must be to respect all pains.
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I get a lot of questions about how to set up a week of training: how to schedule workouts, easy days, a long run, strength training and rest days.
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What exactly IS tempo running? If you’ve ever googled Tempo running, you probably got some articles talking about lactate threshold, vOBLA, HR percentages, and VDOT or V02max calculations.
All this jargon is not helpful for most runners. So here are a few (I hope) actually helpful tips on how to get started with tempo running today.
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