Every once in awhile you read something that hits you at a deep emotional level. I had that experience just now reading this article by Katie Arnold on Outside Online. In the article, Arnold writes about the relationship between being a parent and running ultras, and she is both candid and honest in sharing her […]
Running From Stress on the Track
July 16, 2014 By 17 Comments
I had a very stressful morning. I’m leaving for Craftsbury, VT on Sunday for two weeks of coaching at the summer running camps. I love the job, but prepping my presentations has been time consuming, and as a homebody I generally get stressed when I have to leave my family for long periods of time. […]
Busted: Never Steal Skechers From Your Mom
July 8, 2014 By 6 Comments
I spent the 4th of July holiday with my parents up in Maine. As a shoe reviewer, I tend to travel with a lot of shoes, and while packing to come home yesterday I loaded them all into the Thule box on top of our car. Apparently I swiped an extra pair…busted on Facebook!
Try This Killer 4x400m Workout
June 24, 2014 By 8 Comments
One of the things I love about working with Coach Caleb is that he always keeps my training interesting. Each weekend I get a training plan with workouts for the coming week, and the speed/quality work in particular is always varied. It might be track intervals, a tempo run, hill repeats/sprints, or some other form […]
Kid Cross Country: What My 8 Year Old Daughter Taught Me About Running and Competing
June 10, 2014 By 57 Comments
”It’s at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.” -Emil Zátopek This is not a post about men. It’s not a post about boys. It’s a post about my little girl. My daughter Emma is 8 years old. She’s a kind-hearted, gentle soul who doesn’t have an aggressive […]
Coaching Beginning Runners is One of the Most Rewarding Jobs I Have Ever Had
June 9, 2014 By 4 Comments
One day last winter I was running near a park about a half mile from the clinic where I work. Passing another runner was a fairly rare occurrence in January and February this year – all but the most diehard had given up on running outdoors due to the consistently frigid temperatures. But on that […]
Flirting With Heat Exhaustion on Today’s Run
June 2, 2014 By 15 Comments
There’s a fine line between being tough about your training and being stupid. I crossed that line today, then continued to run a bit further. I had 8 miles on my schedule, but honestly had not thought to look at the weather report this morning. I was working in my air-conditioned office at the clinic […]
Shirt or No Shirt When Running in Heat?
May 19, 2014 By 39 Comments
Last winter I wrote a post on a topic of intense debate among runners: shorts or no shorts over winter running tights? It wound up being one of the most popular posts on this site, and it became clear that we runners have strong opinions about fashion etiquette! Now that the weather has warmed up […]
The 5K Bites Me Back: Humbled By Heat And Hills
May 17, 2014 By 6 Comments
About a month ago I ran a 5K in which I finished just two seconds short of my PR. To say that I was happy would be an understatement. It was only my second 5K of the year, and it gave me hope that a new PR would soon follow. I had set my eyes […]
Beginner Running Tips: When Does Running Become Fun?
May 13, 2014 By 21 Comments
For the past six weeks I’ve been co-coaching a beginner 5K group. The group has been improving steadily – bodies are getting stronger, lungs are not struggling as much, early aches and pains are slowly resolving. They’ve been doing great, and most are right where we want them to be at this point in the […]
Six Things I Learned on a 14 Mile Run This Morning
May 12, 2014 By 13 Comments
I ran 14 miles this morning. That’s not a particularly unusual amount for a distance runner, but it was the longest I’ve run since last summer, and today is the warmest day of the year so far in New Hampshire. As always, the first long run in heat each year is cause for some gentle […]
5 Things I Learned From Running A Trail Race Last Weekend
April 29, 2014 By 17 Comments
It’s been a long time since I’ve run a long trail race. I paced for about 7 miles last year at the Vermont 100 (my runner dropped), but the last trail race longer than a 5K that I ran for myself was the HAT Run 50K back in 2011. I forgot how much fun they […]
A Tale of Two 5K’s: How a Change in Race Approach Led to a Near PR
April 21, 2014 By 26 Comments
Sometime last year I decided that it was time to step away from the marathon for awhile and focus on shorter, faster races. I love marathons, but the training cycles had become a grind, and I was tired of focusing all of my effort on only one or two races per year. I have also […]
Setting Running Goals: Shorter and Faster for 2014
March 10, 2014 By 24 Comments
For the past several years I’ve been in marathon mode. I don’t know exactly why or how it happened, but I fell into the trap of feeling like I needed to run a marathon (or three) every year. To be honest, ever since qualifying for Boston back in 2011 I haven’t really enjoyed the marathon […]
Thou Shalt Not Laugh at a Fellow Runner
February 13, 2014 By 11 Comments
This week a video of a runner wiping out on a snowy street went viral – if you haven’t seen it yet have a look: I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of the situation. I’ve been lucky so far this winter. Given the cold, we’ve had snow and ice on the sidewalks for […]
