Posts

Stop Sacrificing Runs Because You’re “Busy” (with Video)

We are all busy.

Life is blowing by us at a million miles and hour, and sometimes we just wind up with so much on our plate that something has to give.

As much as it saddens me to admit this, there are (too many) times that running is the thing to go to make room for other “stuff”.

Stop Sacrificing Runs Because You Have a Busy Life

Life isn’t going to slow down for many of us any time soon.

Are You Sacrificing Runs Due to the Speed of Life?

Are You Sacrificing Runs Due to the Speed of Life?

So in order to continue to find time for the things we most need in our lives, and running is definitely on that list for me, we may have to be willing to be creative and/or make some sacrifices. Read more

What Constitutes a Proper Warm Up for a Race? (with Video)

A while back, I talked about the importance of a warm up before running a race.

But what exactly constitutes a proper warm up? Because at a lot of races I see people that think they are doing the right things to get themselves ready for the race, when that actually is not the case at all.

A Proper Warm Up Should…

  • Increase Your Heart Rate. If you’re going to want to run hard from the start of the race, no matter the distance, having your heart already thumping is a good thing. You’ll place less strain on your ticker if you bring your heart rate up a little bit before the race starts.
  • Loosen Your Muscles/Tendons. Cold muscles don’t work as well as warm ones. That’s just a fact. Cold muscles don’t produce as much force (so you won’t be able to run as fast) and are more likely to strain/tear (increased risk of injury) than warm muscles.
  • Move Your Joints Through a Full Range of Motion. The harder you’re going to run, the more motion you’re going to need in your hips, knees, and ankles.

The Most Common Mistake

If I had a dollar from every person I’ve seen before a race performing static stretches on their muscles, I wouldn’t be a millionaire but I’d definitely have a lot more cushion in my bank account.

Y’all, don’t hold your stretches before a race/hard workout!

This will actually decrease your performance, by decreasing the amount of elasticity in your muscles.

If you hold those stretches before a race, you’re decreasing the amount of force those muscles are able to exert (in the short term) which is going to result in you not be able to run as fast.

Yes, stretching is important. Just save it for after the race.

What are Your Thoughts on Warming Up Before a Race? Do You Have a Routine that You Follow? Share it Below!

Morning Runner

Quick Tip: How to Become an Early Morning Runner


We are all busy.

home-from-work

Aint that the truth…

There’s no question about that. But if we are trying to maintain consistency in our training, which really is the key to improving and reaching our running goals, we have to regularly be able to find time to run amid the craziness of life.

For me, the biggest key to my consistency in training has been becoming an early morning runner.

It wasn’t something that I really wanted to do, but it was the best option for me.

Because let’s be honest, if you wait to run until after work, there is a whole host of things that can screw your run up (family, work, traffic, etc.).

But if you get up at 4:30, take the dogs out real quick, and meet your running group at 5:15, you rarely run into a problem.

Funny how “life” isn’t even awake enough to screw up your run if you go early… Read more