In training as in life, sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. Written by: Matt Fitzgerald Not every workout goes well. Your most challenging high-intensity runs are especially likely to be harder than expected, because they challenge your performance limits and thus require a level of mental and physical readiness that you don’t have [...]
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Research by Stephen McGregor, PhD, is showing that the worst way to improve your running stride is to consciously try. Interview by: Matt Fitzgerald Until recently we knew very little about the difference between skillful and unskillful running, which is essentially the difference between economical (energy efficient) and uneconomical running. All we really had were [...]
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Should you feed or starve your muscles during workouts? Written by: Matt Fitzgerald We all know that consuming carbohydrates during strenuous endurance exercise enhances performance. Given this fact, it would seem to be a good idea to consume carbs, in a sports drink or gels, during every long or hard run, as the resulting elevated [...]
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The top contenders are all 24 years old or younger. The 99th Bay to Breakers 12K road race will take place Sunday in San Francisco. More than 60,000 runners are expected to participate. Ninety-nine years. Sixty thousand runners. Those are some big numbers!
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Recent studies show you need not swallow your sports drink to benefit from it. Written by: Matt Fitzgerald We all know how the carbohydrate content in sports drinks benefits running performance. Those carbs are quickly absorbed through your intestine and into your bloodstream, which then carries them to your working muscles to be used as [...]
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If the standards were “soft” before, they aren’t any more. Kenyans Mary Keitany and Sammy Kosgei broke the women’s and men’s 25 km world records, respectively, in winning the BIG 25 road race in Berlin Sunday. Kosgei ran 1:11:50, bettering by 55 seconds the mark of 1:12:45 set by Paul Kosgei in the same race [...]
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Hydration during running is not as complicated as you may have been led to believe. When you run, you sweat. The more you sweat, the more your blood volume decreases. The more your blood volume decreases, the harder your heart has to work to deliver oxygen to your working muscles. Sounds dangerous, but it’s really [...]
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News-breaking New York Times article focuses on friendship between Kara and fellow expecting mother Paula Radcliffe. Competitor.com blogger and 2008 Olympian Kara Goucher and her husband and fellow elite runner Adam are expecting their first child in September. Marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe is expecting her second child on the same day. The New [...]
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Elite runners don’t run barefoot. There’s a reason for that. Written by: Matt Fitzgerald The runners of the Nike Oregon Project use just about every safe and legal means available to them to improve their performance. They train on underwater and antigravity treadmills, they work intensively with a staff strength coach and sports psychologist, they [...]
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The next great American runner talks about the first steps in her professional career. Interview by: Matt Fitzgerald At the tender age of 23 years, Jenny Barringer is already an Olympic veteran and an American record holder in the 3000m steeplechase (9:12.50). Among her other laurels are three NCAA titles earned while she was a [...]
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Krupicka and Semick victorious in the Marin Headlands. Written by: Bryon Powell Anton Krupicka is no stranger to jaw-dropping ultramarathon performances. That’s why it should come as no surprise that on May 1 he ran the second-fastest time in the 15-year history of the Miwok 100-kilometer race in the Marin Headlands just north of San [...]
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I made peanut butter cookies and bought a bouquet of roses and lilies in order to come to terms with connecting with you after such a terrible race. I had to really rally for this blog. The Virgin London Marathon went so wrong for no specific reason, and that is the most difficult thing to [...]
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In today’s RunCenter we recap last weekend’s Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational, including Chris Solinsky’s record-breaking performance in the men’s 10,000m, and “Eat and Run” host John Berardi, PhD, answers important questions about nutritional supplements for runners.
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Because of its high-impact nature, running is a trickier form of exercise to start than other forms of exercise. So you’ve decided to start running. That’s great! You won’t regret it. If you’re like most beginning runners, you are full of questions. The most basic questions have to do with the running itself: how far, [...]
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A new study sponsored by the World Anti-Doping Authority found that the use of human growth hormone improved sprint performance enough to have made the last-place finisher a gold medalist in the final of the 2008 Olympic men’s 100 meters. That’s interesting. But is anyone else tickled by the idea of WADA administering performance-enhancing drugs [...]
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