Don’t be a dumbbell: Learn the importance of strength training

Ignoring strength training puts you at risk for injury and limits your progress. Strengthening your legs and core are key ways to ensure that your muscles are capable of performing longer and at greater speeds. (It also helps tighten things up and what girl doesn’t want that?) Often times runners ignore strengthening their hamstrings and … Continue reading »

Run for the hills

  I grew up in a neighborhood where going to school everyday meant scaling one or two mountainous hills. I used to dread the daily trek and told everyone for a year that when I grew up I planned to live somewhere flat. Fast foward 30+ years and indeed I live on a flat street, … Continue reading »

Run the distance

Okay, so the word I’m about to use is really funny — one of those that makes you giggle like a school girl. It’s Fartlek, Swedish for speed play. It’s the best principle I’ve found for not only increasing speed but distance. It goes something like this: Every time you run, increase your speed for set periods, then revert to your normal jog, then increase it again. Do this for a set period of time during your run and you’ll begin to notice a huge difference in your performance. For instance, a three mile run might look like this: Continue reading »