We all know the importance of being properly fitted on the bike. Lots of articles talk about that, but unfortunately many more talk about the bike “performance” itself. Particularly in triathlon, in which sport the marketing talks wash out our brains with the aerodynamic aspect of the bike , using scientific data from wind tunnel session supposed to ”prove” us that we are […]

  Directions: Exit the 401 at Stewart Rd- exit # 469. Head south and turn right at the first set of lights- Central Ave. Head down Central till you hit the end and park.
Amenities: The nearest bike shop is Cranks Bicycle Shoppe 122 King St West in case you need tubes or anything else. Be […]

More you need to know to safely cross the finish line.
Written in 2003 after my first marathon…attempt
In our last newsletter I wrote about the importance of proper hydration in improving and sustaining performance while preventing injury. Little did I know how important this message would hit home. After all the research I had done in […]

What you need to know to safely cross the finish line.
Originally written in 2002, before my first marathon
Enough can’t be said of the importance of keeping properly hydrated during a training run or a race. All races, whether it is a 5km or a Marathon, have several water stations for good reason. During exercise, we […]

Approximately 10 months ago Jane Wood (owner of RF Milton) jokingly suggested I do an Ironman. My immediate reaction was no way, how could I possibly take whole chunks of time out of my weekends to train for something like that?  BUT the idea of doing a Half was intriguing and the training volume would […]

Heat acclimatization is a concept that has been analyzed by exercise physiologists extensively for almost two decades now, since the big boom in marathon running. Still, many are trying to understand how heat acclimatization can benefit them, or, how the lack of heat acclimatization will harm them. Heat has a funny way of working against […]

By no standard am I an expert on food and nutrition. I do, however, have quite a discerning palate. That is where my expertise comes in to play for this article.I recently brought a friend along to a 5Peaks race, and this was their first ever organized running race. It occurred to me that for […]

Hello everyone,
Once again I have missed a week of posting and now I find that this will be my last post before the race next weekend.  Scary.  Still, I am really looking forward to it.  Right now the Weather Network is predicting nice weather, so hopefully they will be right for once.   Still, considering that […]

Today is the 19th of May.  

With still more than one month before the official start of summer, I feel a sense of completeness with regards to the running race season.

I set no real goals for myself with running this year aside from one I most recently failed miserably at: missing a Boston qualification time […]

Hello everyone,
I suppose that I should start off this week with a confession: I wussed out this week and hardly did any running due to the poor weather.  I did do my long run on Monday, which was 60Km, so that has to count for something right?  I’m back in school next week, so that […]

Hello everyone,
Last week I touched on role models and some of the dangers of ultra-running.  This week I want to put the focus back on the positive, especially since I believe that there is a lot to be gained from ultra-running.
To go back to the subject of role models, last week I mentioned three in […]

Hello Everyone,
As the title suggests, I have missed a week of posting.  This was due to a hectic exam schedule at school.  The good news is that the exams are over and now I have two weeks off before the madness begins again!  This is where, in the film version of my life, they would […]

Hello everyone,
I said last week that this post would be about nutrition, but I have altered the plan slightly because I have realized that I don’t know enough about nutrition to write a whole post about it.  I have read many articles about what runners should eat, and in what proportions, but I have chosen […]

Hello Everyone,
One of the challenges with running a 100 Miler is the lack of standard training plans available to help prepare for one.  While there is some variation between marathon training plans, I have found that most of them are pretty similar.  Not so with 100 Miler training plans, most of which are developed by […]

Hey there to all fellow RF team members!
  Now that another year has begun i thought I would take the time to give a bit more of a formal intro for myself and let you know what myself and my guide are up to this year.
  Many of you may know me as “that blind […]

Thankfully the Chilly half wasn’t chilly at all this year.  At a balmy 10 degrees it left at least one variable out of the mix.
At 6 months pregnant almost to the day, running has been an adventure this year.  Some days I feel great. Other days walking on an incline feels like a challenge.  So […]

We started a new tradition this year. 
 
Bundled in every running layer possible, we set out for the Ajax Snowflake 10km this weekend.  The crew was as varied as they come. From Ironman finishers to one girl who had never run more than 5km before.  But the goal was simple.   Go get some fresh air […]

Greetings all!
I am a brand new member of Team Running Free and this is my first post.  My plan is to do semi-regular posts over the next 2+ months about the trials and tribulations of training for a 100 Mile Ultra-Marathon while still leading a normal. busy life.  I’m writing this for anyone who is […]

In this second posting on this topic, I will attempt to bring together some of the latest research that I have found regarding a very controversial topic of respiratory system weakness. In other words, there is something about your respiratory system that is limiting performance. How does this happen?
I propose, here, a different type of “zoning”. Most […]

Individualized Training Zones. You may have opened up several books, purporting to be the be-all and end-all of establishing training intensity zones to effectively bring out the best racing performance of your life. Several “zoning” methods exist, including methods based on:

Percentage of maximum heart rates (such as, taking a percentage of 220-maximum heart rate)
Percentage of a […]