This article was inspired by the Jordan 5k. May Jerry (Subaru Series Race Director) rest in peace. And also a nod to Paul Leduc who chatted with me one day about just how hard it is to run a 5k well. We are both still searching for that perfect race.
In golf, the Tiger is nothing without […]

What is FIST, you may ask? It is a system for fitting a rider to a triathlon bike, devised by Dan Empfield at Slowtwitch.com - you can read more about the key principles here: http://www.slowtwitch.com/Bike_Fit/index.html
Anyway, I was fit on my triathlon bike roughly four years ago by an upscale bike store in central/West Toronto. Four […]

Perhaps, if you were a pro, you would train like one.

You would wake up early from a 10-hour sleep and eat an extremely well-balanced first meal of the day (probably advised by a dietician who specializes in nutrient intake for athletes).  

You would do this before beginning your first of several daily training sessions under […]

My Around the Bay 30k bib is available. If interested, enter a comment below and I will be in touch. Note the 30k can also be exchanged for the 5k race if that suits you better.
I write this piece thinking just how fortunate I have been. Over four years between injuries. But here I am, […]

I’ve been active my whole life but only really began running three years ago.  My previous activities focused on hockey, skiing and golf which all meant a lot of pressure on my feet and very tight fitting footwear.  Over time, I developed an injury called Morton’s Neuroma, a fairly well-known and quite painful foot disease.  […]

If you watch any late night television, you may have seen an infomercial or two about the INSANITY training program.  Produced by Beach Body, it’s tag line is “Transform your body in 60 days”.  When I decided to take on the challenge, this wasn’t necessarily my goal.  I was looking for a fun diversion from […]

You might have been told that if you exercise relatively slowly, you would be using fat as a fuel source, and if you are going relatively faster, you are using carbohydrate as a fuel source. Of course, the goal of endurance athletics (especially at events longer than 2-3 hours, such as marathons, half Ironmans, and Ironmans) is to use […]

The New Year will be here in 10 days.  

Most of you (whether or not you label them as such) have some form of resolution.

If you are not a New Year’s resolution person, and a consistent training routine has long-since been a part of your lifestyle, excellent.  Give yourself a pat on the back.  And […]

Don’t Fight the Burnout.  Just Burn Out.

Some people know when to expect it.  Others, it will catch by surprise.  And the lucky few, despite being both rigorous and consistent with their training methods will successfully avoid it somehow.

The reality though is that in most cases, a periodized training plan is much like a wave.  Energy […]

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 […]

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 […]

Thanks to a friend I have discovered a new love: Kinesio tape!
 
Back in the spring when I was building up the mileage for around the Bay my IT Band was proving to be problematic. 
 
My mountain bike buddy (and new running partner) has a kinesiology degree and convinced me to let her try taping me […]

Gatineau Park is located less than 4kms from Parliament Hill in Ottawa and is a local Mecca for anyone who loves the outdoors.  Gently rising on an escarpment above the Ottawa River, Gatineau Park consists of 363 square kms of rolling hills and steep climbs through woodlands and rock cuts and is […]

Never assume an old injury is healed!
On the surface, this might not seem like a training article but I can assure you that it is. Why? If you don’t take heed of what I will state below, your training/race schedule will be adversely affected.
Having ruptured my Achilles tendon 7 weeks ago, I’ve had a lot […]

At this time of year, when we as runners are thinking again about building up mileage for the upcoming spring races, it’s a good time to also think about building strength in a few key muscles. Often, we fail to recognize the importance of strength to keep us running at our best and also injury […]

New study confirms claims suggested by compression apparel manufacturer.
When I started running longer distances in my CW-X Expert tights I did notice that I felt stronger and recovered more quickly. At first I’ll admit, I chalked it up to the old placebo effect. I mean how could tights make this much of a difference? I […]