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.  […]

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 […]

I can recall the emotions of running my last marathon like they were yesterday.  It was September 2009 and I was running the Toronto Waterfront marathon.  I was running along on Queen Street on my way to the finish at the 35K mark.  I kept thinking to myself, 42 kilometres is an incredible distance 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

 A few years ago I made a decision to tone my activities down to just riding. The primary reason was because of getting married and having a baby girl. Though the other reason was simply a needed mental break and judging from my foot a physical one as well. Now it should be noted that […]

This fall my husband and I found out that we’re expecting our first baby early this July. 
 
As I’m sure most of you veteran parents know. Having a baby can really change your life.  What I was shocked about was that even before CONCEPTION this can be the case!
 
In the spring we decided that we […]

There is no disputing that to run faster, a distance runner needs to carefully accumulate volume over the years, develop speed and train the lactic threshold. There are however, some ways that a runner can make some gain without running more or at a higher intensity. These include strength training, running mechanics, and […]

When I tell people that I run 365 days a year outdoors, I get the look.  The look of “Are you crazy?”  The thoughts of someone running in sub-zero temperatures through a snow storm are too far from normal for people to understand let alone respect.
I can tell you, there is no greater feeling then […]

Having been a road runner for a number of years, I decided this summer to branch out to trail running.  Seeing that I could run well on the road, I figured, heck, it can’t be that hard.  Just watch your step and go full out.  Never look back and you are good to go.
Wow, was […]

For those getting more serious about racing the Marathon distance and beyond, don’t ignore the one ingredient that still eludes many distance runners - sodium. These salt tablets as they’re commonly referred to have been used by triathletes for years and are just in the past couple years being adopted by marathoners. During training but […]

Running and Cycling’s best kept training secret for winter workouts! Come out of the “off” season in better shape than when you went in!
With the days getting shorter and the racing season over, the winter is a great time to build power and try some cross training. The winter conditioning season for runners usually involves […]

Cross Country Spikes vs. All Purpose Spikes
Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been racing cross country for years, spikes are an integral part of improving your times. Cross Country spikes offer some definite advantages
over Middle, or Long distance spikes. Primarily durability, protection, traction, and often shock absorption. They offer even more of an […]

I, like a lot of other kids ran cross country in elementary school. The elementary school cross country experience was a really good introduction to running for a lot of us; sure we had the track and field days but for serious long distance running it is usually your first experience. Kids join the elementary […]

This isn’t some get-fit-quick scheme. I’m really refering to training for marathons by running only three days a week.
When people find out that I run marathons - I’ve run 14 so far, with my 15th happening next month - they usually ask me how much I run to train. I think that people expect me […]