I'm *almost* willing to argue that if you've never considered quitting running for good because of a bad race, a bad run, a seriously bad episode of chafing.... then you're not a "real runner". *almost*. All jokes aside, a lot of us have had that exact moment of wanting to throw race medals, running shoes, finishers tshirts and other swag into the nearest trash bin because we get knocked on our booties. It can be hard coming back from an unexpected injury when we were riding high on stellar...
10 days ago • 3 min read
Can I be honest with you about one the gnarliest running mistakes I've made? Baby-runner Marie tried so hard. But knew so little. *sigh* This will specifically speak to the runners who are 2-4 weeks out from starting Fall marathon training... Because you're in this weird, waiting limbo-land that's too short to be a formal training block, but it's long enough to still get into some serious trouble. So for the longest time, baby-runner-marie thought her running endurance was trash. Just...
17 days ago • 3 min read
I'm doom scrolling IG and come across this one video and immediately… palm meet face Oooh no, not this again. And it wasn't that I disagreed with this PT. I actually use a lot of the same exercises she was showing but for low back pain... *record scratch* But let me back up a second. I'm NOT a super duper fan of the terms "sciatica" or "piriformis syndrome". But I also get it: like what else are you supposed to call this pain in your booty? But here me out: she was demonstrating exercises for...
24 days ago • 3 min read
High mileage can do weird things to your legs. And your brain. Random tweaks. Lingering soreness. Oh and my favorite! The random stabby knee pain that pops up half way through a workout. As a result, I've had several conversations with my knees about this. And there were DEFINITILY times while was running 50 mpw regularly that I felt maybe mildly concerned that these aches and discomforts were becoming normal occurrences. Because after a while, you start to get familiar with them. No, not in...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
So I recently had a chat with one of my runners that started with questions about a knee niggle and ended with me raging against the machine. Ok, yes, I’m mildly over exaggerating. But story time: I’ve worked with this runner before and he is incredibly dedicated. Eats a casual 20 miles for breakfast. And freaking lightning fast over a marathon distance. As we dove into this mysterious knee niggle, it sounded an awful like IT band issues. **induce immediate panic** Because little did I know,...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
I know that you know... and probably understand how I feel about clamshells. They are legion on the interwebs. You've probably been told that simply because you're a runner, you automatically have weak glutes and you need to do clamshells. Stat. Especially before your run as part of your warm up. ok, maybe half true. I can definitely say that even as a PT-student during my last clinical rotation, I was told this. Not the clamshell part, though, thank the running gods. But recently I've been...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
My husband looked up from the model airplane he was sanding, gave me a very concerned look, and asked “are you ok?” Until he realized I was holding my phone and had “the look” on my face. “Oohhh you found another one didn’t you?” he asked. I shifted my eyes from staring into the abyss to looking at him. And that was enough of an answer. See, sometimes I think I’m shouting into the void. That you all already known all the things inside my brain when it comes to running and recovery, strength...
2 months ago • 3 min read
I could hear some of you yelling from across the internet. Trying to mash together your own strength training workouts during your base building era can be a pain in the butt. And let me be honest here: if you're struggling on your long runs now, BEFORE any kind of serious marathon (or other race) training... that's a gentle sign to get to work now on your core rather than the "hope and pray" method that I utilized for years. Let me out myself: for more years than I want to admit, I assumed...
3 months ago • 2 min read
I'm kind of ashamed to admit that for probably the first 7 years of running... I genuinely thought long runs just sucked. Like they were supposed be in a state of constant survival mode. It's just the way it is. That was probably because at the time when I first-first started running, there was no such thing as "easy pace". The training philosophy then was "always run at 70-75%". yea...that's not an easy pace. And fueling??? during a run?? Did you fall down on the trail and hit your head?...
3 months ago • 4 min read