Right about this time of year most folks start wrapping up their running, triathlon or cycling seasons as the winter months approach. For many aerobic athletes in the Northwest, winter is merely a season for counting the days until the skies clear and the roads and trails dry out come spring. But this winter you have the perfect opportunity to shake up your routine and add some life to the dark, cold and wet …more »
Training
Maintaining a Lifetime of Runner’s Highs
September 26, 2016A runner’s worst nightmare is to be told by his or her doctor “no more running.” There is good news though, for those of us whose drug of choice results in a “runner’s high.” We can extend our running life and maybe even be pain free most of the time with a simple activity called cross training. As runners, we often think we need to simply run to stay in shape or get faster. …more »
Fuel: Eat Real Food
September 19, 2016Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. —Michael Pollan For simple, honest food rules to live by, Michael Pollan says it best. We used to eat real food. Many years ago, if our ancestors wanted food they would have to hunt, gather, or grow their foods. Food grew out of or walked on the ground, and wasn’t found in a factory before being wrapped up in a colorful package. It was found in its natural …more »
Learning To Walk Again
August 24, 2016Learning to walk again, or, listening to your heart over your mind. It was a cold Saturday morning in January. Despite the air temperature being only 9 degrees, the sun was shining bright in the cloudless sky. I reluctantly put on my running tights, a base layer, wind breaker, and laced up my trail shoes all the while thinking the modern day warrior’s uniform leaves something to be desired. Climbing into my van I …more »
Trail Running for City Slickers
August 17, 2016There is nothing I despise more than city slicker runs. Pavement — my personal run of last resort. I relocated to Bend nearly two decades ago for a reason — the abundance of dirt. In my world, running trails is where it’s at. I love the mountains and all things dirt. Let’s face it though, sometimes business travel, family commitments, and careers don’t allow us to live in a locale that has tons of …more »
Post Race Blues
August 9, 2016I’ve talked to a number of runners that have found running to be a good substitute for a previous drug addiction. Maybe this is just a coincidence but I have a hunch that endurance sports in general, running in particular, tend to attract those strong enough to break the bonds of drug addiction and need something to take it’s place. They’ve told me that running has a way of filling the void of highs and …more »
Fuel: Listen to Your Body
August 1, 2016“Listen to your body.” This is a phrase I’ve heard many times over the past few months as I recover from Achilles surgery. Heck, it’s even a phrase I’ve caught myself saying to clients. But what does that phrase even mean? Because if I’m honest, every time I hear “Listen to your body,” I’m kind of like, “yeah, right.” If I listened to my body, I would have never pushed myself or found my …more »
Fidget, Distract, Focus, Repeat
May 31, 2016I’m staring at a blank white screen, watching a blue cursor blink on, then off. Interestingly it follows my heart rate, or my heart beat has fallen instep to the cadence of this blue vertical line: 56 beats-per-second. I know this because I’m procrastinating and observing oddities that’ll keep my mind from focusing on this rising self-induced anxiety. It seems I’m fairly relaxed, however, despite feeling the looming deadline as if it’s taken a ghostly …more »
Youth Running: Is It Really Bad for Your Kids to Run?
May 19, 2016I’ve been involved with coaching youth runners now for the better part of a decade. As a kid I participated in several youth running programs, from USATF Junior Olympics to Steens Mountain Running. One of the frequent questions you’ll hear when coaching youth athletes in the sport of running is, “Isn’t it bad for them to be running so young?” The easiest answer would be, no. But I never take the easy way, so let’s …more »
