Training Tips

How Do I Know If I Have REDs?

What are the symptoms of RED-S? Amenorrhea (the absence of a menstrual cycle) is the most obvious one, but there are many others. Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport can also lead to osteopenia/osteoporosis, stress fractures, gastrointestinal issues, mental health challenges, and many other harmful effects. Dr. Jennifer Gaudiani explains how our bodies have evolved to…

Bumbleride Stroller

In the spirit of being transparent, I want to begin by sharing that I was provided the Bumbleride IRONMAN Stroller and paid for this. BUT I only represent brands I believe in, and have turned down many many other brands in the past, even when they have offered payment because I do not feel good…

The Heart of a Brand: Tracksmith

A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by a website which publishes stories about podcasters. Timber Media mostly focuses on how popular podcasts grew their audiences, and it got me thinking about the early days of Running For Real, and beyond that, my days at RunnersConnect. As much as I would love to say to…

Trouble Sleeping? This is What Helped Me Through Insomnia

UPDATE: I wrote this a few months ago, but I still feel the advice is helpful (maybe even more so). I would recommend adding to stay away from the news, twitter, or anything that talks about coronavirus after about 7pm. It makes a big difference! — There is a reason sleep deprivation is a form…

Finding Balance Within Your Nutrition

Let me start with something in your face. You probably won’t like this, but unfortunately, this is the truth: There is no quick fix. There is no way to cheat the system (at least not long term), and the word balance, is just setting us up for all kinds of failures. So why would I…

How To Learn To Love Your Body

Learn to love your body. Sounds so simple, but we all know, it’s not. It should be something we do automatically. Deep down we know how much our body does for us. We know it helps us to breathe and stay alive, carry children in our arms, give and receive hugs that can mean the…

Signs You Are Pushing Your Body Too Far

We live in a go go go world. The busier you are, the better. Who cares if you feel tired, that’s life, get on with it. It feels like everyone around you is cramming more into their morning than you get done in a day, so why are you complaining? Even if you know deep…

Be Confident For Your Next Race

When you are coming out of the deep heavy training, race day is just a few weeks away, you NEED your mind to help you, to tell you it IS possible and you CAN do this mammoth task ahead. Instead, this is a time when our heads can mess with us. Doubt, fear, and paranoia…

Stretching VS. Foam Rolling: Is There an Ideal Pre-exercise Warm-up?

Many of you LOVED my interview with the absolutely wonderful Tom Michaud. He always leaves me speechless with his knowledge and research on topics that runners are just so confused about. Tom kindly offered to write up articles on a monthly basis to give us the summary of what he has found on topics that…

What Are You Doing For Others This Holiday Season?

I love this time of year. I, a Christmas NUT who loves to celebrate the holidays, sing Christmas songs, and purchase everything in cute shapes, (I even got myself a pair of these Adidas How We Do Tights in a more festive color when I would always go for black tights!), but what I love…

The Magic of Being Out in Nature as a Parent

This post was sponsored by adidas, all thoughts and opinions are my own. I never used to be able to understand why people would blame kids for their inability to exercise. I have always (harshly) been of the mindset, “if there is a will, there is a way”, and I do still believe if something…

Running Safety For Runners Training in the Dark

Many runners have been waiting for this day for months; when the humidity finally lifted, you can breathe again, and the mornings feel cool and refreshing. We have been using these cool mornings as our carrot all summer, motivation to keep going, trust that it will feel amazing when it arrives. And it does. After…

Why Running for Time, Not Distance Might Be Best For You

REAL runners run for miles, kilometers, distance. Running by time is for the inexperienced, right? Actually, no. Running by time instead of distance might be just what you need, and since I gave it a try in early 2018, I haven’t looked back. I genuinely believe it is BETTER! I ran using distance for many…

How to Run With a Running Stroller Effectively

I never thought I would become an “expert” on this topic, and although I do not have any qualifications surrounding it, as I did recently become the first EVER mother with a running stroller to grace the cover of a fitness magazine (I think, correct me if I am wrong) with my Women’s Running Magazine…