Training Tips

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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. I ran using distance over time for many years; throughout college and in my professional running years, I would obsessively analyze my GPS watch data. I…

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…

I have had an ultimate bucket list for about ten years now. In college, a good friend had purchased a journal for me, which I used as therapy during hard times or injury. I have talked many times about how important I believe journaling is, especially when you are struggling with something in your life…

Progression runs force you to confront those inner demons telling you that you can’t do this, they force you to notice the fatigue in your legs around halfway and say, yep, I hear you legs, but we have work to do, the second half needs to be faster than the first half.  I have always…

I get a lot of emails each week. Mostly from runners like you, who are looking for some advice, some REAL advice. Not sponsored, not biased, not judge-y. Some support for a runner from a runner without being looked at like a crazy person. As someone who owns a business called Running for Real, you…

There are endless articles out there giving runners advice on how to run well, race fast, train harder, be better. There is good advice, and there is bad advice. Unfortunately, the rules are constantly changing, and something we are told is good for us, can be found TERRIBLE for us the following year (without us…

It has been an honor to be considered someone a lot of new mothers look to for advice about life with a baby. That truly warms my heart to know that my opinion is important to you. It is yet another reason I am so happy I spoke out about my 9 year struggle with…

We are in England right now, so I wanted to make the most of the time with family and friends. Therefore, I do not have a blog post for you, but I do have an updated list of all my coupon codes to help you save a few pennies. Now, if you have been a…

When I was an elite runner, where I ran was really important. On important workout days I would travel up to 90 minutes to get a long run in along a flat path in Cincinnati. On long run days, I would drive 20 minutes to start my run at the beginning of a paved trail…

When I announced that I was going to stop running to overcome amenorrhea, I knew I was prepared to do whatever it took to get my body to a healthy place. I made that my focus; being the best period-get-backer there ever was. And like other things I had put my mind to, I did…

When you love running, and especially when you have a big goal in mind, you want to be committed to that goal. In fact, you don’t just want to be committed, you are, and its hard to even take it off your mind sometimes. Your days are based around it. We want to prove just…

Coping with injury is never easy for runners. We really love what we do. When you have a running injury, once you figure out a rough plan of how long you will need off, the anxiety from being unable to run quickly begins to build. Which is exactly why I previously gave you the 12…

Here are 110 reasons to run, from which I gathered from the Running4Real Community: I run now because I know someday in the future my body will tell me “no more”, until then I will use this gift I have to be able to run.- CJ Beatty I run because I love how it makes…

I am probably going to make a lot of people angry with that title, but it is something I hear some variation of over and over again. Especially in newer runners, runners who are falling for all the typical runner mistakes, and it ends up breaking their heart, often breaking their bodies, and breaking their…

When we get injured, we tend to go through phases, phases that I would typically go through every time. But this time, I am trying to make it different. First is denial, we pretend there is nothing there. We are afraid to even admit to ourselves that something doesnt feel quite right, that the pain…or as…