Mojo For Running Podcast

With the right hill racing strategy and the finesse learned in the last episode, you'll be ready to crush any hill in any race, knowing that you have an edge over the other runners, knowing that your performance will be better because of your knowledge of hill strategy and your execution. It's not hard, but it's something most runners give little attention. Most runners hope to manage any hills in...

For most people, running hills is an element of running to tolerate, but to the wise, properly trained and knowledgeable runner, hills provide an avenue to faster running and faster races. Between improved conditioning from using hill training as speedwork and improved hill-running technique, any runner's mindset should change from dreading hills to embracing hills.

High intensity interval training has been a recognized training modality for a dozen years, now, and over that time its effectiveness and versatility have proven it to be worthy of inclusion in the training regimen of any serious runner, but more than that, we now know that high intensity interval training has many health benefits, including benefits for heart health. Resources mentioned in the ep...

Progression runs do wonders for speed, endurance, and fitness, preparing the runner to run faster farther into their race, hopefully, ideally throughout their race, but also offering a wide range of fitness benefits. Simply put, a progression run starts slower and gets continually faster; however, as with all forms of speed work for running, the many variations make it possible to tweak the workou...

The traditional tempo run is entirely different from the typical track type of speedwork, a workout that consists of continuous running at a given pace. Tempo runs are longer and less intense becauase of the longer distance, but they have their own valuable benefits that provide critical conditioning as well as mental training needed for longer race distances. In this episode, you'll learn how to...

While a good track workout is always effective, adding other activities between sets will magnify the impact and make speed workouts more fun. As a result, you're likely to be more consistent with speed training and benefit more from it. In this episode, you'll discover how to gradually incorporate balance, plyometric, and agility exercises into the training, which will result in improved running...

Learn all about classic track workouts and the variety of ways they can be structured to meet any runner's training goals. All speedwork can be broken down into two categories, short speedwork, usually done on a track, a combination of repeats, intervals, and sets, and longer speedwork done on roads In this episode, discover the near infinite ways to structure workouts of repeats and intervals to...

To get faster or stronger or even to build endurance, every experienced runner needs speedwork. This is the first of a series of episodes on speedwork for runners, what is a speedworkout, who should do it, how to add it to your running schedule, how often, types of speed training, how to maximize benefits, and what not to do.

The month of December tests our running training more than any other as holiday events too often steal running hours. Our already hectic schedules get still busier, increasing stress levels, meaning we need run therapy more than ever, but ironically, that's the last thing on many people's mind. The Mojo for Running December Challenge will provide accountability and motivation to help you maintain...

Let's go back to the basics of how to move when you run, head to toe, from where to look, to the nuances of effective arm technique, what not to do and physical cues to help with practicing good running form. While everyone's form will be unique, based on their body, minor adjustments will still pay off with greater comfort, improved endurance, greater speed, and fewer running injuries, all good r...

Any runner or group of runners, of any level, can make up a fartlek workout on the fly, or pull out one of the traditional, time-tested fartlek workouts. Fartleks are especially good for injecting a bit of speed work into an easy or long-ish run during the basebuilding phase when it's best to avoid more structured, specific track workouts, saving them for later in the cycle when the speedwork need...

Running success hinges on preparation. Crossing the finish line is the easy part, a celebration, the apex of all the training that prepared you to be there, the celebration of a well executed running training plan. The longer you run, the more races you train for, the more you'll appreciate the importance of a good training schedule, one that keeps you healthy while preparing you for your goal rac...

The almighty taper is a thing of beauty. Most experienced runners, and certainly any runner who's trained with a coach, knows about this masterpiece of training theory. No amount or type of training, no training regimen, however well executed, will fulfill its potential unless it ends with the appropriate taper period. If you're not familiar with the idea of tapering for a goal race, this episode...

One of the main attractions of running is the sheer simplicity of it. Running requires one thing, a pair of shoes - well, two things.  That simplicity is a thing of beauty, but to take it to any level beyond basic fitness, or just to make it more interesting, knowing and applying some basic training guidelines will be of great benefit. Many people, at least early on in their running career, run th...

What a treadmill lacks in the way of the scenery and fresh air of an outdoor run, it makes up for in convenience and other benefits. Yes, there are reasons why anyone might do well to train on a treadmill at times.  From offering a softer surface than any street to providing a safe option when traveling, treadmills are a great option for any runner of any level, and while some describe them as dre...

I'm always looking for new ways to improve my fitness and enhance my running training, and one of my favorite is the mini trampoline, also known as a rebounder, which I use for 'rebounder running,' running in place on the rebounder. It is an affordable, relatively small piece of equipment, making it a great alternative to a treadmill and a good way to add miles while at home by running in place on...

Coach Deb Voiles announces topics for many upcoming episodes and shares the topics for the next dozen, expanding on an episode that will highlight the national problem of runners being locked out of 'public' school tracks. She asks listeners to weigh in about the situation where they live. Deb then provides an overview of other topics, such as running form, running cadence, the Alter G treadmill,...

Running trails requires different technical running skills, a different outlook, and different equipment, but it is so beyond worth it, and if that's not enough, your on-road running will greatly improve. Why? Because running on off road trails demands more work and more finesse. Your muscles work more and differently. You'll feel it the next day, that good feeling that you are getting fitter in a...

On and off-road miles are not equal. Off-road miles make you a better runner, make you more fit, and make you more sane. A mile in the woods holds greater value than any on-road mile. Running in the wild, produces startling results. It improves strength by engaging more muscles, especially the small muscles in the feet. It increases agility as each step is placed, avoiding roots or water or slippe...

Optimize your running training by properly applying the hard easy principle.  You must keep your easy runs easy and your hard runs hard to get the desired training effect. Most runners are driven to check their watch, worried about their pace being too slow, even when it's an 'easy' run day, and this prevents much-needed, injury-preventing recovery.  In this episode, I explain the appropriate time...

Wow! I would never have guessed I'd be doing a podcast on this topic, but here I am. This is not normal, nowhere near normal, not by ay stretch of the imagination. We are all living through this, one day at a time, finding our way, figuring out how to cope. We have no other choice; however, fortunately, 'we' have running to ease our trip through this difficult time. Every single runner of every le...

It's that time again, time to carefully consider what we should do in 2020 to take our running and our lives to the next level. Since the options for running resolutions are almost infinite, I thought I'd provide some insight into the advantages of some types of resolutions and the pitfalls of others. In this episode of the Mojo for Running Podcast, I discuss goal of more miles than you've done be...

No time of the year challenges your commitment to running more than the holidays, the weeks between Thanksgiving and the new year. For that reason, I thought I'd share some my perspective in the hope that it will motivate you to stay the course. You, of course, may not run 'all the miles,' and I sure get that, as I explain, but you don't want to let go of too many of your planned miles.  Let's tal...

Whether you are new to running or you've been running for years, there will be times when you stop running weeks or even months. Matybe you have a health issue, and maybe you had an injury. My runners miss long periods, sometimes, maybe due to caring for elderly parents, maybe due their own medical problems, and sometimes a running injury or some other injury that requires a long recovery period....

Recently, Hubby and I actually went to a theater, which we hadn't done in over a year, to see the movie, Brittany Runs a Marathon . In this episode I discuss that film, and, knowing that it will inspire many, that leads to the topic of running goals and running your first marathon. No worries, I don't give away the plot. I hope you'll listen, and in this episode, since I talk about running 'your'...