Run4PRs

Traveling to your goal races Fall is quickly approaching! That might mean some runners will be traveling across the country to their goal races. With Covid-19 a lot of races have been cancelled, but there are some states with races still going on! We are going to be speaking more in general terms with regards to travel. These are tips you can use in 2020 or even if you are listening in 4 years fro...

74. Calming the taper nerves As fall races approach, we see more and more athletes tapering for their goal races. You know how taper is. You spend months building up mileage, busy & exhausted from training then suddenly there are cuts in mileage and more time and energy to worry about all the things. We start to second guess ourselves! Did I do enough? Is this training cycle good enough to get me...

It is so important to go into a race mentally ready to tackle the big event ahead. Part of being mentally prepared is having a pacing plan and knowing exactly what you should be doing to feel good during the race. Today we will be chatting about ways to assess your fitness to develop goals then how to establish a pacing plan for a half marathon and full marathon race. How can you assess your fitne...

Race day is approaching for athletes! Many people are looking back over their cycles or thinking ahead to what their goals will be for races this fall. How do you know what kind of shape you are in and when should you narrow down your goal for race day? When does an athlete generally get a sense of what sort of shape they are in? What are some of the key things you look at as a coach to see what t...

Marathon tapering dos and don’t We are getting to the fall racing season. The temperatures are hopefully dropping near you but if not, don’t worry they will be soon! This cooler temps make for prime racing weather! It is an exciting time to go out there and run fast, but we want to make sure we don’t get too aggressive especially during the taper. It may be tempting to hammer some of your runs whe...

Last chance BQ tips September is almost here! That means that the Boston Marathon registration is almost here. The next few weeks will be the ‘last chance’ for anyone to qualify for Boston. As a result, there are many athletes around the USA and world gearing up for these last chance races. We have seen great success and great disappointment around the years. Here is what you need to know going in...

Injuries happen and they can be tough! One of the biggest questions we get is what to do if you get injured & how to come back from an injury. We are going to be covering both of those topics in this episode as well as sharing first hand experiences with coming back from injuries. Don’t make the mistakes we made in our younger years from pushing the envelope on the comeback. The best comeback is s...

Perfect your race day fueling plan As our long runs increase, fueling can become one of the most important factors of our run. We will be chatting about the 24 hours leading up to and 24 hours after your run today. It is important to find a fueling plan and stick with it for race day. -What should you eat the night before a long run? - Is it okay to skip a meal the day before a long run even if yo...

Marathon PEAKING check in: where should we be 2-3 months out We are inching closer to those fall races and entering our peak training for many athletes. We want to do a check in on what you should be thinking about during this time of the season for fall marathoners. Should you have your fueling plan established? How should you practice water stops? Is it important to get a race on the schedule be...

Down Week: If you haven’t had one in awhile you should take one We are amidst peak training for fall races. We don’t want to be feeling completely exhausted from our training just yet because the taper can still be a few weeks away for many of us. It is really hard for athletes to take an extra day off or do a cut back week during training because they are worried it might negatively impact their...

Why it could be good to wait to do 26.2 The marathon is all about aerobic strength. Holding a moderate pace over a long distance. We aren’t worn down so much by the speed of our pace, but rather by the distance over which we are holding it. Aerobic strength takes time to build. It’s not something that happens overnight, or even over weeks. But it does happen. Every time we lace up we are adding a...

Peak Heat: Why it will make you faster this fall You made it to August! This is the hottest time of the year, but the good news is the temps will begin to drop soon! All these hard weeks of sweating it out and working hard in the hot temps will actually work to your advantage on race day when the temps drop. They say summer training brings fall PRs, and they are right! Don’t lose hope yet! What ha...

What to do instead of your fall race: how to stay motivated with no races this fall Many athletes have had their spring and fall marathons or goal races cancelled! It can be a hard year for endurance athletes as events have shifted from fun community events to now solo virtual races. Running 26.2 miles outside your house by yourself just isn’t the same as running the Boston Marathon. We have seen...

The 4th of July is coming up! This is a very popular time to run a 5k or 10k race in the USA. However, this is also typically a very hot time of year for a race. This year there may not be any official races, but we are putting on another virtual race for this traditional race day! We will be discussing the details of how to run your best race on the 4th! How should you approach a race in the midd...

Why you may not need to run 20 miles? The most common questions that we hear when athletes start a marathon training cycle: “How many 20 mile runs will I do before the race?” There is nothing magical about a 20 mile run. Lets dig deeper…..The most important thing to consider when training for anything would be individual differences. Every single person is different. Everyone has different natural...

Stopping your watch on long runs Stopping your watch on the long runs! We have all been there on a group run. A great water stop is set up, we pause our watch and gulp down all the water and start chatting away only to realize it’s been 3 min and we have to go back out and continue running! There may be other times we stop our watch as well. Maybe we just feel we need a quick second to recoup or c...

Racing your best 5k There are many 5k races this time of year!!This can be a great opportunity for a time trial to see what type of fitness you are in. We want to make sure we train at the correct paces, so assessing your current fitness level is very important! We also want to chat about pacing and goal setting for shorter distance races so that you are able to get the most out of your fitness on...

Qualifying & Registering For Boston Facts Qualifying for the Boston Marathon is an amazing accomplishment. This is the time of year when many runners become interested in nailing down their plan to get to Boston. All the hype surrounding the Boston Marathon is a great time to chat about the facts of getting to Boston and how the standards have changed over the years What are the Boston qualificati...

58. How & Why Virtual Races are the answer This has been a CRAZY time of year with races being cancelled. We were scheduled to do a podcast today on the Grandma’s Marathon course preview but it along with thousands of other races this spring and summer have been cancelled! We are faced with the decision to either not race at all or participate in ‘virtual races’. Prior to COVID-19 social distancin...

Practicing marathon fueling now! We all know fueling is an important part of running. Many people find this topic confusing, and we are going to shed some light for beginners. Everyone's body is different. I know I struggled with this a lot. It can almost feel like you are fighting your body at times. I promise you practice makes perfect for this! Your body is trainable! You can really transform h...

What your training should look like 5-6 months out from a marathon or half marathon & how to begin We are now less than 5 months out from fall marathons like Twin Cities and Chicago. We want to encourage runners to begin their training soon if they have not already done so. The key to success in any long distance running event is the aerobic base and time/consistency with your training. A good tra...

61. Immune Suppression & Training We are in the middle of a world-wide health pandemic. We all know that exercise has positive health effects. Exercise can boost the immune system, but have you ever heard of immune suppression? Have you ever gotten sick from overtraining? We wanted to do a deep dive about how to avoid over training but still work to gain fitness and work towards your goals. Overtr...

How the Heat Will Start to impact your training It feels so great to be running outside again. So many runners are enjoying the nice warm weather, but soon it will become hot. Many athletes will experience a slow down in the upcoming months. We will be chatting today about the impacts of the heat on your training and what you can do to make the most out of your training this summer Sun Impact: Mos...

Weekly mileage can be a fun way to track training volume. This is often one of the first questions you are asked when starting a new training program or chatting with runners. How many miles per week do you typically run? As a running coach, we work with people who run 3 miles per week all the way up to 80 miles per week. Many elite runners run 100+ miles per week. Most competitive recreational ru...

When to start training for Fall Marathons/Races Spring is here! We are approaching the summer months, and runners are getting excited for their fall races. Actually we are going to have a TON more fall marathons this year because races are postponed!! Did you know we are less than 6 months away from the Chicago Marathon?! 6 months may seem like a long time, but it will be here before you know it....