Summer temperatures can throw a curve-ball into your training. Intervals that once felt easy now seem out of reach. The hot temperatures are not only uncomfortable, but they begin to wreak havoc on your abilities and your recovery. Will the heat ever be easier to tolerate? How can you work to maximize performance even in […]
A hamstring injury higher up on your leg, otherwise known as a proximal hamstring strain, is characterized by discomfort in the gluteus muscle where the hamstring originates, especially during the push-off phase of running and exercise. The harder you push, the harder it grabs. The hamstring, a set of three muscles running from your pelvic bone […]
It’s All a Balancing Act Recovery from exercise has a lot to do with homeostasis. Homeostasis—in case high school biology has long since been wiped from your memory banks—is defined as “the tendency of the body to seek and maintain a condition of equilibrium or stability within its internal environment when dealing with external challenges.” […]
The one bit of data that is thrown around a lot about running, is that 80% active runners are injured each year. While this data is true, the corollary is that 50% of the injuries sustained by runners could have been avoided if a few simple steps had been followed, such as stretches before and […]
Knee pain is a common issue in the running world. Typically, in the case of chronic pain, the knee isn’t the source of the problem. (In contrast, direct trauma to the knee is an acute injury and that’s a true knee problem.) Lack of ankle mobility can be the culprit of knee pain, especially if […]
As a collegiate distance runner, I was always told that I needed to take two weeks off after each competitive season. Without fail, I would become a sedentary human for exactly 14 days after every cross-country and track season. It was seemingly a rule written in stone, one that should never be questioned or examined. […]
Make it into your favorite race? Congratulations! Now the fun yet hard part begins: preparation. And like a holiday potluck, our training choices are a nearly unlimited buffet of long runs, hill workouts, tempos, and training races. But like that potluck, too much consumption can lead to trouble in the form of injury, burnout, or […]