Are you a runner who, despite running marathon after marathon has struggled to qualify for Boston? Perhaps you’ve been plagued by one injury after another? Have you become fixated on the amount calories burned on the treadmill? Or have you been so hung up on race times that when conditions have not been right you have lacked the confidence to execute what your training has prepared you for? If you can relate to any more » Read more
Science and Running: How Do You Know What’s Good and What’s Junk?
In 2010, thanks in large part to Christopher’s McDougall‘s Born to Run, barefoot running became the newest running trend. Everywhere I went I heard about the health benefits of running barefoot. I heard it all, from “You’ll never get injured again!” to “You’ll be so fast!”. And research seemed to back up the barefoot running phenomena, yet I remained stubbornly unwilling to try. I was a bit relieved, then, when other research more » Read more
Cryotherapy for Runners: Needless Torture or Panacea?
Last week, Cinnamon explained how ice baths can impede the adaptation process our bodies go through after hard training. However, there are some circumstances when the benefits of cold therapy like ice baths, spot-icing, or cryotherapy may be worth the trade-offs. While the evidence suggests cold does not actually improve recovery, it may reduce post-workout pain and make a runner feel more recovered. The evidence is not clear whether this is simply a more » Read more
A Runner’s Guide to Inflammation
AHHH! Quick! Get some ice! Get some NSAIDs! Elevate the problem area! Hurry! Wait … why are we hurrying? Relax, dear runner. Inflammation doesn’t have to be a gremlin. In fact, if you take care of it well and don’t feed it after midnight, inflammation can be a protective little guy who helps keep you running right. Read more
Recipes for Runners: Pimento’s Minestrone Soup
It’s fall, again. Time for all things pumpkin, boots, perfect weather for running and racing, and of course soup. Nothing caps off a long run or tough workout better than a runger-solving, soul-satisfying bowl of deliciousness that you can put in your food diary with pride. I’ve shared my recipe for my favorite kale salad before, and now that the temperatures have turned I find myself making big pots of soup more » Read more
Start Chopping! 5 Meal-Prepping Tips for Runners
This might be bold for me to say, but I consider myself a master meal prepper. I’ve been meal prepping on and off for the past seven years. I started in 2009, after finishing grad school when I realized that living on garbage for the past few years had taken a toll on my health. To fix my predicament, I started running and then I stumbled upon fellow Canadian and fitness more » Read more
Take Your Vitamins? Supplements for Runners
Some of the conversations about doping allegations in the lead-up to the Olympics involved the use of supplements by athletes who later tested positive for banned substances, such as swimmer Yulia Efimova. She received her first doping ban because it was found she took a supplement containing DHEA. She claimed she wasn’t aware that a product she purchased at GNC contained the banned substance. I’ll discuss the validity of her claim in a more » Read more
On Injury
This last Spring, I had the best training cycle of my life. After much hemming and hawing over whether I’d go with a higher mileage plan than I’ve done before, I decided to take the plunge with Hanson’s Marathon Method. I was originally worried to take on more miles, as the last two marathons I’d started training for left me injured before I could get to the starting line and more » Read more
In Defense of the Food Diary for Runners
I should preface this article by saying it really infuriates me when people assume running is only a means to get a number on the scale or a size on a pair of jeans. It’s an understatement to say that running is so much more than that. Unfortunately, though, it often seems that women’s running magazines and websites, in both their articles and advertising, seem to assume looking hot is our more » Read more
Running and Mono: My Story
Three months ago, there I lay: the fluorescent lights burning my eyes and the sound of tissue crumpling beneath me. I couldn’t help it. I was so tired that I fell asleep on the table in the urgent care examination room while I waited for the doctor. I’m not one to make much of being sick, but at 41, I’m also reticent to take good health for granted. I’ll admit more » Read more
Who Should Women Runners Fear? It’s Not Who You Think
As I ran this morning on the treadmill, I watched Fox News cover the story of the female runners who had been recently murdered while out on a run. I watched the story transition from one about potential connections between the murders to one where a trained individual showed two women how to protect themselves from a stranger attack while on a run. He mimicked running behind each runner and using more » Read more
Saved by the Marathon
My watch beeped. Glancing down, I realized I had passed mile 23, that this was the farthest I’d ever run. Tears streamed down my face as I realized, “Oh my God. I’m doing this. It’s happening. I’m actually doing this thing!” My path to this place, my first marathon, had been a rocky one. Two weeks earlier I had been sitting in the office a rehab facility, listening to a counselor say I more » Read more
Graston for Runners
After running my spring marathon, I had so many plans for epic summer running. I couldn’t wait to change up my routine, check out some trails and remember the feeling of a hot, sweaty run. But while the rest of my body recovered from my marathon, my right calf was not healing as quickly. I tried to deny the familiar pain and just pretend it was a sore muscle, but deep more » Read more
Migraines, Part Deux: Dealing With Migraine Hangovers
Last time we chatted about migraines and running, I was an occasional migraine-sufferer, once every couple of months. Then last month, suddenly I was having what felt like constant migraines, one or two per week, always triggered by running. That’s a lot of time to spend wishing you could remove your head with various household implements. I came to realize that a migraine is so much more than just the more » Read more
Running with Rheumatoid Arthritis
I wish I had a cool diagnosis story for my autoimmune disease like Pesto does. But I was so young when I first found out that I had juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, I don’t remember not having it. I was first diagnosed when I was two, and although I’ve had long remissions, it’s always been a part of my life. The good news about RA is that its diagnosis is not necessarily a death more » Read more