Do I really take all my clothes off? Do I want a male or female? What do I say before we start? Will it hurt? What if I fart? All of those questions ran through my mind as I arrived for my first sports massage two years ago, and they might be running through yours if you’ve decided you need one as a part of your running recovery routine or more » Read more
Ask-a-Salty – Chafing
Ask-a-Salty is the feature that answers your burning questions about running. If you have a question, you can contact us by clicking on the “Ask-a-Salty” above the R and U of the banner. Or for the convenience-lovers among us, you can just click here. Today’s question comes from BG in California who asks: Is there a way to heal an under arm chafe fast … Ouch! How can I avoid this more » Read more
My Not-So-Crazy Supraventricular Tachycardia Update
The last time I dedicated an entire post to my crazy heart, I explained how I came to be diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia, or SVT. SVT is a heart condition in which the sufferer experiences sudden onset of rapid heart rate which can reach 200 beats per minute or more. While it is not life threatening, it sure can be scary. I am happy to report that after an often more » Read more
Transitioning to More Minimalist Running Shoes
Barefoot running and so-called minimalistic running has been all the rage the last few years. Less is more, right? NO! It simply isn’t that simple. If you are going to run barefoot or in minimalist shoes, you must have the right biomechanics and must have strong feet. If you do not, you are likely to find yourself injured if you jump into minimalist shoes without proper preparation. The fact is more » Read more
Hedge Your Bets: Switch up Those Running Surfaces!
I don’t know about you, but it’s been crazy cold and snowing like the dickens where I live this week. I don’t much mind it as I’m currently banished to the basement treadmill during the week with the whole new baby thing. I remember minding it quite a bit the year I trained for a spring marathon. At that time, while I was able to do tempos and fartleks on the more » Read more
Is the Key to Your Recovery Regular Sports Massage?
The dimly lit room. The faint spicy aroma. The trickle of the water element in the corner. The chanty sounds of gongs and the lowest of low-key world music. Where are we? No, not a yoga studio. Not your hippy high school boyfriend’s pimped out basement crib. Bingo! It’s time for a massage! Now you might think massages are for the stressed out or for the pampered privileged set, but more » Read more
Real Runners Don’t Take Walk Breaks. Or Do They?
When it comes to walk breaks, there are two camps. The first camp views walking during runs/races as weakness. You only walk when you are transporting yourself to the start line or after you bonk, hit the wall, or are sidelined with a debilitating injury. The second camp embraces walking as an essential, healthy part of a running training program. Walking will better prepare you to hit the starting line more » Read more
Staying Sane While Getting Healthy
If you run long enough, sooner or later you’ll be faced with every runner’s nemesis: injury. And not just an injury that requires you to stop running for a few days; I’m talking serious, debilitating, race-cancelling injury. While the immediate concern to anyone is the loss of fitness (especially if you get sidelined in the middle of training cycle), a longer layoff can also take its toll on your attitude more » Read more
Running Accidents: Asphalt 1 – Ginkgo 0.
It’s said that all stereotypes have some truth to them, and for me, at least one is true: long distance runners tend to be a bit klutzy. Running takes mental toughness and lots of endurance, but of all the sports out there, it doesn’t require the most of coordination. Simply one foot in front of the other, right? When we think of running we don’t think of traumatic injuries that more » Read more
It’s Not a Fight, But Sometimes Your Body Wins Anyway
When I first started running, I believed two things that turned out not to be true: First, that running would make me thin, and second, that there is no such thing as a bad run. Filthy, vicious lies, both of them. First: Running, in and of itself, will not make you thin, not without an accompanying reduction in calories, a sacrifice I’m apparently unwilling to make past 11 a.m. on more » Read more