A stress fracture is a challenging injury. You cannot run and simply daily activities become immensely more difficult. Stress fractures often require six to eight weeks of limited activity to heal. You may end up in a boot or on crutches. Needless to say, a stress fracture can be as mentally difficult for a runner as it is physically. Learning to mentally cope with a stress fracture will make a difference in your recovery. That's not to say that injury recovery will go by quickly or ...
Mile Markers: Run-Walking at 39 Weeks
It feels really weird to talk about 39 weeks, because that sounds way more pregnant than I feel. This was my last full week of running during pregnancy. I’m happy I made it this far! Generally, I felt better on the days I run. My energy is higher and I'm more productive. But, with the raging relaxin in my system, I could only handle running non-consecutive days. Monday: 3 mile run The first 2 miles felt good, but then my feet starting noticeably aching in the third mile. I'm fairly certain ...
Popcorn Panic 5 Mile Race Recap (2019)
“You’re pregnant!” a spectator shouted around mile 3. “You go! Looking strong!” I ran the Popcorn Panic 5 Miler at 38.5 weeks pregnant. When I think about it objectively, I almost can’t wrap my mind around the fact that I did that. I felt great on race day - certainly not almost 9 months pregnant! Initially, I did not even plan to run this far into pregnancy. I anticipated feeling heavy and uncomfortable, so I had the contingency plan of switching to cross-training at about 35-36 ...
How to Run Your Fastest 10K
The 10K deserves more appreciation. It’s not just a tune-up race or a stepping stone into the half marathon and then marathon. It’s a challenging test of both speed and endurance. It's long enough and requires enough grit to appeal to long-distance lovers, while fast enough to appeal to speedsters. Running your fastest 10K requires both of speed and endurance. If you want to run your fastest 10K, you can’t just rely on mileage alone or speed alone. Instead, as with any distance, you want to ...
Mile Markers: Racing at 38 Weeks
I ran a race this week! I certainly didn't race it, but running 5 miles at a faster pace than recent runs felt like a huge accomplishment at 38 weeks pregnant. I waited until the last minute to sign up, but I'm really happy I did this race - especially since it's time to taper down running soon! Since I wanted to feel fresh for the race, I took it easy this week. I took a couple of days off of running to let some tightness in my calf subside early in the week. I did walk a lot this week ...
Athlete Accomplishments: August 2019
Several of the runners I coach raced in August. For some, these races were tune-up races as part of their training cycles for big goals. For others, they ran their goal races in hot conditions. For all runners, it was a strong month of racing! Mark ran a PR of 5:35 in a mile race! Chelsey placed 8th in a cross-country 2-miler! Aimee ran the Cascade Lakes Relay! Sam raced two strong 5Ks with some speedy splits! Marlene raced a 10K! Jessica ran her fastest half ...