Health and Running » Training

What is it about 26.2?

Natalie — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:50:34 +0000

My husband and I were arguing one night about the reality of my being able to train for a 26.2 once we had our baby. The issue is not so much whether I am capable of training to run the marathon distance but whether or not we can figure out the family balance. I would [...]

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What is it about 26.2?

Hot Weather Running

Natalie — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:50:47 +0000

With the recent and persistent heat waves on the eastern half of North America it seems only natural to not only commiserate about the heat with other runners but also to write about it. I’ve written about running in heat and humidity before and as I thought about this post I went back to read [...]

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Hot Weather Running

Has Anyone Seen My Speed?

Natalie — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 17:00:51 +0000

I swear I was fast. At least, for me, in my age group, for my distances. I spent a good chunk of time and effort working on speed and got to a very comfortable place this year where my ‘slow, easy’ run was at 8:40, my 5k pace was near 7 minutes and my other [...]

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Has Anyone Seen My Speed?

Anticipate the Hills

Natalie — Sun, 15 May 2011 23:19:12 +0000

“Anticipate the hill.” Coach Ashley Halsey was behind me in a group ride with the Annapolis Triathlon Club and even though the road was still flat he was reminding me and the other rides to anticipate the hill. And as we approached the incline I heard “Shift…shift…shift.” “Keep up your cadence!” I was pedaling for [...]

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Anticipate the Hills

Runner’s Feet: The Bad & The Ugly (There is No Good)

Natalie — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 00:47:34 +0000

I’ve seen a few posts here and there about the “taboo” topics in running and while I don’t feel compelled to touch on all of them I am finally ready to discuss the topic of runner’s feet. And it’s not so much that I want to ‘discuss’ as it is I want to lament, whine [...]

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Runner’s Feet: The Bad & The Ugly (There is No Good)

Race Recap: 5k & Marathon Weekend–LPRM

Natalie — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 13:48:06 +0000

When I found the Lower Potomac River Marathon online the first thing I did was email the race director to make sure there was still room in the field. She wrote me back almost immediately confirming they still had space and I was quickly hitting ‘submit’ on Active.com. This event was featured in the March [...]

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Race Recap: 5k & Marathon Weekend–LPRM

Race Recap: 5k & Marathon Weekend–St. Patrick’s 5k

Natalie — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 12:27:43 +0000

A sure sign that spring is here is when weekends start filling up with races. In my case, it just so happened that I had back-to-back races in one weekend. I have had weekends where each weekend I’m racing but never before I had done one event on Saturday immediately followed by an event on [...]

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Race Recap: 5k & Marathon Weekend–St. Patrick’s 5k

The Day Before the Long Run

Natalie — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 02:11:33 +0000

When it comes to following a training plan, regardless of distance, it is likely that you will want to tweak it to best fit your personal goals and life schedule. For any given training plan I’ve ever followed I almost always make a couple adjustments here or there to fit my schedule and comfort level. [...]

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The Day Before the Long Run

The Run Faster Formula

Natalie — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 02:00:50 +0000

I was once talking with a running friend, who is an ultra marathoner and who comfortably clocks a sub-7-minute per mile pace on a regular basis, about running faster. I had shared my secret deep down wish to one day qualify for Boston and was talking about wanting to get faster over longer distances. He [...]

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The Run Faster Formula

Finding the Right Fuel

Natalie — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 02:31:44 +0000

When I first started getting into distance running I struggled to get through runs more than eight or 10 miles and after 13 mile runs I was tired and essentially useless for the rest of the day. After lamenting over this to a running mentor, I got my first insight into proper fuel and wrote [...]

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Finding the Right Fuel