Category: Training and Racing
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Racing Wisely: Consider Others
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Training and racing don’t happen in isolation. In this excerpt from Racing Wisely, I explain how your race choice can affect your loved ones. Consider them as you choose a race. The who of your personal best extends beyond you personally. Even if you live, train, and move through the course alone, you don’t race…
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Racing Wisely: Choosing an Event
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This excerpt from my latest book, Racing Wisely, prompts you to consider what you are going for when you commit to an event. Find a downloadable race planning questionnaire at racingwisely.com. Your personal best race is one where you meet your goals while maintaining a positive outlook according to your intention. The fact that this…
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Sprint Triathlon Plan with Coupon
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If you have a race coming up in the summer, do you have a plan to match? Systematic training—and systematic rest—will get you a lot closer to peak performance than inchoate workouts where you race the swimmers in the next lane, show off to your cycling friends, or run just how you feel. Coming up, I’ll have…
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Racing Wisely: Choosing a Fall Goal Race
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It’s the time of year to commit to a fall goal race. As you consider your options, here’s some advice from my latest book, Racing Wisely. Racing at your personal best is different from setting a personal record (PR), although the two can certainly happen simultaneously. When you race at your best, you finish satisfied that…
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Racing Wisely: Testing
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Here’s an excerpt from my latest book, Racing Wisely, on the importance of testing yourself during training. It’s not the most fun part of any training cycle, but it is critical to set yourself up for a personal best. In order to adjust your training so you can achieve your best performance on race day, you’ll need to…
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Bring Your B Game
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Don’t bring your A game. I first thought of this as a throwaway line previewing my Yoga for Athletes class on Twitter, and then as a clever way to introduce the “B game” concepts of body and breath. But on reflection, the idea of intentionally bringing your B game—doing less, going for 80 percent rather than 90 or…
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Read: Add Some Downtime to Your Training Plan
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Relax! It’ll make you faster. Better yet, it’ll make you a better person. This is the topic of The Runner’s Guide to Yoga, my recovery video series at Competitor Running, and this essay: Seasonality and cyclicality are engrained in our bodies, from the annual trip around the sun to the monthly cycle of the moon to…
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The Sweet Spot
A musing on southern summer trail running: you need to go late enough that someone else has knocked down the spiderwebs, but early enough that the deer flies are still sleeping. Late enough that the humidity is dropping, early enough that the heat hasn’t risen.
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Racing Wisely: Postrace Reflection
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Here’s an excerpt from my latest book, Racing Wisely, with ideas on using your postrace reflections for self-growth and help in choosing a new goal. Reflection As you take time off of workouts after your peak race, you’ll have some extra free time. Devote this to mental recovery and reflection. It can be tough to be out…
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Watch: Using Meditation to Perform at Your Personal Best
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You know that visualizing your upcoming event will help you perform better. But where do you start? In this YouTube series, I explain how to get comfortable—really comfortable—for meditation; how to turn your attention inward, quiet your mind, and focus on your breath; how to visualize the way your breath and body will feel as you race;…
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Racing Wisely: Postrace Recovery
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As the major spring running races wrap up, many of us have extra free time on our hands as we recover. Here’s an excerpt from my latest book, Racing Wisely, with ideas on when and how to get back into the swing after your key race. Returning to Training Whether you raced to your personal best,…
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Download: Form Cues
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I had a glorious run today, listening to the sound of my breath and my feet and the breeze in the trees. Occasionally I remembered to tune up my form. By the end of the run, I had an idea to capture that voice in my head, so I made you this present: a few form cues…