Take a seat friends: today we're going to discuss the benefits of strength training for runners, and why you need to add some weights, or incorporate body weight resistance exercises, into your training. I can hear the collective groan from the endurance crowd. Listen, I get it. The overwhelming majority of runners choose to run for one simple reason: they LOVE it. But because they Continue reading →
Trail Runner Gone Road
What a time to be alive, am I right? I say that both sarcastically and seriously. I don't know about you, but for the last 15 days my thoughts have continuously fluctuated from calm, to concern, to confusion, to fear, and then back again. I'm in disbelief about the world around us right now, but overwhelmingly grateful for the technology we have keeping us connected. In an effort to Continue reading →
7 Ridiculous but Real Ultramarathon Problems – and Exercises that can Help
Long before I discovered ultramarathons, I went to school to study exercise science and became a certified exercise physiologist. I've been working in gyms, programming workouts for personal training clients, since 2010. So workout posts are nothing new in these parts. Most of these workouts are designed to help you become a stronger athlete, less susceptible to injury, and ideally, take some Continue reading →
5 Fun Treadmill Workouts for Trail & Ultra Runners
One of the reasons many runners choose to run on trails is because they love being outdoors. They love the feel of the fresh air in their lungs, sun on their shoulders, and the peacefulness of being surrounded by nature. Yet sometimes, trail and ultra runners have no choice but to hit the treadmill if they want to get in a run. If that's you: don't despair, I've got five fun treadmill workouts Continue reading →
How to Have an Ultramarathon Experience Without Leaving Home
Is the ultramarathon you trained so hard for canceled? Stuck inside? Have no fear! Coach Heather here to tell you exactly how to have an ultramarathon experience without ever leaving home! Start Your Day! Once you wake up, put on an exorbitant amount of mismatched, but purposeful layers. Socks, compression sleeves, gaiters, compression shorts, regular shorts over the top, you get Continue reading →
10 Things You Can Still Love About Running – Without Racing
As I write this post, the running race-scene is postponed indefinitely. The world is experiencing a pandemic unlike anything we've seen in our lifetime, and understandably, events are being canceled as a means to slow down the progress of this virus. And we runners? We get it. We understand why races have to be canceled for the greater good of our society. But that doesn't mean that we Continue reading →
How to Cut a Shirt into a Tank Top – No Sewing Required
Brace yourself, it's time for arts and crafts. An unexpected side effect of racing a lot is that I have a ridiculous number of t-shirts. They are typically unisex (which really means: men's sizing and fit, you aren't fooling us race directors), bulky, and unflattering. A few years ago, on a whim, I decided to cut one into a tank top for the gym. It worked, and I loved it, and have done this Continue reading →
How to Stay Motivated to Run When Your Races are Canceled and the World is in Disarray
As a long time runner, I have experienced the disappointment of canceled races before. Living in hurricane territory typically means that scheduling a race in the fall is risky. Let us not forget my great Barkley Fall Classic disappointment of 2018 when Hurricane Florence forced us to evacuate, and I had to pull out of a bucket-list race the week of the event. It was devastating for me at the Continue reading →
Stuck at Home Upper Body Strength Training Workout
Well, here we are friends. I never imagined that I'd go from writing about how to survive the overnight, hallucination hours of a 100 mile ultramarathon to sharing an at home upper body strength training workout that can literally be done with soup cans and a gallon of water. But, desperate times call for desperate measures, and I know that many of my clients are feeling desperate for some Continue reading →
Palmetto Swamp Fox Adventure Race Recap
To be honest, even getting to the start of the Palmetto Swamp Fox Adventure race was an adventure in and of itself. First, there was my medical concerns that left me uncertain if I could even run up until just a few weeks prior to the race. Then, halfway to our campsite at Buck Hall in Awendaw, SC on Friday afternoon, our car got a flat tire. And not just a little hole, but a split on a Continue reading →
It Always Comes Back.
I push my body forward in one of the most familiar ways that I know how, yet my movements felt anything but familiar. My legs feel as though they have been coated in thick layer of wet cement; still malleable but heavily weighed down. Every step is labored and far more difficult than my body remembers. My heart races, and my lungs join in on this pathetic procession with an internal scream of Continue reading →
