1. Pace The best way to run your fastest possible race is by starting out at the pace you can maintain the entire race. So run the first mile at the pace you expect to average for the whole marathon. You can’t put running time in the bank. You will end up losing more …
When I wrote The Inner Runner, one of the things I wanted to address is how running changes us on the inside. Exercise doesn’t just affect the heart and muscles; it also affects the brain. It’s an interesting field of science called neuroplasticity—the ability of the brain to change. Running causes morphological and neurochemical adaptations …
Muscles are the most accessible way we have to see what our workouts do to our bodies. However, despite how many compliments you get from your Instagram pictures taken following your workouts, what matters is not what your muscles look like, but what they can do. In the early days, it was the strength …
Beginning in the seventh grade, I became fascinated with time, specifically how fast it moves and how each year seems to go faster than the previous year. Time spent running is also interesting—the second half of runs always seem to go faster than the first half, and some runs seem to fly by while others …
People often say, “Everything happens for a reason,” or “When one door closes another opens,” or “It wasn’t meant to be,” or some other version of the same idea. I wonder if that‘s all really true, or if humans say things like that as a coping mechanism to make ourselves feel better when bad things …
On my 10-mile run today, I thought about distractions. Life is full of distractions that divert our attention away from what we’re doing and what we want to accomplish. Most situations that come up during the day are distractions. Even as I sit writing this paragraph in a coffee shop after my run, there …
1. Stretching is not going to prevent you from getting injured. Have you ever run with a dog or watched a horse race? If you have, you probably noticed something interesting—none of these animals stretch before or after they run. Stretching before a workout seems to be something that only humans do. Whether stretching …
You take approximately 1,000 steps with each foot with every mile you run, so you want every one of those steps to be as comfortable as possible. With all the different types of running shoes on the market and all their bells and whistles, how do you know what you need? The choice is actually …
Today I ran a hill circuit I created in Balboa Park in San Diego — a variety of bounding and sprinting drills to the top, turn left and jog to recover across the flat portion at the top, sprint down, turn left and sprint and across the flat portion at the bottom, and start the …
Even though they’re often hard to figure out, I love women. And I love their physiology. People think it’s a little weird that a guy is so interested in estrogen. It’s not really all that weird. Nearly all scientists that study women’s physiology and many gynecologists are male. So I guess I’m not alone in …