Train hard. Race well. Train hard. Race well. The runner's basic instinct. Everything we do is based on hard work. We train. We brave the elements. We endure. We run through blizzards and bronchitis. We do not wimp out. We do not rest.

After running a marathon, there are basically 3 options. You can: 1) vow never to run again; 2) take some time off and then gradually get back into training; or 3) jump into full training as quickly as possible. Option 1 is not recommended, and option 3 should be chosen with caution. Option 2 is almost always the wisest choice.

You train for six months, taper perfectly, and run the marathon of your life. It's the next morning. You wake up stiff and sore. Now what?

When RT Editor Gordon Bakoulis and I discussed “listening to your body” as the topic for this month’s column, I hesitated because it sounded a bit soft for my tastes. After further thought, I agreed and, as usual, searched the scientific literature for supporting information. Not surprisingly, there was no data on the benefits of listening to your body for athletes because those benefits are impossible to measure. Thus, the insight that follows relies on over 30 years of runn

You run the best track workout of your life. Four repeat miles, and you feel like Moses Kiptanui. You hang around in your sweat-drenched clothes, talking splits with the other runners, and savoring the atmosphere. The next morning you wake up with the Russian Army marching down your throat. You have the flu.

Like any tool, a heart rate monitor only helps you if you know how to use it. The more experience that I have working with runners who use heart monitors, the more I realize that many athletes are training too hard or too easy because they do not realize the variety of factors that can affect heart rate. Let’s look at five points to help you use your heart rate monitor effectively to improve your running performance.

Heart rate monitors are a simple and effective training aid. By running within specific heart rate training zones, you help ensure that you train at the appropriate intensities for optimal results. Without realizing it, however, you may be training harder or easier than planned unless you know your true maximal heart rate, your resting heart rate, and take into account the various factors that influence heart rate while running. In this column we will look at how to determine

The scandals that plagued the 1998 Tour de France largely surrounded the systematic abuse of the synthetic hormone EPO to improve...

Summer is here, along with the twin menaces of heat and humidity. Running in the heat can quickly lead to dehydration, which ranks up there with dobermans among runners' worst enemies. Dehydration hurts your performance, and slows your ability to recover for the next workout. Continuing to run when dehydrated can lead to heat stroke and death.

Several forms of cross training can help you maintain or improve your cardiovascular fitness while avoiding injury. Other types of cross training can enhance your running performance too, by improving your muscle balance and running technique. Long distance running develops muscular endurance in specific leg and hip muscles and is wonderful for your cardiovascular system, but tends to make some muscles strong and tight while others remain weak. “Proximal stability” training,

As I rode the exercise bike in the lab this morning, it occurred to me that there are 3 good reasons to cross train:

You have just completed six repetitions of 800 meters at your goal 5 km race pace and are feeling pleasantly exhausted. Next, should you: A) jog once around the track, get in the car and drive home; B) head straight to the nearest bar for a well-earned beer; or C) do a thorough cool-down?

In last month’s column, we discussed the hard-easy principle, and that sometimes the best plan is to train hard two days in a row followed by two or more recovery days. Two specific situations in which back-to-back hard days can be effective are during weeks when you are racing, or when you are so busy during the Monday to Friday work week that you must get in most of your high quality training during the weekend. Or, you may have a race on Saturday, but still need to get in

Age is less kind to some of us than others. High school reunions often dramatically illustrate this point. Among runners, declines in performance plague some runners in their early thirties, while others (notably Carlos Lopes who won the 1984 Olympic Marathon at age 37, and then ran 2:07:12 at age 38) remain at their best much longer.

After months of toil, you’ve accomplished your marathon goal, and are blissfully content. After a few days, however, the initial euphoria wears off, and post-partum depression sinks in. You ask yourself the terrible question, “what now?” Last month, we looked at ways to improve your recovery after running a marathon. This month, we look at the next stage, how to re-motivate yourself and safely resume training after the marathon. Specifically, which types of workouts to do, wh