“But I can’t Run Fast”

Ah yes, a common refrain often heard along with the corollary – “But I can’t run long distances.”
Let’s be clear from the outset:
1. You are what you train.
2. Everyone can improve on endurance and/or speed.
Though everyone has genetic make-ups that allow us to be better at different aspects of sports – quickness, speed, strength, endurance, [...]

Knee Pain and Running Marathons

This is an inquiry from one runner about a relative (and runner). She wants to run a marathon but each time, her knee acts up and she says it is so painful that she can’t run. She seems to be able to get to around 8-10 miles and her knees stops her in her [...]

Running is 90% mental right?

I had this wonderful inquiry from one of my high school runners. Can you tell me why running is 90% mental?
Ok,
Here are answers (yes plural) to your question.
Let’s use a gallon of water as symbolic of your capabilities. It equals 100% of what you are capable of. It represents that if EVERYTHING were perfect [...]

Physiology: Current Trends and Tidbits

Note: This is another post which incorporates technical data & information is from the USATF Podium Education Program session presented by Robert Vaughan PHD UNT. He was Olympian Francie Larrieu Smith’s coach.
All references he used are on Medline. Other points here are made by Dr. Robert Gary also from the Podium Project presentations.
Do-do rule
It’s not [...]

Anxiety and Running Solutions: Part III

Anxiety attacks associated with running seems to be more common (or maybe just interesting?) than even I had thought or encountered judging by the hits on this series of posts. So, I thought I’d add another solution for folks.
In the second post I outlined how to overcome anxiety with counting exercises.
This time I’ll share approaches [...]

Never Say Never…

The paper had a very powerful quote from none other than Michael Jordan that delineates a champion mindset from all others.
“One day you might look up and see me playing a game at 50. Don’t laugh. Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.”

Indeed so many runners and people in general [...]

Integrating the Mental Game of Running

One of the most common requests I get is “how do i integrate the mental part of running” in everyday training. In fact in a recent survey that was #2 most common request. I’ll run a series of articles on just how to do that over the coming weeks. But, I want to start with [...]

Hypnosis and Running: Part III – What a session involves

The process for hypnosis is simple and there is nothing magic about it. Before you begin, the hypnotherapist should do a thorough interview and you both should be comfortable with each other before you proceed. If you are not comfortable with your hypnotherapist you will have a far greater difficulty (or possibly fail at) getting [...]

Do you need mental game work?

How do you know when you need to improve your mental game? Here are the top eight signals from Dr. Patrick Cohn (Ph.D. in Sports Psychology and Master Mental Games Coach) that your mind is blocking you from peak performance in sports:
(1) You perform much better in practice than you do in competition. You might [...]

Hypnosis and Running: Part II

This is my second post on the use of hypnosis as a performance enhancing aid to your running (athletic) performance.
I’ll start this with a couple terms that have all kinds of connotations to people – most often negative. Hypnotherapists and writings on hypnotherapy use terms like “hypnotic state” or “trance”. No worries. It just means [...]