by Roman Urbina, Race Director of La Ruta Ultra Run. The Tarahumara have this wonderful expression that I learned to appreciate after recently spending several days with them, the first time in Costa Rica last November and the second occasion recently in Mexico. Both times centered on 100-kilometer running events, each one incredibly difficult and…
Category: Endurance
Your First Ultra
Daddy Ultra Runs is a running specialty store that’s located in Cocoa Village, Florida, heart of the Space Coast. Daddy Ultra Runs is also a member of the Natural Running Center store partner network. DUR’s owner Hernan Garcia is passionate about minimalism when it comes to footwear; and he’s definitely a maximalist when it comes…
Comrades “Marathon”: What Goes Up…Goes Up
Why would I travel half way around the world to run The Comrades “Marathon” in South Africa? Not sure. Anyone who has ever run this race, which is the oldest and largest ultra run in the world, talks about it with a reverence and describe the amazing emotional and cultural experience. This run has brought…
“On the Run” –Amazing Short Film from New Zealand
Every now and then, you come across an old movie or documentary that stops you right in your tracks. “On the Run,” a 1979 documentary about New Zealand’s legendary running coach Arthur Lydiard and his training methods is one such treat. In this 19-minute short film, you are witness to some amazing footage as Lydiard’s…
Why Isn’t Cross-Country Running in the Olympics?
by Bill Katovsky. The 3,000-meter steeplechase is always a fun event to watch at the Olympics. Runners must leap over 28 hurdles and 7 water jumps. The Kenyans usually dominate. The race’s origin dates back to 19th century England. Runners hoofed it from one town’s church steeple to the next. The steeples were used as…
Aerobic Training — What About Strength Workouts? (Part 3)
In the two previous parts of Principles of Aerobic Training, Dr. Steve Gangemi, aka Sock Doc, reviewed the critical components of building a healthy aerobic base that can lead to enhanced performance for all runners. In this part, Sock Doc turns his attention to strength training.– NRC We all can agree (hopefully) that strength is…
All Runners: No Immunity from Heart Disease
The circumstances surrounding Micah True’s untimely death while he was out on a routine 12-mile trail run in the Gila wilderness area of New Mexico have caused many runners to look inward…to their own hearts. According to the Associated Press, “While medical examiners couldn’t point to the cause of the heart disease, they said True’s left…
Aerobic Activity for Runners — Gradually Build Your Endurance Base and Understanding High-Intensity Interval Training (Part 2)
Gradually Build Your Endurance Base. This the second installment on Aerobic Conditioning for Runners, by Dr. Steve Gangemi (aka Sock Doc). Go here to read Part 1. Building your aerobic system is vital whether you’re a marathon runner, or an average guy or gal looking to be as healthy as possible. But you have…
Health Risks of Drinking Too Much Water Before or During a Race: Beware of Intoxication and Hyponatremia
by Dr. Phil Maffetone. Drinking fluids during training and racing will soon be reaching a boiling point of controversy and not for reasons most runners might suspect. Dehydration, and how to keep it under control, is nothing new. What’s been bubbling up in the media for the past few years is hyperhydration—drinking too much and…
Aerobic Activity is the Foundation to Your Health and Fitness (Part 1)
Aerobic is one of those fitness terms that doesn’t get much respect these days. An analogy is the late Rodney Dangerfield in a sweaty T-shirt on the treadmill at the gym. (No, that gross-out movie was never made, but a working title might have been called “Humping Iron.”) The fitness term du jour is “cardio,”…
Running a Marathon, 100 Meters at a Time
Kevin Lyons, an Austin-based runner, journalist, and blogger at 5Ksandcabernets.com, posted an interesting take on how speed is indeed relative when compared to distance covered. Kenya’s Patrick Makau set the world record time for a marathon by running the Berlin Marathon in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 38 seconds (2:03:38). Makau’s minute-per-mile pace was a blistering…
Avoid Overtraining! — Keeping Your Body Healthy Means Active Rest and Recovery
Laura Bergmann is living example of a home-schooled athlete and teacher. I met Laura two years ago when we were both spreading the word on fitness in our small town of Shepherdstown, West Virginia. She was not excited about running since it often led to discomfort. Yet, in time she changed her gait; it eventually…
Semper Fly: How to Go Fast in the Marine Corps Marathon 2011
As a Lt Col in the U.S. Air Force, I have been an Air Force Marathon Team Member since 1988. This will be my 20th Marine Corps Marathon with two Masters wins and two top-five overall finishes. This Sunday, I will be competing again in the Marine Corps 26.2-mile race which is held in D.C. While I…
The 1:59 Marathon, Part 2: Developing Aerobic Speed
Here’s Part Two of the “1:59 Marathon” series by Dr. Phil Maffetone. Good timing! Several days ago, Patrick Makau of Kenya set a new world record at the Berlin marathon, going 2 hours 3 minutes 38 seconds and eclipsing the previous record holder, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, who had run 2:03:59 in Berlin in 2008. (Gebrselassie dropped out…
Winning the Air Force Marathon: Natural Running Center’s Dr. Mark Cucuzzella, 44, Placed First in 2:38
When I got the email late Saturday morning from Mark with just two words in the subject line, “I won!”, my digital jaw dropped in astonishment. Just a few weeks shy of his 45th birthday, Mark topped a field of 2,500 runners at the 2011 Air Force Marathon, which started and finished at the Wright-Patterson…
First Lydiard Coaching Seminar Attracted Running Legends
by Dr. Mark Cucuzzella. I had the privilege of attending and speaking at the first Lydiard Invitational Coaching Seminar in Boulder, Colorado this past weekend. It was humbling to be in the room with running legends of the past and present, hear their stories, and listen as they shared lessons learned and “secrets” they figured…
Going 1:59: What It Takes to Become Marathon’s Roger Bannister — New Series by Dr. Philip Maffetone
Over the next several weeks on the Natural Running Center website, Dr. Phil Maffetone will thoroughly examine all facets — physical as well as mental –of what it will take to go 1:59 in the 26.2-mile marathon. He believes it’s “no longer a question of if, who, or when, but how.” Part One questions the…
Sock Doc Attends Week-long MovNat Course and Discovers His Inner Natural Athlete
by Dr. Steve Gangemi aka Sock Doc. I recently spent a week living beside Erwan Le Corre, Vic Verdier, Clifton Harski and eleven other MovNat attendees, training quite differently than I have for, well, anything. For the past 20 years I’ve been immersed in the triathlon and endurance arena, having competed in 20 Ironman races,…
Effective Fat Burning for Energy Will Lower Your Times and Shed Weight
by Mark Cucuzzella, M.D. There is a scene from “The Matrix” where Morpheus shows Neo two pills. “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red…