You’ve spent the summer training for the fall racing season. Your goal races are rapidly approaching and you realize that excitement is commingling with anxiety and dread. Deep breaths. This is a common affliction among runners who race. Although almost every elite runner will explain that relaxation unlocks quality performance, this is easier said than done. To conquer racing anxiety, you need to discover its source and develop some coping mechanisms. Writer, physician, and running guru George Sheehan warned that race anxiety needed to “be minimized but not avoided. Or else you come to the starting line completely flat…The answer...

A runner’s racing frequency and intensity often increases during the fall marathon and cross-country season. Unfortunately for many, a longer distance and greater effort can result in painful leg cramps. In every half marathon that I have ever run, I have experienced leg cramps during the final miles of the race. I would like to avoid them, so I started doing some research into the mysteries of leg cramps and their prevention. Most of the articles that I have read point to some common myths about the causes of leg cramps but it turns out that there’s been no conclusive...

As promised, here are some tips to help you improve your cross country running.  If you have limited yourself to running on the roads, it is important to realize that there are some specific techniques that you need to be aware of when tackling cross country. If there is any place where a cut-down, quick and efficient stride makes a big difference, this is it. Over striding in a cross country race can sap your strength and endurance early, as well as making you less stable on uneven trails. Try to maximize your cadence and spend less time in the...

The days are getting shorter and that only can mean one thing for runners: it is time for cross country –– affectionately known as “cross.” Everyone catches the bug a little differently. For some, cross is their first love but others wind up on the high school cross country team after a bad experience with another sport. For example, I started running to get into shape for soccer tryouts. I made the soccer team, but as a back-up goalie, I spent an awful lot of time riding the bench. I soon realized that running laps wasn’t punishment; it was the...

A few weeks ago, I gave you the lowdown about how to get faster. I introduced you to several core running workout concepts: the word “fartlek”; the idea that hills are good for you; and the necessity of running around 400 meter ovals while timing yourself and gasping for breath. These are the types of running workouts that you can do to make yourself a more efficient (therefore faster) runner. But have you thought about strength training? If running efficiency is a path to fast, strength training is the path to efficient. (I know, I know, there is a school...