Running Explained

Back-to-school week, exams, work stress. You name it, it’s always right around the corner ready to impact our training block.

Suddenly the hour you always ran in belongs to something else, the mornings start earlier, and the evenings fill up with other activities. Most runners respond by trying to force the old schedule to work, failing for two weeks, and then deciding they have fallen off.

You have not fallen off. Your calendar changed, so your plan should too.

Build the week from the time you actually have. Shorten runs instead of skipping them. Attach the run to something already in your day. And set a floor you can hit on your worst week rather than a target you hit on your best one.

Save this for the week it all falls apart.

Want plan that flexes with a real life instead of fighting it? A Running Explained coach helps you navigate everything life throws at you! This is where we shine, so hit the link in our bio and schedule a discovery call today to work with us!

You’re crushing your training block and then you glance at tomorrow’s workout and your brain forgets you’ve ever run a step in your life.

That’s the spiral and it shows up right before every big session, and it has nothing to do with your fitness.

Swipe through for five ways to shut it down before it costs you a good workout.

Zoom out on the evidence you’ve already banked
Remember what “hard” is actually for
Break the session into pieces(chunks) instead of staring at the whole thing
Stack the deck the day before so you show up ready

Save this for the next time the spiral shows up (it will). And if you want a coach building these workouts around you instead of guessing, link in bio.

Stairmaster cross training for runners is the one machine most people skip.

Cross training doesn’t have to mean swimming or cycling. The Stairmaster hits the exact muscles that power your stride (quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves) while building the aerobic base that shows up on race day. Swipe through for the research behind it and three workouts you can try this week.

Save this for your next cross training day!

Hi I’m Nick your friendly neighborhood Running Coach here to give you context and science based posts to support your running. My goal always is to try and take complex things and make them easier to understand apply to your running and support you along the way with anything you might need. Head to the link in bio and you can find your way to our blog, to the Running Explained Podcast, to our science based training plans or even ways to work with me in a 1:1 capacity as your coach or to support you via a Coaching Call.

The Power of the group is undefeated in life and especially in sport. Science always backs it up that you can run further, have lowered perceived exertion and greater enjoyment if you surround yourself with the right people.

For me personally the running community is why I am still doing this sport 30 years later. The friends I’ve made on the roads have become my closest friends and now their kids have been become friends with my kids.

The things I have accomplished in my running career in many ways I owe so much to the group of friends around me who helped push me further and helped me stay more accountable. It’s no surprised during the early years of Covid why I ended up running less miles when I lost my group.

This isn’t about run clubs, this is just about finding your people and making your runs more enjoyable and better. The group lifts everyone up and you are all stronger together.

Tag your group runners in the comments and if you haven’t tried group runs yet start in your community and look for some running friends. What starts as just sharing some miles together can turn into so much more. It’s been the sole reason I met the people I did when I moved from NJ to MD in 2010.

Somewhere along the way, runners started treating chafing and lost toenails like badges of honor.

They are not, they are in fact friction problems with friction solutions, and almost every one of them is preventable in about thirty seconds before you head out the door.

This is the time of year when this topic becomes something we discuss a lot as runners dealing with the heat and humidity and sweat.

Solutions can be, socks that actually fit, shoes with room for your feet to swell, and keeping your toenails short.

You do not have to earn comfort by suffering first. Save this one, and tag the runner who has been quietly putting up with it all summer. 💛

Want the rest of the beginner stuff nobody explains? Give us a follower or head to our bio and sign up for our weekly newsletter, check out the Running Explained podcast or head over to our site to snag a training plan or read our latest blogs. So much happening here at Running Explained all to help you learn and grow as a runner.

Cramps are not the result of not drinking enough. 🧂

Most runners reach straight for electrolytes when something seizes up mid-run, and then feel confused when it happens again anyway. The bigger driver is usually neuromuscular fatigue, which is a technical way of saying you asked your legs to do more than they had been trained to do that day.

Side stitches are their own separate thing, mostly breathing and diaphragm mechanics. And if you only ever train on a treadmill or soft grass, your legs can get caught off guard when race day is all pavement.

None of this means you did something wrong. It means the fix is training, not just salt. Save this for your next long run.

Want a support for your next goal race. Most of our coaches still have openings for 1:1 coaching and you can always Call-A-Coach and get personalized answers to your training questions specific to you. Schedule either of those on our website or from the link in bio.

Turning 40 didn’t mean I needed to train less, it just meant I needed to be smarter with my training.

Here are 5 things that actually change in your running as a masters athlete, and exactly how to build your next block around them:

• Recovery slows, but mostly from hard and downhill running, not easy miles. Space your hard days about 72 hours apart.
• Fast-twitch fibers fade first, so lift heavy and add plyometrics twice a week.
• Tendons repair slower, so take a down week every 3rd week and go easy on downhill volume.
• Easy days creep too hard. Keep them truly easy so your hard days can be hard.
• Repair needs fuel, so spread quality protein across the day.

The part we don’t always talk about is how your aerobic ceiling stays trainable for decades. The decline is real, but it’s slower than you think, and most of it tracks to your training, not your age.

Save this for your next block, and send it to a running friend over 40.

Most runners follow a plan without knowing what a single run in it is actually FOR.

This is not a knock, nobody handed you the manual. So here is my version of the manual.

The 5 types of runs in almost every training plan, and the specific job each one does.

Whether it is an Easy run, Long run, Tempo run, a Speed-workout or even a Recovery run!

Swipe through to see what each one trains, the effort it should feel like, and where runners get it wrong (looking at you, runners who push easy days!).

Save it, send it to your training partner, and stop guessing at your own workouts.

Want a plan with all of this built in for the 5K through marathon? It’s all Linked in the bio, built by science ready to support your goals!

Your definitive post for all the downhill training tips you need for your next downhill race. Save & share it with a friend to help both of you prepare to crush your next downhill race.

There is always plenty of discussions around uphill races and how you should train and prepare for those races. Downhill races don’t get nearly as much love when they do require some specifics to help prepare you, so this post is your guide to that information.

This post aims to talk about what to expect from downhill running, your secret weapon for training, and how to train smarter for downhill races even if you don’t have access to that terrain where you live.

Additionally this post will get into what not to do and 6 steps to building your downhill strength by patience not powering through soreness.

As always I hope this post just helps you feel a little bit more knowledgeable about downhill running and less anxious going into your race.

If you are ever looking for more support I have Coaching consult calls where I can go over any questions you have, help you with your peak weeks or taper and even do a post mortem after your race with you. You name it, we can go over it in the coaching consults. Head to the link in bio and schedule a call today.