Monday, April 16, 2018. Mile 12 of the 2018 Boston Marathon. All eyes and TV cameras are on 2017 New York City Marathon winner Shalane Flanagan as she says something to Desiree Linden, breaks off the pack and runs into a porta-potty. Linden slows down and waits for her. Best running story already, right? But wait. It gets better!  Over the next miles, the two American women work together to catch up to the pack, pummeled by sheets of rain, gusts of wind, and - is that sleet? Lord. What more will Mother Nature hurl at those folks today? Mother Nature cannot stop Linden, however ..read more

All photos and text by Elizabeth Coxon (now Omodt). Thank you for sharing your experience, Liz!  by Elizabeth Coxon This whole thing started in a Campbell coffee shop in late December 2016. My Fiancé gave me A Running Coach for Christmas, and on that day I sat across from Coach Aleks and talked about how I wanted a successful Quicksilver 100K finish as my first Western States Qualifier. In my heart I am an Ultrarunner. However... I was also registered for the Santa Rosa Marathon, and I asked if it was possible for a Western States and a Boston Qualifier to live in the same year, in ..read more

Abbott World Marathon Majors video by Virgin Money London Marathon.  Every runner knows the Boston Marathon is one of the most prestigious, hardest to get into races in the world. You don't just register for Boston. You have to qualify by running a marathon under a certain time threshold, as determined by your age on race day. (Click here to see the Boston Marathon qualifying times for 2019.) Mind you, registering for most popular big-city marathons, especially the other five Abbott World Marathon Majors -- the Berlin, Chicago, London, New York City and Tokyo marathons -- isn't much easie ..read more

Fitter After Fifty How to run happy, healthy and injury free in your 40s, 50s, and beyond. Photo credit: Stròlic Furlàn - Davide Gabino. Published with no edits or alterations. One of the many wonderful things about running is you can pick it up at any age. There is no learning curve. Just buy a good pair of running shoes, lace up, and step out the door. And your knees? Myth. We now know that runners are at no higher risk of knee osteoarthritis than non-runners. Quite the opposite, running strengthens the muscles, so your joints have to do less work. Runners' knees are, in fact, hea ..read more

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Some people don’t really have or make plans when it comes to running and racing. They just register for whatever events tickle their fancy or show up on their Facebook feed. Others race everything. Somewhere in between these two extremes are the smart folks who plan their season in advance. A solid plan for the year ahead can do wonders for your motivation and improvement as an athlete. Setting a goal is one thing, but making a plan for achieving it is what will, in the end, enable you to make it happen. Let’s talk about plann ..read more

  by Marie-Laurence Stopford Staten Island, Nov 5, 2017, 10:45am.  Wave 4 runners are finally called to the start corrals. This is the last wave and I have been sitting in the green start village for over an hour now. For the first time since I started running four years ago, I had trained consistently, I had practiced nutrition, I was ready. One last call to my friend back in our hotel to check on the kids, and I made my way to the start line. What a difference a year makes! When I spoke to coach Aleks a year ago about training with her, I had just finished the Marine Corps Maratho ..read more

As a running coach, people often want to hire me to train for a specific race. "I signed up for XYZ marathon in eight months. When do I need to start training with you?" "NOW! Let's start now!" is what I want to say.  And that's not because I want your money, don't get me wrong. I want to start working with you six or eight, or even twelve months before your big race because I want to make you a better runner!  If we start working together only four months before your marathon, I'll have to figure out a way to rev up your engine from 0 to 60 over the course of several ..read more

First, breathe. For runners, injuries are a matter of when and not an if. That's simply the reality of a sport that involves repetitive pounding on unforgiving surfaces like asphalt and concrete, or on trails with all sorts of things to trip over (the tiniest of rocks being the worst, of course).  If you are lucky and smart with your training, you will avoid injuries for as long as possible -- and when you do get injured, you will rehab and recover quickly. In fact, I'd go as far as suggesting that an injury could be a blessing in disguise. It could force you to take a brea ..read more

Chances are you know someone who runs their daily runs too fast, or doesn’t take adequate rest. They are racing their training – and they’re not even getting medals in return. Instead, after getting better and faster for a period of time, the reward is feeling increasingly sluggish and tired. Running might become a chore, rather than a joy; mile splits start getting slower and the race PRs never materialize. It might sound dramatic, but overtraining syndrome is real — it was eloquently covered in this Outside Magazine article, which should become required reading for all endurance athletes. Th ..read more

Should I hire a running coach? If you've ever as much as considered entering a long-distance race or setting an ambitious time goal, chances are you've asked yourself this question. And perhaps other questions, too. What will a running coach do for me? How much would it cost? Would it all be worth it? Well, let me give you the short answer to all of these. Like anything else in life that involves entering a new relationship, it's complicated. Or, as we coaches like to say, it depends. "Hey coach, do you think I can run a 3:30 marathon in three months?" -- "Well, it depends..."  I kn ..read more