There have been countless studies showing how gratitude is linked to overall happiness, so this one’s a no-brainer.
Write down three things you are grateful for (people, places, experiences, qualities about yourself, things...). Describe them in detail and why you are grateful for them. Maybe even consider sharing your gratitude with the people who would appreciate that.
EVERY person has tight calves! Modern day footwear and frequent sitting tighten up these dense muscles, and tight calves can lead to many issues - most notably, plantar fasciitis.
So grab a pair of Yoga Tune Up balls (regular or plus size), tennis balls, or a similar product and release those calves.
Whether you’ve had foot issues or not, every runner can benefit from strengthening their feet. It just takes 5 minutes 1-3 times per week, and you can do these exercises while on the phone, answering emails, or watching TV.
We hope you’ll enjoy our curated list of the latest in news and education for runners:
Relax Your Routines
The Truth about Routines, or why you don't have to get up at 4 A.M. to perform a two-hour ritual of self-care.
Coaching in the “Mary Cain” Era: Combating Eating Disorders, Body Issues, and Supporting Young Female Athletes
The Women’s Running Coaches Collective did a Q&A with Marie Davis Markham, who was an elite runner at the high school, college, and pro level, and now coaches at Portland’s Lincoln High School. Most notably, she discusses some details of the “girl talks” she holds with her female athletes, which could become a model for programs nationwide.
Melody Fairchild and Elizabeth Carey wrote an article on how to respond to food and body issues.
Runners Making History
Collegiate runner Rosalie Fish, who runs for missing and murdered Indigenous women, did an excellent TEDx Talk.
An interview with Megan Youngren, who will be the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the US Olympic Trials Marathon. She’s been training all season in sub-zero temperatures in Alaska!
Altra has signed Alysia Montaño and Tina Muir, both of whom are currently pregnant. Elizabeth Carey wrote an article for Runner’s World about the trend toward athletic brands sponsoring women who are “inspiring beyond their results.” Muir and Montaño spoke on a recent Running for Real podcast episode, where they discussed the #DreamMaternity movement, athletic sponsorships, privilege and more.
Bev Docherty ran in the first women’s Olympic Marathon Trials in 1984, and then went on to compete in the next FIVE trials, up until 2004. She did all this while working full time and raising four children with her husband. She is the ONLY woman to have competed in six Olympic Marathon Trials. Read all about her story here.
The Runner’s Grind
On Running is releasing a series of videos each week called Chasing Tokyo, which follows their On Zap Endurance team (pictured above), who trains at their retreat center in North Carolina, as they train for the Olympic Trials Marathon.
The NOTQ Project: What about all the runners who just miss the Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying time? Sara Ibbetson has been creating a series of profiles on women who just missed the OTQ this year. On the project, she writes, “All of these women have amazing stories to tell, and the narratives of the non-qualifiers are just as inspiring as those of the qualifiers, without the happy endings. I also saw firsthand the huge differences in emotions a 2:44:55 marathon and a 2:45:05 marathon produced—even though those are really pretty much equivalent marathon performances.” You can access all of the profiles here.
Mix up (or start!) your post run stretching routine with a few new moves.
If you find it hard to stretch, dedicate yourself to just 2 minutes of stretching post run. Something is always better than nothing.
These two moves may look easy, but when done right it will build the kind of lasting, deep core strength that runners need to get faster.
Be sure to properly engage your core first!
If you’ve ever thought about working with a nutritionist or health coach, you may be familiar with the idea of a “health log” or “food log.” As much as we’d love for people to look at us and magically tell us the answers to all our problems, that’s not how it works.
Using a health log can be very helpful if you’re trying to optimize your energy levels throughout the day, increase your athletic performance, figure out the source of your indigestion, or solve any other number of health questions.
The good news is you can try to DIY some of this work yourself! We’ve made a free health log with detailed instructions to guide you towards a thorough understanding of your own health.
Here’s the basic gist of it:
Record key health metrics for a 4-7 day period
Look through this information for patterns
Try one tweak at a time to your habits or routines
Reassess and perhaps repeat this process
It’s common for runners to lack strength in their “posterior chain” - that is, the back side of their body - particularly their hamstrings, glutes, and core.
Body weight drinking birds are the perfect warm up exercise (try 3x10), or add some weight to turn this into a strength exercise.
Here is one of my favorite moves for developing glute strength as a runner. It mimics the single leg motion of running and trains your brain to activate your glutes while running.
It’s great to have a go-to standing warm up routine for a race start line, when running in a new place, or for before a track workout. Give this a try and see which parts you want to incorporate into your warm up habits.
And if you don’t usually warm up … now’s your time to start!
