Cleared at 6 Weeks Postpartum—But Am I Ready to Run?
Mom of 3 and TRR Coach Amanda Hamilton is documenting her return to running postpartum journey here on the Team RunRun blog. This is journal entry #1 in a multi-part series.
TRR Coach Amanda Hamilton next to a running track with her newborn daughter.
Before we dive in, keep in mind that neither Amanda Hamilton nor the TRR team are medical professionals. There exists a wide range of conflicting advice concerning returning to running, so always consult your own providers. The article below is just meant to share one runner’s experience.
6 Weeks Postpartum (and Beyond)
September 4th marks 6.5 weeks since I gave birth to my third daughter. The topic of returning to running postpartum is on my mind. Typically, your provider (obstetrician or midwife) will see you at the 6-week mark to assess your physical readiness to exercise. Having recently had my 6-week appointment and passing all their checks, I am now “medically cleared” to do any movement/workouts that I feel comfortable with. But what does that really mean for me? Am I ready to run?
Not quite. This will be my third time returning to running after a baby, and I’ve learned a lot from my past two experiences. While recommendations and timelines vary widely, most pelvic floor physical therapists — whom I would consider to be the experts in this area — recommend waiting until the 12-week mark before returning to running.
Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy: A Must for New Moms
In many European countries, pelvic floor physical therapy is the gold standard in postpartum recovery and included in the typical care plan. Unfortunately, in the United States, this care is less common, and a lot of women don’t know they even exists. Once you know, however, you can search for a local provider, and try to prioritize seeing someone in person. For some, you will have to pay out-of-pocket, whereas others take insurance (and you may only have a small co-payment). Fortunately, I found out about pelvic floor physical therapy (PT) after my first baby. As a result, I’ve been seeing a wonderful physical therapist on and off since then.
Expecting and Empowered’s Instagram page with pelvic floor physical therapy resources.
Virtual Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Resources
If you are unable to get in to see someone in person, here are my favorite evidence-based, pelvic floor resources:
Expecting and Empowered (E&E): “Two sisters on a mission to empower all women to thrive both physically and mentally throughout their pregnancy and postpartum journeys.” One of the sisters/founders is a pelvic floor physical therapist, and applied her expertise to their at-home workout app. The app includes a test that assesses your readiness to return to running. I utilized this test after my first baby and found it very useful. In addition to the app (which you have to pay for, though they do offer a free 7-day trial), E&E has a lot of free resources available on their Instagram account.
Dr. Mae Hughes: Dr. Hughes is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and certified pelvic floor specialist based in Nashville, Tennessee. She is another great follow on Instagram, with a lot of helpful videos, FAQs, etc. Similar to E&E, Dr. Hughes has created her own “Run Readiness Checklist”. She will send it to you via email for free.
As both Expecting & Empowered and Dr. Mae Hughes will frequently remind their followers, clinical expertise and scientific evidence indicate best outcomes for women who wait at least 12 weeks post-baby before returning to running. This 2022 article from the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy entitled “Maximizing Recovery in the Postpartum Period: A Timeline for Rehabilitation from Pregnancy through Return to Sport” is frequently cited by PTs and worth a read in its entirety if you have a deeper interest in this subject area. The article includes helpful tables with week-by-week benchmarks.
Waiting to Run Postpartum: Coping Strategies for Impatient Runners
Coach Amanda and her family at the beach.
If you thought waiting until your 6-week check up to return to running postpartum was long enough, a 12-week wait is going to feel endless. The good news is that no one is advocating for 12 weeks of rest. Everyone is different, but I can share what has been helping me during this period.
Physically, two of the best things for me have been diaphragmatic breathing and walking. I have also prioritized recovery services like massage and sauna. Mentally, the wait to return to running can be even tougher! I have maintained excitement, optimism, and motivation by ensuring I have specific things to look forward to when I return. For me, this has meant planning my upcoming race calendar and signing up for my next few races (a 5K in January, 10K in February, and a half marathon in late April). In addition, I bought some new running apparel that I am holding on to for my return, and I’m looking forward to wearing! Lastly, I’ve been curating a “return to running” Spotify playlist over the past few weeks. (I’m accepting song suggestions if anyone would like to contribute!)
I will be continuing to document my return to running postpartum in these journal entries. Expect more from me around the 12-week mark. Thanks for following along!
Amanda Hamilton is a coach with Team RunRun based near Los Angeles, California. She knows what it’s like balancing a family, returning to running, working and running, and she’s excited to help both beginner and intermediate runners achieve their goals.
How the ActivityTracker app can help runners stay consistent and connected to their goals.
ActivityTracker app screen on an Apple Watch.
We are surrounded by distractions in our day-to-day life that can push fitness goals to the wayside: that’s where the ActivityTracker app comes in! Your personal accountability partner in your pocket, ActivityTracker helps you stay consistent and progressing towards your goals. Here’s how:
1. Real-Time Feedback
ActivityTracker uses your phone or Apple Watch to monitor your steps, distance, active minutes, and heart rate. The real-time feedback from the app can be particularly useful for those just starting out to understand their movement habits. Similarly for coaches, the app allows them to see a wide variety of their athletes’ metrics.
2. Visualizing Progress
Let’s be honest, tracking your progress over time can be motivating. Daily and weekly charts, monthly mileage goals, and habit streaks make fitness more tangible and rewarding. The ActivityTracker app is very user friendly, with a clean interface that makes tracking activities a breeze–even for those who are not very tech savvy!
3. Goal Setting and Accountability
You can set a variety of daily and weekly goals: steps, calorie targets, distance covered, and more. ActivityTracker also offers reminders to help you stay active. Personally, I think this feature is awesome–especially for those who are tied to a desk for work–prompting you to get up and move in order to stay on track with your goals.
Screenshots from the ActivityTracker app.
4. Workout Tracking
As the name “activity tracker” implies, you’re able to log your walks, runs, hikes, and bike rides with ease. The app seamlessly integrates with Apple Health and Apple Watch, as well as providing its own in-app tracking feature to collect workout data and log your fitness.
5. Injury Prevention Through ActivityTracker Trends
One of the most beneficial parts of the ActivityTracker app is the ability to see your trend data. By evaluating your workout history and trends, you can get a look at whether you might be under or overtraining. For example, you might notice a link between days you strength train and days you don’t hit your step count or distance goals. Or perhaps you see that after a rest day, your daily step count is through the roof!
Not only do you see activity patterns for the past few days and weeks, the app gives you trends over months and years! If you develop an injury, you can easily look back through your workouts and activity trends for the past weeks and months prior, allowing you to identify potential contributing factors. This may include jumps in weekly mileage or step count, additional training sessions, intensity increases, and more.
In addition, the historical trend data is also great for those who want to see their progress, providing a visual representation of where you started and how far you’ve come.
ActivityTracker App: Final Thoughts
To summarize, the ActivityTracker app isn’t about being perfect—it’s about being present. It helps you stay engaged and motivated with your goals, and build momentum one day at a time. Whether you’re a casual walker or an avid runner, using the activity tracker could be the smartest way to stay in motion and keep the motivation to continue chasing big goals!
Jake Eckberg is a coach with Team RunRun based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He helps runners of all levels train for distances from the 5K to ultra marathon distances, through the pillars of consistency, growth, mental toughness, injury prevention, and recovery.
How to save time and distance in races by understanding tangents.
Team RunRun athlete running the tangents at the Chicago Marathon.
Are you Adding Unnecessary Distance (and Time) to your Races?
Ever crossed the finish line of a marathon only to realize your watch reads 26.6 miles instead of 26.2? That extra 0.4 miles might not look like much on paper, but on race day, it can mean minutes tacked onto your time. And if you’re chasing a personal best—or even a Boston-qualifying standard—every second counts.
GPS errors aside, that extra distance often comes down to not running the most efficient line. Maybe you’ve heard the phrase “run the tangents” but didn’t know exactly what it meant: read on, you’re about to learn!
What Does it Mean to Run the Tangents?
Running the tangents simply means following the shortest possible path around a course, especially when it curves or turns. It’s all about minimizing unnecessary distance by taking the most direct line from Point A to Point B, such as the start line to the finish line of a race.
While it sounds simple, it’s something many runners overlook in the excitement of race day—and it can cost them.
Courses are measured along the shortest possible route. That means weaving wide around corners adds distance—just like running around the outside of a track lane instead of staying in lane one.
Think of a road that curves to the left. If you stay on the outside edge of the bend, you’re running farther than someone hugging the inside. Multiply that by dozens of turns over the length of a half or full marathon, and you might run an extra quarter to half of a mile. That’s free distance—and time—you’re giving away.
How to Run the Tangents
Running the tangents doesn’t mean cutting corners or breaking course rules. It means staying mindful and strategic as you move through the course from the start to finish. And for those wondering, it is a perfectly acceptable strategy that the pros harness in every race, and you should too!
Here are a few ways to improve:
In training:
Practice running efficient lines. On your long runs or routes with curves, get used to spotting and running the straightest line possible. Make it second nature.
Before the race:
Study the course map. Identify turns, loops, or sections where you might need to adjust your line.
On race day:
Look ahead. Don’t just react to a curve once you’re in it. Keep your eyes forward so you can anticipate and run the cleanest line.
Avoid drifting with the pack. Runners often spread out and take wide turns—don’t blindly follow.
Chicago Marathon course map.
Go Faster, not Further!
The good news is that running the tangents doesn’t require more fitness or effort—just a little awareness. And that bit of additional awareness can be the difference between almost hitting your goal and crushing it.
Elaina Raponi is a coach with Team RunRun based in Kingston, Ontario. Elaina loves helping athletes of all abilities and experiences achieve their goals, while finding confidence and joy in the process!
6 weeks, 1 self-experiment, 0 planned rest days—here’s what happened.
As a coach, I believe in prescribing rest days. Adaptation happens during rest. Your body needs a break and you come back stronger. I believe this. However, when Team RunRun Editor-in-Chief, Ruby Wyles, asked me to write a piece on rest days, I got a facetious smirk on my face and decided to do some self-experimentation. I’m an ultrarunner so, of course, I’m going to push the limits and reevaluate beliefs of what is possible and what is best.
What would happen if I just didn’t have any rest days? How would my body feel? Would I get stronger and faster, or would I break down? How long would it take me to adapt? I’m not training for any specific race or adventure right now, so let’s just have fun and see. I mean, I love running and moving. It sounded amazing to do it every day.
Sample training plan with rest days removed.
Disclaimer: This is an experiment of one. I do not encourage my athletes to do this. I give them rest days. At least one if not two per week. I also give them two or three rest days after peak training efforts (e.g. a 50 miler while training for a 100 miler). I’m just having fun here, seeing what happens and reporting back.
Setting Up the “No Days Off” Experiment
I’m more a “send it and see what happens” type of athlete, but for this I thought I should have some expectations set up. This is what my brainstorm sheet of paper says:
Take a rest day when you need it but make it floating (i.e. not having a set rest day or structure to when to take one).
You don’t need to run every day. Cross training works too.
Give yourself some time to adapt to the experiment.
Do this for 6 weeks and reevaluate.
How are you going to measure your success or adaptation?
Sign up for a race?
Strava segment over and over again?
Personal narrative?
TRR Coach Ryan Williams running on trails.
No Days Off: Weeks 1 & 2
I stretched myself during this time. Week 1 started with four days in a row of running, and just having a floating rest day based on how I was feeling. I felt like this really gave me a lot of control. Previously, I’ve had rest days where I am beat up and need it, but I’ve also had days where I felt like I could go back out there.
During these first two weeks, I had a particularly challenging back-to-back weekend of running but, surprisingly, on Monday I felt great! So, I got back out there again and pushed the rest day to Tuesday. That said, I did notice during this block that I was feeling really tired. I needed more sleep than usual, but mentally I was always ready to get out and run. I also didn’t notice a big change in my need to fuel. My legs were tired, but I just kept that floating rest day every four to five days. It didn’t feel sustainable right away, but it was fine for the purpose of this experiment. And we’re just getting started, right? No need to be concerned. Onwards and upwards!
No Days Off: Weeks 3 & 4
Bring on the bike; active recovery here we go! Introducing mountain biking, riding the indoor bike trainer, and road cycling has been a game changer for me. If my legs are tired, cycling helps flush out whatever fatigue is there so I can show up stronger for running the next day. Basically, on active recovery days, I’m just doing whatever I feel like that day.
Over the past ten days, I’ve mixed in trail and road running with indoor and road cycling, mountain biking, uphill treadmill hikes and runs, fatiguing hill repeats, easy aerobic days, tempo runs and more! I feel like Courtney Dauwalter out there (other than the massive talent differential between us) because I’m just doing what I feel like in the moment, whatever brings me joy. It feels really freeing and I’m moving for at least an hour every day. Now my body is craving it.
The one rest day I tried to take in this block did not start off so well. I felt super tired and irritable. I’ll admit, I could resist going out in the afternoon to reset, and afterwards my energy came flooding back. During this period, I certainly wasn’t getting as much sleep as I’d like–or is optimal–( I also have a three-year-old daughter so…) but when I hit the pillow, I am out hard. Nutrition wise, I ate a lot, but it felt appropriate for the work I put in. Overall, my legs were a bit tired, but they also just felt so strong at the same time.
No Days Off: Weeks 5 & 6
I decided to do a longer, adventure run on a local trail loop as a pseudo test: the Reservoir Run Test, and I didn’t plan a rest day leading up to it. I was coming to the end of my experiment, so I thought I’d simply throw it in the mix and see what happened. However, if I felt that I needed to rest beforehand, I’d do it, but otherwise the plan was to just cruise right into it.
TRR Coach Ryan Williams running the reservoir loop.
At this point, I was still floating rest days while mixing in cross training and other forms of active recovery. On average, I was probably going six days straight without a break. Unfortunately, I began to question whether I could trust myself with rest. Afterall, I’m an ultrarunner, I’m used to pushing into areas of discomfort. Can I be trusted with making responsible decisions about my need for rest? Or have I told my internal governor to “take a hike” so many times that it’s hesitant to even check in with me about needing a rest?
No Days Off: Reservoir Run Test
The reservoir loop is about 25 miles with 5000 feet of vert on overgrown bridle trails and fire roads. It’s hard and there are no refuel options, requiring you to carry all of your fuel from the start. Traversing these unmaintained trails is a true adventure run. In the end, I took a rest day before, but that was preceded by days of trail running prior.
I started the loop in the dark. I did not feel rested, and far from fresh. Then, around mile 20, I started to get some unfamiliar fatigue in my feet. My body just didn’t feel like it should have. While this is a hard loop, I still didn’t feel adequately prepped for the run. My volume had been there, but I sensed my legs were pretty beat up, and I started to get some pain in my right foot.
I finished, but not in a very happy way. This loop was way too hard, far harder than it should’ve been. While I got away with stacking shorter runs day after day, when I stepped up to the longer, more intense effort–one I had previously been used to–my body just wasn’t there the way I had hoped and expected it to be; I felt like I was pushing my body too much.
Takeaways and What I Learned
In the month since my experiment, I’ve just been mountain biking and running a few days a week; nothing too serious. Unfortunately, my right foot is still sensitive, so I’m prioritizing rehab and recovery in order to prepare for a big fall racing season. So, I have planned rest days now.
TRR Editor-in-Chief, Ruby Wyles, embracing a rest day on the couch!
My personality loves being free and untethered. Floating rest days were very freeing, and I felt like I had a sense of control over where things were going. But upon reflection, I just don’t think I can trust myself to make the best decisions about my rest and recovery needs.
I wasn’t coached during this experiment, and I feel like I needed someone to tell me to take a break. My ultrarunning background is just going to keep me pushing forward until I really need a rest–forced through injuries or illness. I don’t think the floating rest days (or lack thereof) caused me to show up at my best, nor set me up for longevity moving forward. Since one of my main goals for me and my athletes is longevity in the sport, I’ve learned that I need something or someone to hold me accountable for giving my body permission to rest.
After reflecting on this experiment, I’m not confident in my ability to control my own rest days. I need to have them scheduled and then strictly adhere to the plan, or I need a coach to evaluate how I’m doing and be in charge of the floating rest days for me.
If you find yourself resonating here, it might be time to get a coach. Check out Team RunRun here, they have a coach for every runner, no matter your age, ability, budget, or goals.
Final Thoughts on Rest Days
Rest days are a great topic to discuss with your coach. This article from Running Warehouse details why they are powerful tools. They most certainly aren’t a step backwards. Hold yourself accountable to taking care of your body and your mind, and realize that, like me, you might think you know best, but we all have blind spots.
Albert Einstein wisely said “we cannot solve problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Happy trails and happy rest days!
Ryan Williams is a parent, proud dog dad, athlete and coach who believes running is a metaphor for life. He specializes in forming positive bonds with runners of all ages, distances, and abilities from couch-to-5k to ultramarathon.
A deeper look at how AI-powered running apps can be more harmful than helpful.
Picture this: You’re inspired to start running — maybe a friend gets into the sport, or you cheer on strangers at a local race. Either way, something clicks and you think to yourself, “I want to do this”.
Example of an AI running app, Runna. PC: runna.com
But where do you start?
Like many newer runners, maybe you grab your phone and download an app like Runna, Strava, or Garmin Connect. These AI running apps promise optimized plans and data-driven insights. All you have to do is choose a distance and a goal and, ta da, your training plan awaits!
But there’s a catch. If you’re new to running, you might not have a clear sense of what a realistic goal looks like. That can lead you to follow a plan with too much intensity, or pacing that’s simply too fast for where you’re at — leaving you, at best, frustrated and, at worst, injured.
Beyond Injuries: What AI Running Apps Miss
This disconnect between what an app prescribes and what your body is ready for isn’t hypothetical — it’s real. And it’s something I hear often from athletes who come to me after getting injured or feeling burnt out. Many of them started with the best of intentions, excited to follow a plan and see progress. But over time, they began to notice something wasn’t quite right.
The experiences they’ve shared with me speaks volumes:
“I felt that the training was either very mild or incredibly intense. No in between.”
“I pushed myself too hard, too fast.”
“I found that some of the plans progressed too quickly for me.”
So where does that leave these runners?
Too often, it leaves them frustrated, injured, and wondering what they did wrong. In reality, these runners were just following the plan they were given. They did what the app told them to do. But the app didn’t know anything about them beyond a goal time or a goal distance. It didn’t know their background, stress levels, family commitments, or how they were feeling on any given day.
The Reason Personalized Coaching Wins
For many runners, that experience becomes the turning point — the moment they realize they don’t just need a plan, they need a plan that’s right for them. That’s when they choose to work with a coach — not for a cookie-cutter schedule, but for a personalized approach that adapts to their needs.
Working with a coach can help runners:
Set realistic, achievable goals
Adjust their training when life gets busy
Know when to push — and when to pull back
Whether it’s navigating a missed run, working through a tough workout, managing fatigue, or addressing a niggle before it turns into an injury, having a coach means having someone who sees the whole picture — not just the data, but the person behind it.
Because while metrics like pace, distance, and heart rate can tell part of the story, they don’t capture everything. They can’t pick up on doubt, fatigue, or the mental battles an athlete might be waging with themselves — factors that can impact a run just as much, if not more, than the numbers on a watch.
An athlete and coach have a 1:1 coaching conversation.
Why Runners Are Ditching the AI Apps for 1:1 Coaches
That’s where real, two-way conversations become invaluable. Having someone you can turn to — to ask questions, voice concerns, and to openly share what you’re thinking and feeling in real time becomes a powerful form of qualitative data that no algorithm can replicate.
Anyone who’s ever read the ‘Athlete Intelligence’ on their Strava run knows that the feedback from AI often falls flat or is one-dimensional. It simply cannot compare to the feedback a coach can provide, whether it’s through text, email, or by hopping on a call and actually hearing their voice.
At the end of the day, running is personal — and your training should be, too. While AI-powered running apps can offer some semblance of personalization, they can’t replace the insight, flexibility, and support that come from working with a coach who understands you as a whole person. Your life isn’t a static spreadsheet, and neither should your training plan.
Where an app sees numbers, a coach sees nuance.
Where an app pushes you to stick to the plan, a coach helps you adapt the plan.
Where an app reacts, a coach anticipates.
Next Steps for Faster, Injury-Free Running
Whether you’re a beginner taking your first steps into running, aiming for a Boston Marathon qualifying time, or dipping your toes into the ultra running world, Team RunRun has a coach for you. With over 200 coaches at every experience and price level, let us help you avoid the pitfalls of AI running apps. View our coaches here and get started today!
Elaina Raponi is a coach with Team RunRun based in Kingston, Ontario. Elaina loves helping athletes of all abilities and experiences achieve their goals, while finding confidence and joy in the process!
If you’re reading this, I’m assuming you want to actually improve your running or, as is the case with a coach or friend, help another runner improve. This is the article for you.
Let’s get this out of the way: stock running plans aren’t cutting it anymore.
Sure, they’re accessible. Sometimes free. They look neat, pre-packaged, and “official.” But if you’ve ever felt confused mid training, plateaued in performance, or suffered an injury that “shouldn’t have happened,” then you’ve experienced what many runners discover too late: one-size-fits-all training plans rarely fit anyone well.
Two runners with Team RunRun coaches who write them unique and personalized plans.
If you’re serious about improving–whether it’s chasing your first 5K, qualifying for Boston, or anything in between–it’s time to rethink your approach and consider what happens when your plan actually fits you.
The Illusion of Personalization in Stock Plans
Stock plans try to offer simplicity: pick your race, plug in your finish time goal, and boom, here’s your 12-week roadmap! The problem: you’re not a spreadsheet. You’re not a series of formulaic, quantitative data that an algorithm can detect and use to optimize your training. You’re a human being with a unique history, schedule, stress levels, strengths, weaknesses, and recovery curve.
Stock plans can’t possibly account for:
Injury history
Work, family, and life demands
Other external stressors
Variation in recovery ability and training adaptations
Your natural pacing skill
Sleep, nutrition, health
The result? You attempt to force your life into a plan, rather than fitting your plan into your life.
Short-term, this might work for you and you may see results. Long-term, however, life interferes and any number of the above factors make strictly adhering to the stock plan, at best, challenging, if not impossible. Your progress stalls, motivation drops, and the goals you set for yourself now seem totally out of reach.
Real Coaching = Real Results
When you work 1-on-1 with a running coach, the difference is immediate and powerful. You’re no longer a name on a download list. Instead, you’re a person whose training plan evolves as you do.
What personalized online coaching actually delivers:
Customized plans built for just you, not mass-produced
Ongoing adjustments based on feedback, fatigue, or surprise life events
Direct communication with someone who knows your goals
Injury prevention and recovery support
Race strategy, pacing advice, and mental coaching
Accountability, motivation, and insight from an expert who sees your blind spots
But What About the Cost?
Sure, online coaching isn’t free. But neither is lost time through ineffective training, injury costs like doctor and PT appointments, frustration, or months of guessing. Let’s frame it differently: if you spend hundreds on shoes, gear, and race entries, shouldn’t you also invest in your training to make those other expenditures worthwhile?
And here’s the kicker: 1-on-1 coaching is more accessible, and affordable, than you think. At Team RunRun, our coaching starts at $1/day, much less than a coffee–or energy gel–a day! In fact, that’s also cheaper than many paid stock plans and online programs!
Want to Actually Improve Your Running? Here’s Why Coaching Wins
This Team RunRunner used a 1-on-1 coach to actually improve their running amidst a busy life and parenting.
Let’s bring this home. You want results. You want confidence. And overall, you want to get to the start line healthy and to the finish line proud.
That doesn’t happen by luck. It happens when your plan:
Adapts to your [unique] body
Flexes around your [unique] life
Builds your [unique] strengths
Addresses your [unique] weaknesses
And none of that comes in a downloadable PDF.
Still Not Sure? Ask Yourself This…
Do I want to keep guessing, or start progressing?
Am I running the same race year after year with no improvement?
Do I need someone to help me balance running with my busy life?
Would I benefit from an expert guiding me to peak performance?
If you answered yes to even one, it’s time to leave the stock plan behind.
How to Actually Improve Your Running: Work With a Team RunRun Coach
At Team RunRun, we pride ourselves on having a coach for every runner. We’ve helped thousands of athletes:
Progress consistently
Stay healthy and injury-free
Crush new PRs
Qualify for Boston
Fall in love with running again
Our coaches listen, adapt, and coach the runner in front of them.
Ready to actually improve your running? View our coaches here and get started today!
FAQs
Here are some of the questions runners transitioning from a stock plan to individual coaching often ask me.
Q. What if I’m just a beginner? A. That’s exactly why you need a coach. You’ll avoid common pitfalls and set a foundation that lasts.
Q. What if I miss runs or get sick? A. Your coach adjusts the plan in real time: no guilt trips, just smart training.
Q. Can I still follow a race specific plan? A. Absolutely, because your coach builds your plan around your race, your individual goals, and your unique timeline.
Q. How often do I talk to my coach? A. That depends on your coach, but most runners get daily or weekly feedback and messaging support.
Q. Is online coaching worth the money? A. Short answer: yes. Runners waste more on race fees, physio appointments, and gear than they would on coaching that prevents the disappointment of missing a goal or being injured.
Brant Stachel is a coach with Team RunRun based in Kingston, Canada. He works with runners and triathletes of all skill levels, from beginners to international and professional athletes.
How to get the most out of the relationship with your online running coach.
Two happy athletes meeting their online coach from Team RunRun in person at a race.
Building an effective coaching relationship is essential for fostering an athlete’s self-worth and confidence in running and life outside of sport. Rick McGuire, author of Chapter 1 on Positive Coaching in USATF’s Track & Field Coaching Essentials1, describes a running coach as an “environmental engineer” who helps create a positive atmosphere for athletes. As such, the coach-athlete relationship demands considerable attention.
For adult runners with demanding schedules, an online coach can provide flexibility and convenience where in-person coaching may not be feasible. However, online coaching has faced criticism for lacking personalization, providing generic training plans, and using athletes to generate income with minimal thought and effort. Therefore, it’s natural for athletes to wonder if the experience they are receiving from their coach is being fully utilized and tailored to their needs and expectations.
Despite the challenges of remote coaching, with a little effort, it can be equally as rewarding as working with an in-person coach. In this article, we’ll explore key principles for building an effective coaching relationship.
Define Communication Expectations and Research Coaches
An important first step in maximizing the coaching relationship is to define why you’re hiring a coach. Before contacting the coach, researching the coach’s background and determining your preferred communication type and frequency can indicate how successful the athlete/coach match will be. Use the initial intake call to discuss running history, injuries, training patterns, and goals, and ask prospective coaches about their interaction level, athlete load, and approach to building training plans.
Provide Honest and Frequent Feedback
Providing feedback on training sessions is one of the most beneficial actions an athlete can take to assist the coach and make the coaching relationship more successful. In-person coaches can observe an athlete’s mood, physical health, and fatigue before, during, and after workouts. Coaches can then make training adjustments based on these observations.
In contrast, remote coaches are limited to the outputs of the watch versus the workload as prescribed. Without athlete-driven feedback, there is little to indicate why paces were or weren’t achieved. This can lead to coaches misinterpreting athletes’ training, guessing at the apparent mismatch in workload to current fitness level. Ultimately, this can increase injury risk and sacrifice optimal performance on race day. Leaving feedback for a remote coach with honest insights about how workouts feel allows for conversations around the non-physical–but equally important–areas of the sport: mindset, confidence, enjoyment of the training, and more.
An athlete writing feedback for their coach in their training diary: a key principle for building an effective coaching relationship.
Honesty in feedback is essential. Athletes might hesitate to disclose injuries or issues due to fear of judgment or negative consequences. However, withholding such details handicaps the coach from providing the best plan for the athlete. For athletes uncomfortable or unable to share, general phrases like “work stress”, “family schedule”, “medical situation in the family”, etc., are often more than enough insight to allow the coach to guide an athlete’s training more productively.
Ask Questions
Another key principle to building an effective coaching relationship is not being afraid to ask questions. Tonya Phillips, an athlete working with an online coach, began the tradition of asking questions in the comments section of her running log. This allowed her to learn why her training is programmed a particular way, how her coach sees things, and ask for advice on everything from nutrition to footwear. Phillips also used the process of asking running-related and personal questions as a way of building trust.
Tonya Phillips: “Initially, I only knew my coach by their coaching profile page, as well as their history as a successful runner and coach to others. But through these questions, they became more than a name to me. I have a person who cares enough to think about my questions and answer them. And I trust the information I’m receiving.” She adds, “If I’m a silent participant, it doesn’t help the coach or me progress. Questions help us both.”
Explore Other Opportunities for Interaction
Team RunRun coaches Brant and Elaina at the California International Marathon (CIM).
Alongside asking questions, in-person opportunities to interact with an online coach may be more accessible than athletes realize. Many athletes assume that communication with online coaches is limited to phone calls and video chats. If an online coach is local, consider moving coaching and race planning calls to in-person conversations. For athletes with questions about running form, video analysis with a coach can be beneficial. Additionally, many coaches attend major racing events, hold pre-race runs, and may even run races with their athletes. You’ll never know if you don’t ask!
For example, Team RunRun is often present at popular races, offering athletes the chance to interact with coaches ahead of race day. Athletes can join Team RunRun coaches for shakeout runs, group meet-ups, and panel discussions. Pre-race Zoom calls allow athletes and coaches to discuss a particular race in detail, talking event logistics, travel, course knowledge and more. Team RunRun members can see upcoming meet-ups here.
Be Your Own Advocate
All too often, athletes are reluctant to question their training plan for fear of appearing confrontational. If the training feels too hard or too easy, the athlete needs to speak up. Similarly, if an athlete feels their training plan doesn’t align with their goals, communicate that to your coach. When conducted respectfully between coach and athlete, these conversations build understanding and trust, allowing for a more effective coach-athlete collaboration. Remember, your coach is working for you. If you, as the athlete, feel that you are not receiving the full value of services paid for, addressing the situation is deserving of time and attention.
Consistency and Patience
Recognize that consistency and patience are essential elements for building an effective coaching relationship. No two athletes are identical. As a result, it may take a training cycle or more for the coach to understand an athlete’s wiring. As the understanding of the athlete’s physical needs grows, developing the interpersonal relationship lays the groundwork for deeper communication and knowledge of the athlete as a whole person. Remote coaches often serve as an anchor for runners who are unable to interact face-to-face with the running community. Coaching/athlete interactions often develop from a purely goal-oriented focus to the longer-term development of the athlete more hollistically.
Sources:
1Freeman, Will. (2015). Track & Field Coaching Essentials. USA Track & Field.
Christina Mather is a coach with Team RunRun based in Atlanta, GA. She works with athletes running all distances from 5K to 50K on both the roads and the trails. She especially enjoys helping female athletes and those looking to balance training with a busy schedule.
Before diving into the reasons for working with a running coach, let’s do the unthinkable and box runners into totally arbitrary, made-up, overlapping boxes!
Five Broad Categories of Runners:
Working with a running coach helped this runner achieve a PR!
Novices: those new to the sport, new to a particular distance, or new to a type of terrain.
Returners: runners returning to the sport after an injury or break.
Chasers: runners who desire to attain the next level of success.
Stagnaters: those trying to break through a plateau or achieve a long-desired goal.
Community Builders: runners who desire more interaction and growth within the sport.
These categories are not mutually exclusive, and you don’t need to box yourself in. You likely might find yourself resonating with a few. Regardless, these subtypes are useful for the purpose of this article. A runner in any of the preceding categories may benefit from using a running coach to guide them towards their goals. However, finding the best fit for a running coach requires an investment of one’s time and finances. How does one decide if they really need a running coach? Under what circumstances does having a coach provide the most fulfillment and the most benefit to an individual?
Who Needs a Running Coach?
There are many reasons that a runner may be curious about working with a running coach. Let’s break them down using the above categories.
1. Novices
New to Running
The Covid pandemic saw running’s popularity increase (turns out that might happen when you have nothing else to do!) with new runners finding joy in movement and seasoned vets increasing their training frequency. Better yet, the running boom has continued post-pandemic with increasing opportunities to socialize and race.
For many novice runners, hiring a running coach may sound and feel like overkill. The commonly held belief is that coaches are for the experienced and competitive athlete, not for “runners like me”. How does one know when they may need a running coach, even as a beginner?
A static training plan may be enough for a runner without any pre-existing health conditions entering the sport with the primary goal of gaining fitness. Additionally, novice runners have the unique opportunity to see a high number of gains in a short amount of time compared to more seasoned athletes due to their lack of training. Runners with an athletic background may be able to appropriately gauge how hard to push themselves as the body is adapting to the new stimulus of continual running or new terrain. However, it can be harder for novice athletes experiencing rapid gains in fitness to determine the right amount of volume and intensity that can be sustained over time.
A coach can identify the appropriate level of training and tailor it specifically to the individual. By helping to mitigate the types of overuse injuries and setbacks that tend to plague newer runners, a coach maximizes individual’s fitness gains. As runners transition to different types of terrain and distance, working with a coach early on can help to establish healthy movement patterns and practices as they are being learned.
New to Distance and/or Terrain
In addition to road running and racing, trail and ultrarunning are becoming more popular among runners and mainstream media. Recent findings report a 12% increase in trail running annually since 2010, alongside a 345% growth in ultrarunning since 1996! Such remarkable increases in participation indicate that a large proportion of trail and ultrarunners are newer to the distance.
Seasoned road runners transitioning to the trails face a unique set of challenges given the many nuances to environmental conditions, terrain management, and equipment. A marathon runner who jumps into a local 5K trail race is likely to be successful in learning from the experience without the guidance of a coach. However, a marathon runner training in the southern United States has a significant learning curve if attempting an ultra-distance trail race on the west coast with mountainous terrain, different environmental elements, and altitude. Afterall, you don’t know what you don’t know. A runner with limited time or resources to train and learn the nuances of running a particular distance or terrain would likely benefit from a coach’s wisdom and guidance.
2. Returners
Returning to Sport After Injury or Significant Break
Injured runner holding his knee.
Unfortunately, and probably news to no-one, runners get injured, often. Research suggests up to 70% of competitive and recreational runners get injured yearly, with 50 to 70% being caused by overuse. Running injuries can happen to anyone regardless of experience and/or training level. However, a running coach can help athletes identify any training triggers that might have contributed, hopefully preventing future injuries too!
When injured, a runner often seeks out the help of a primary care doctor, physical therapist, or sports medicine doctor. Many specialize in the treatment of runners and may offer strength training and rehabilitation exercises to heal an injury. However, there is often a gap in return to sport specific recommendations. For example, a runner recovering from a bone issue may be told to cross train. The specifics of how much and when in comparison to the running plan prior to injury may be more vague leading runners into unfamiliar territory. A running coach can work with the guidance of the medical team to more specifically advise a runner on the best ways to maintain fitness during the injury and create a path to return to running post injury.
Whether planned or not, returning from an extended break in training has its challenges. It’s common for athletes to struggle reconciling with where they were fitness wise prior to the break and currently. A running coach can objectively assess the athlete’s current fitness, then program the correct training at the right time. Importantly, a coach can ensure the athlete progresses from non-training to more consistent training at an appropriate rate that maximizes fitness gains while minimizing their injury risk.
3. Chasers
Reaching for a Personal Best in Distance, Pace, or Consistency
This runner used the support of a running coach to persist through a tough race.
Once a runner has passed from the beginner stage, improvement can become harder to attain. As general fitness gains start to level out, it requires additional stimulus to see performance increases. Here, a running coach can help fine tune the right amount of stimulus for them to achieve the desired pace and/or distance results. For those striving for big goals, breaking time barriers, achieving a personal best or qualifying time, having the support of a coach to build a plan, push training to the appropriate level, and provide a realistic timeline, could make all the difference in reaching such goals or not.
Runners desiring more consistency with training but are caught in a cycle of injury, life stress, or fluctuating motivation, can turn to a running coach to trouble shoot or align a training schedule that supports their current lifestyle. A coach can alleviate the stress of creating training plans that balance training, recovery, and overall life demands. This can be especially important for runners who have inconsistent schedules due to school, work, or family. Other athletes may benefit from and need a running coach to stay motivated and be a source of accountability.
4. Stagnaters
Assistance in Breaking Through a Plateau
Runners experiencing a plateau in running physically or mentally often benefit from a fresh perspective from someone with running experience. Sometimes, fine-tuning all the dials in a training plan can be hard to accomplish on one’s own. Coaches can also be beneficial in recognizing elements outside of a training plan that may be the cause for plateau. Think fueling, hydration, recovery, etcetera. Although a coach is often not a sports dietician, sports doctor, or psychologist, seasoned coaches can recognize common issues and themes that may be hard for an individual to identify or vocalize to non-running peers. A coach can assist with addressing issues of burnout without athletes abandoning the sport. They help runners avoid injury, and overcome continued fatigue, diminished performance, and decreased enjoyment of running and daily activities.
5. Community Builders
Desire for Connection, Learning, and Growth Within the Sport
Although running has become a popular way to connect and meet others, not every runner has access to running groups. Many runners may also lack the running social networks that allow them to learn from and relate to others. Again, this is where a coach can assist! They will be more than happy to feed your curiosity to learn about the sport. They become your go-to person to talk training nuances, and nerd out on the latest supershoes and tech!
Team Run Run, for example, not only assists athletes in finding a running coach, but works to provide greater opportunities for connection through insights into running events, resources for runners, newsletters, pre-race shakeout runs, discounts, information sharing forums among athletes and coaches, and more!
Proud athlete and coach after a successful race.
So, Do You Need a Running Coach?
Hopefully, now you can appreciate why the majority of runners who work with a running coach are not elite athletes. They are individuals striving to show up as the best version of themselves that they can be. A running coach is there to create excitement, and provide support and joy throughout a runner’s journey. They’ll help their runners continue to learn, push performance, and explore new boundaries that they desire, were unsure how to reach, and maybe never even thought achievable.
Sold on working with a running coach but not sure where to start? Check out Team RunRun’s coaching directory and browse by budget, goals, location, or level. With over 300 coaches, we have a coach for every runner!
Christina Mather is a coach with Team RunRun based in Atlanta, GA. She works with athletes running all distances from 5K to 50K on both the roads and the trails. She especially enjoys helping female athletes and those looking to balance training with a busy schedule.
In a world of running, we can spend a lot of time alone. Especially when we are first starting, we lace up our shoes, head out the door (or to the treadmill), and run with our own thoughts. Running is truly a sport where we battle with ourselves, where we strive to reach new goals and break our old PRs. We might have gotten into running to race other people, but it always comes down to bettering yourself and reaching personal goals. Joining a running club helps make this individual journey of setting and achieving goals a little less lonely.
Pocatello Running Club 2024 Halloween Run
Here are 10 reasons why you should join a running club:
1. Great way to meet new people… especially when moving to a new town.
Back in 2021, my wife and I moved to Pocatello, Idaho from the Midwest. We had no family, friends, or connections in Pocatello when we first moved.
Usually, when people look up a new city they want to move to, they look up the cost of living, entertainment, climate, job availability, etc… But for us runners (or if you want to get into running), one of the top searches should be, “Is there a running club?”
The biggest reason we chose moving to Pocatello was because there was an active running club. We looked up their Facebook page, scrolled through the recent club photos and events, and even gave them a follow. So, when my wife moved out west a month before me, the first thing she did was go to the Tuesday night track workout with the running club. She made friends instantly! I moved out a month later, and I was already welcomed to a night out for Octoberfest (three hours after driving for two days straight) and a trail run the next evening before I could even unpack. All because my wife went to a few running club group runs and found people that shared the same interests.
Whether you are moving to a new town or already living in one, the easiest way to make friends as a runner is to join a running club. We did and now we have so many great “family members,” friends, and connections in town.
2. Learning new routes and amazing sights.
Once you make the leap to joining the running club, you will get a lot of opportunities to see the town you live in through a whole new lens. Pocatello has a huge trail network through the mountains, and it was quite overwhelming to learn. Lucky enough for my wife and I, we had the running club to help.
Wednesday night group trail runs were the perfect way to learn the town’s trails, without any fear of getting lost. Most Saturdays, the Pocatello Running Club hosts Saturday long runs on either road or trail. We were able to explore the town with people that have lived in Pocatello for decades. We got their opinions and knowledge on the best places to do tempo workouts and hill intervals. And they shared which parts of the neighborhood we needed to be careful of when venturing off alone!
The friends you make will show you even more routes to run during non-sanctioned group runs. Switching up the routes you run can help you avoid burnout. If you’re into photos and social media, you can also ask someone to take some awesome “action shot” photos of you and wifey (or dog, or new friend, or favorite plant, etc.). You’ll get to learn your town in its entirety and see views that will be remembered forever.
My wife, Whiskey (dog), and I during a Wednesday night group trail run.
3. You can always find people to run with (and push you on harder runs!).
Speaking of burnout, another way to combat it (instead of just running new routes) is by running with different members of the running club. Whether you are training for your first marathon or trying to improve your 5k time, there are almost always people in the club at the same level or faster than you who are willing to help you achieve your goals.
Some people might be running their easy runs at 8 min/mile pace and you need to hit that pace for a marathon pace training run. Ask them to join you. I’m sure you can find a date/time that works for the both of you. If you have track nights, find someone at your level or a little ahead to do the workout with. First time running 20 miles? Find multiple people to help you throughout the long run. Alternately, join the club’s long runs to make the huge mileage seem less scary. Whatever the workout may be, running with someone else makes it easier. Go find someone to push you, and soon you’ll be achieving goals you never thought possible.
4. For motivation and accountability. #accountabilibuddies
A few of my #accountabilibuddies at the Pocatello Running Club 2025 Goal Setting Party..
Ever not want to wake up for an early morning run? Find yourself getting home from a long day of work and not wanting to do your workout? Joining a running club can help with those days of no-to-low motivation.
If people from the running club hear that you are having trouble finding the motivation to do your workout, they will help you overcome your worries or even join you to give you an extra little push. Most of the time, it’s just getting out the door. There are plenty of times I have reached out to people that are having trouble fitting in a run or lift, and I will invite them to join me. That’s the whole reason my wife and I started the Monday morning coffee runs for the running club. We wanted to get people out of bed and start the week off right–to motivate people to continue their training despite what their week looks like.
Running clubs might even have a goal setting party every year (and if they don’t, you can start your own) to help with getting the motivation to set and achieve your big goals. While we all have our own individual goals, we want to help people achieve their goals too. You and your running friends can even hold each other accountable for the goals we set at the beginning of the year throughout the year. Find your #accountabilibuddies and possibly give them a shoutout on social media. Having a community and the support it brings is what makes a running club so special.
5. Build community connections. (They may even help you find a job!)
When I first moved out to Pocatello, I brought my job with me remotely. While a ton of change was going on with the company, it was nice to have that job security.
When I started to get a little frustrated with the direction the company was moving, I started to look for a new job. Now job hunting can be really scary, but by being in the running club, I got insider knowledge from locals about what companies were great to work for. I even got a reference from an employee at the company I work for now because we were both members of the running club. We got the opportunity to get to know each other and find out the type of job I was after. Then later, I got my current job because of that reference. I’m forever grateful for the connections I have built over the few years of being in Pocatello.
Our running club, like most running clubs, has close connections with the running stores in town. We work with the city to help with the local fun runs. If you are active enough in the running club, you might even get to try out some demo shoes or get free entries to races! Don’t be afraid to make connections. A running club is basically an in-person LinkedIn. You never know when you might need their help or advice.
6. Running education and advice on different training styles.
One thing that has helped me since joining a running club is the advice I can get from many different experience levels or training styles. A lot of clubs have a very diverse array of runners, from total beginners to seasoned veterans who have been running for 40 years.
For newer runners, a club might even host training programs to help with getting started. For example, the Pocatello Running Club has led “Couch-to-5k” plans in preparation for the local 5K fun run series. You might have a local running coach or physical therapist in the group that can give you advice or help you overcome an injury. I had a running coach that was also a physical therapist when I first moved out to Idaho, but over the years, I was able to learn from those around me in the running club to find a style of running/recovery that works for me.
Joining my club motivated to me to get certified and become a running coach with Team RunRun. This allows me to share even more advice with my local running club about different running styles or programs. Team RunRun also strives to help people improve their knowledge by offering blog posts about relevant topics. We can always improve our running IQ and ways to better take care of our bodies.
Several members of the Pocatello Running Club at Beaverhead 100k in July 2024.
7. Training for the same race with teammates, or intel from previous race finishers.
Another great thing about being in a local running club is having teammates running the same race as you. Last year, eight members of the Pocatello Running Club (including myself) had the same goal of completing the Idaho 208k challenge, where you run River of No Return 108k in June and Beaverhead 100k in July (a little less than 1 month apart). We were able to join each other for long training runs, talk logistics, camp or drive together, and basically motivate each other for the entire journey. A few of us even ran the entire race from start to finish together, making the experience that much more special. Club runners who had completed these races in the past offered up crucial advice and tips about the course. Members of the Pocatello Running Club even formed their own relay team for the Le Grizz race in Montana!
One thing I love about coaching with Team RunRun is the feeling of being a part of another virtual running club with the other coaches and athletes. I can ask the Team RunRun community for advice about races across the world, and I know they can go to me if they have any questions about local races in Idaho. Team RunRun even has meetups and group runs for major events, allowing you to connect with the Team RunRun community before the race. So, whether you need help training for a race or simply some advice, consider joining a local running club or get a coach through Team RunRun and join their virtual running club.
8. Petting all the running doggos!
An added bonus for us dog lovers: meeting all of the various running dogs on group runs. Plus, your dog gets little play dates and social time with other local dogs while you run! A huge win-win! Check out this blog by Team RunRun Coach Ryan Williams about Running with Your Dog for all the tips..
9. Intellectual or silly conversations. Whether it’s at a running club’s book club or philosophical ramblings on the trail.
Do you ever have deep thoughts about life on solo runs? Or perhaps you want to stop annoying your non-running friends with constantly talking about running? Then it might be time to join a running club.
From talking about whether certain animals would win in a fight, to discussing the lifestyle/training of elite distance runners, a running club can satisfy all of your crazy needs! Seriously though, I feel that some of the best conversations in life come on long group runs. Conversations that make you laugh or think. Conversations that will give you inside jokes for the rest of your life. The suffering seems easier when you have friends around you and you are not actually thinking about running sometimes. A running club helps facilitate such spaces and conversations.
10. Sweet swag and running club discounts.
Like I mentioned in benefit #5 above, most running clubs are associated with the local running stores. This can come with awesome benefits and discounts for running club members. Some running clubs host races to help pay for club activities or merchandise for members to enjoy. Others come with a small membership fee, but you get swag and access to discounts on local races that make up for the fee you paid. Communities like Team RunRun offer members discounts on races (like Orca Running and Evergreen Trails races), clothing, nutrition, and more. Being a part of a running club, even virtually, has its perks!
The Pocatello Running Club Saturday group long run in early 2024.
Conclusion
Running clubs offer so many more benefits than simply being a way to meet people. These few years in Pocatello, Idaho have been some of the best years of my life. I’ve grown both personally and physically, thanks, in large part, to the Pocatello Running Club. Whether you are living in New York City or Topeka, Kansas, consider joining a running club. And if your town doesn’t have a running club yet, or one you resonate with, consider starting a club yourself! You’ll never know who you might meet or what goals you can achieve in your running career until you do.
Brian Lettner is a Pocatello-based running coach training runners from the 5k up to ultras, on both roads and trails. He helps runners fit training into an already busy lifestyle, and has knowledge of strength and menstrual cycle training.
The curious case of the dead headphones and missing running mojo.
As a knowledge worker, I’m behind a computer screen consuming media for most of the day. It’s constant stimulation: DMs, email, meetings, phone calls, etc. Going out to run in the morning or at lunch is my way to free the body and the mind. I’m suddenly out of the chair, away from the dings and beeps, running free down the trails with time as the only constraint.
When running started to suck
I love this free feeling. It’s what drew me to running many years ago. A couple months ago, though, I found that feeling wasn’t there during the run, and I didn’t feel rejuvenated or empowered afterwards either. I couldn’t figure out why. Instead, I felt mentally exhausted, and it kept piling on day after day. The joy was disappearing. What was happening?
Runner adjusting their headphones pre-run.
The case of the dead headphones and missing mojo
Deep in a training block, taking a long retreat to reevaluate my perspective and purpose wasn’t really an option. Instead, I just kept trucking along like a rusty old robot in desperate need of something to light my soul. Then one day, I went to grab my headphones and realized I forgot to charge them. No big deal. I enjoy running without them, so I just decided to go.
The accidental solve
Arriving home an hour later, I could not tell you where I went or what I thought about. My mind was blank for the entire hour. I just settled into the grooves on the trail, went where my feet wanted to go, and came home with that old spark of freedom and clarity I used to have. Whoa! What happened? Was it the trail? Was it my energy that day? Some superfood or special supplement I had unknowingly taken?
Then it hit me. I had been using my runs to consume things, media to be specific, trying to “maximize my time”, caught in the productivity trap. Audiobooks, podcasts, phone calls, music. My mind was getting that dopamine stimulation all day long at work and now my runs, which had previously been a break, were part of the stimulation tornado too. I’d been sucked in.
Reclaiming running free
Realizing this, I started leaving the headphones at home, any expectations alongside them. I didn’t have anything planned to think about. I just ran and let my mind do whatever it wanted to do. Daydream? Sure. Brainstorm about work? Sure. Nothing? Sure. My runs were once again my mind’s playground, and I felt energized and free.
Media while running: In or out? Or can a happy balance be found?
I’ve always been someone who takes big pendulum shifts of change in my life. That cheesy pizza last night upset my stomach, so today I’m cutting out dairy completely. Terrible choice by the way, pizza is magical for runners, dairy too. I’ve come a long way in realizing that I need gradual change not drastic change. This experience also fell into that category.
It was drastic at first. No media while running. But now, I’m in a much better place. I still don’t do podcasts or audiobooks, but I did reintroduce music. Anything that enhances, not detracts, from the running experience is what I’m looking for. Cue Bertha by the Grateful Dead for an easy trail run. I’m looking for a way to escape the noise, the stimulation, and business of modern life. I’m looking for the pure form of something, something that connects me to nature, to myself, and makes me feel whole afterwards. If music enhances that, then plug me in.
Runner logging some miles without consuming media.
How to reevaluate your own media while running relationship
As a coach and runner, I’m always looking to fulfill mind, body, and spirit: the holistic running experience. I want to set myself and my athletes up for long-term success and enjoyment in the sport. As I look back at this experience with media while running, I realize that sometimes you just need to reevaluate what you’re doing and why. I don’t want to lose the joy and freedom I find in running. When that joy and freedom disappeared, it was a big red flag for me. Both my performance and my mental health suffered. If you’re feeling this way, take account of how you’re treating your mind during runs. Are you giving it the space it needs? Are the things you’re doing during your runs serving you or hindering you?
For me, I needed to reclaim that calming space that running gives me. I’m a more free and peaceful version of myself on and off the trail by giving my brain some time to just be, without the headphones. If you’re the opposite and find that consuming media truly adds to your running and life, great, keep going! Figuring out how you want to feel before, during, and after running can start with you asking yourself “what’s here for me today?”. Or, as in my case, with forgetting to charge your headphones and involuntarily reclaiming the calm, peace, and simplicity of a daily run and realizing what you’ve been missing all along.
Ryan Williams is a parent, proud dog dad, athlete and coach who believes running is a metaphor for life. He specializes in forming positive bonds with runners of all ages, distances, and abilities from couch-to-5k to ultramarathon.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned as both a runner and a coach, it’s this: growth in running and life rarely comes from perfection—it comes from showing up and telling the truth.
Sounds like something we all learned back in kindergarten, right? (Did I just date myself?)
In my coaching philosophy, two pillars for growth in running and life have always stood at the core: Be Consistent and Be Honest (with yourself). Simple? Sure. But these two have been the compass guiding me through personal challenges, races, coaching athletes, and navigating life’s inevitable curveballs. And trust me, there have been plenty.
TRR Coach Corey Turnbull executing a great race as a result of consistency in training.
Consistency: The Unsung Hero
We all crave magic formulas or breakthrough moments, but most of the time, real growth hides in the mundane. It’s tucked inside the slow build of miles week after week, the decision to stick with your mobility routine even when you’d rather be on the couch, or simply lacing up on the hard days—those are the quiet victories where consistency shines.
To me, consistency isn’t about militant routine or doing the same thing every day without fail. It’s about steady forward momentum. It’s trusting that the small, almost forgettable efforts—the ones no one applauds—are the ones that build something bigger over time.
I’ve seen this play out in my own training, where seasons of patient, steady work always beat short bursts of overreaching (though, Garmin will still lovingly remind me it’s “unproductive”). As a coach, I remind my athletes: show up imperfect but show up. It’s better than swinging for the fences and burning out. And if you want further proof, this 2022 study titled “Exercise answer: Research shows it’s how often you do it, not how much” says it all!
Honesty: The Inner Compass
The second pillar—honesty—is just as critical, and let’s be real, sometimes harder.
It’s easy to be honest with others. Being honest with yourself? That’s where the heavy lifting happens.
Am I avoiding that hard workout because my body needs recovery—or am I afraid of being uncomfortable today? Am I training to prove something, or because it aligns with my values and goals? Are these extra miles for training or to numb stress from other parts of my life? (Yep, guilty.)
These are the quiet check-ins I have with myself—and I encourage my athletes to do the same. Running has a sneaky way of holding up a mirror, forcing us to look at what’s really going on. The more honest we are, the stronger the connection becomes between mind and body.
And here’s the kicker: if you can’t afford to be honest, life—or your body—will often find a way to level you out. The universe has its own quirky system of checks and balances, and injury tends to be one of its favorite tools.
Three athletes on an easy run, putting consistency and honesty into practice.
Navigating Life’s Uncertainties
These two pillars for growth aren’t just for the run—they anchor me when life outside of training gets messy. Whether I’m navigating workplace stress, managing recovery from an injury, or sorting through personal growth, these principles are my north star.
When life feels chaotic, consistency grounds me—those small daily actions that keep me tethered. When I’m tempted to check out, avoid, or mask the discomfort, honesty calls me back to center.
How to Leverage These Two Pillars for Improved Performance
If you take away one thing from this, whether you’re a runner, coach, or just someone reading this over coffee, it’s this: your ability to stay consistent and be honest with yourself will shape your progress far more than any shiny new training plan or natural talent ever could.
Running isn’t just about VO2 max or pace charts—it’s about building a relationship with yourself. A relationship rooted in showing up, imperfections and all, and having the guts to tell the truth about who you are, where you are, what you need, and where you’re headed.
That’s how we grow—not just as runners, but as humans.
Corey Turnbull is a Team RunRun Coach based in Ottawa. He works with beginners just starting out or with seasoned runners looking for a breakthrough. Corey helps athletes maximize the limited training time they have, prioritizing consistency, focus and fun.
It’s race week, your goal event is fast approaching, and this survival guide will set you up for success. You’ve trained hard and with dedication for months. You’ve said ‘no’ to social opportunities to get to sleep early for your morning long runs. And now you are wondering how to make sure you capitalize on all of these choices for a triumphant race day. You’ve come to the right place!
Start line of the Oakland Marathon.
Read on for some practical tips you can implement to make your race week and race day as smooth as possible. If you are looking for training advice on how to taper for a big race, check out my article: Mastering the Marathon Taper.
1. Stick to your Routines
“Nothing new on race day.” A phrase we’ve all heard, and dare I say rolled our eyes at, multiple times before. As cliche as it is, it’s sound advice and, as a coach, I extend the timeline even further for my athletes: nothing new on race week.
Preparing for the big day is very similar to preparing for those big long run workouts you completed week after week. Sure, this week you’re probably thinking about the race more often than you do a workout, but your preparations should remain fairly similar.
Race week survival guide tip: stick to you normal eating habits and foods.
Continue to go to bed at your normal time, run when you normally do, stretch and foam roll as often as you normally do, you get the idea. While your workouts might be shorter and less intense, maintain your usual eating habits, keeping what and when you eat consistent. The only caveat here is emphasizing carbohydrates more in the last 2-3 before your race: Find more on carb loading in this Guide to Carb Loading. This week is not the time to try a new pair of shoes, experiment with a new nutrition plan, or cram in a new type of workout that you haven’t done before.
When the pre-race doubts creep in about our fitness, there is a temptation to try to prove to ourselves that we are ready to go. Instead, stick to the plan, trust the training, and all will be ok.
2. Plan Race Day Logistics
To alleviate the stress of the unknown, I strongly suggest you write down your race logistics plan, personalize this race week survival guide. Trust me, your race day self will thank you!
Write everything down from when you are picking up your bib at the expo, where you are parking, when you are waking up and then leaving the house or hotel on race morning, what you are eating for breakfast, etc. Noting down all of these details makes them feel more manageable. Having a check-list set out before you keeps you from stressing that you may have forgotten something.
While race expos are fun and exciting, be smart with how much time you spend on your feet that day. Definitely enjoy the expo, visit the booths, support the local brands and stores. But be sure to put your feet up the rest of the day. You’re going to be using them quite a bit the next day!
Race week survival guide tip: prepare your gear for race day the night before. PC: Evan Covell
3. Prepare the Night Before
The night before the race, lay out all of your race day gear including your warm up clothes, gear check bag, nutrition, hydration, shoes, outfit, even sunscreen. Make sure your bib is attached to your shirt and all your bags are packed. Don’t forget to pack some extra clothes (slides or comfortable shoes are a good idea too!) to put on after your race so you can enjoy the post-race festivities in comfort.
Sleeping the night before a race is often difficult. Excitement is high and restlessness kicks in. Do not worry. The night before a race isn’t the most important night of sleep. Sleeping well the whole week leading into race day is more important.
4. Arrive Early Race Morning
I love to arrive early enough to the start that I can warm up a bit, find the gear check, use the restroom, and still have a few moments to relax and collect my thoughts before the race starts. In order to ensure that happens, work backwards from the start time and calculate when you want to arrive, when you have to leave, eat breakfast, and lastly when you need to wake up,
Races can be stressful environments. Following this race week survival guide allows you to control what you can and be assured that you did all you could to arrive ready. Now, go give it your best effort!
Evan Covell is a coach with Team RunRun based in Santa Barbara, California. He helps runners set and achieve their goals through personalized, science-based training and injury prevention.
When it comes to better training and racing, sleep is your superpower! I think we all have tried to run after a horrible night’s sleep. That feeling when you’ve just fallen asleep and then the alarm clock rings and it’s time to get up. You had every intention of starting the day with a run or workout, but now you’re tempted to delay, hoping to feel better this afternoon.
As a healthcare professional involved with sleep medicine, the study of this practice has increased over the years with new treatments available for some people hoping to improve the quality of their sleep, as well as to decrease the health risk of poor sleep. If you have sleep concerns persisting after incorporating sleep hygiene practices, such as those listed below, it’s time to seek out a sleep specialist. Help is available!
Runner asleep on the trail, probably hoping to sleep his way to a better performance!
Sleep and Performance: The Missing Link
Looking to perform at your best in your next race? Then don’t sleep on those zzz’s! Instead, let’s explore how you can sleep your way to better training and racing!
Sleep is one of our fundamental functions in life that works to replenish our bodies with energy. And it should come as no surprise that research reveals sleep is a foundational key to improved sport outcomes for athletes. Getting enough sleep is just as important as those ticking off the long runs, speed work, and base miles for runners.
Why Runners Need Sleep:
Improving heart rate and stress response to exercise.
Decreasing RPE, or your effort level, making that run or workout a little bit easier or faster.
Decreasing the risk of injury and illness.
Improving your metabolic health and energy levels.
Boosting your mood, focus, and cognition.
Improving recovery and adaptations to training (aka getting fitter faster!)
By consistently getting good sleep, you’ll unlock better training and, hopefully, the PR you’re working so hard for!
To Do List for Better Sleep:
Finding a calming mechanism to wind down.
Practicing meditation or yoga to help decrease stress, especially ahead of an approaching race.
Read a book, a real one not an ebook on a screen.
Control your sleep environment.
We can help our bodies prepare for sleep in a cool and comfortable environment.
Ear plugs can also help decrease the external noise.
Maintain your sleep routine.
This can be challenging, especially when most travel for races.
Create and follow a regular night routine to help signal to your body that it is time to sleep!
To NOT Do List for Better Sleep:
Bright and blue lights in the hour before bed.
Bright and blue lights can decrease the amount of natural melatonin our bodies produce, negatively affecting our circadian rhythm and ability to fall asleep.
Avoid screens in the hour or two before bedtime. If you can’t manage that, consider wearing blue light blocking glasses and turning down the brightness on your devices (or putting them in “night” mode).
Alcohol and caffeine.
Alcohol can impact on the quality of sleep (even if you think it helps you fall asleep), while too much caffeine late in the day can keep you awake.
Limit (or avoid) alcohol as much as possible, especially close to bed. Keep your caffeine for the morning only.
Unfamiliar noises.
Unfamiliar sounds can easily be heard when trying to sleep in unfamiliar environments, making falling asleep difficult.
Consider sleeping with ear plugs or white noise, then maintain this habit in unfamiliar environments to ease the disruption.
TL:DR
Establishing a good sleep routine can help the stars align for a fantastic race. So start sleeping your way to better training and racing today!
References
Dzierzewski, J. M., Sabet, S. M., Ghose, S. M., Perez, E., Soto, P., Ravyts, S. G., & Dautovich, N. D. (2021). Lifestyle factors and sleep health across the lifespan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(12), 6626. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126626
Nikolaidis P.T., Weiss K., Knechtle B., & Trakada G. (2023). Sleep in marathon and ultramarathon runners: A brief narrative review. Frontiers in Neurology, 14, 1217788. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2023.1217788
Rebecca Holso is a coach with Team RunRun based in Rapid City, SD. She specializes in road races, focusing on half-marathon and marathon distances, understanding the challenges of balancing a busy life with personal goals.
It’s marathon taper time! You’ve put in the work and now you’re looking to perform your best on race day. To some the idea of a taper might sound glorious, to others it might bring feelings of apprehension. This article will hopefully help to even out those feelings by explaining what exactly a taper is, the why behind tapering, and how to execute it well!
Runner mastering the marathon taper by prioritizing their recovery. PC: Ruby Wyles
What is a Taper?
Tapering for a race refers to reducing total training volume in the 1-3 weeks leading into a race. This allows for the body to enter race day fresh, healthy, and ready to perform optimally. Mastering the marathon taper looks different depending on a multitude of factors: the experience level of the athlete, race distance, race importance, training volume leading into the taper, etc. Therefore, there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to tapering for a race, but there are some general principles you can apply.
Reduce Volume, Not Intensity
It is important to reduce your total training volume, so that your legs start to freshen up. But people often make the mistake of taking out the high intensity workouts in their week.
If you normally do harder workouts on Tuesday mornings, then continue to do harder workouts on Tuesday mornings, even in the taper. If the total volume of your typical workouts come out to 10 miles, perhaps lower that to 8 miles. We want our legs to freshen up, but not to go stale. Maintaining training intensity reminds our bodies that there is still a big task to complete in the near future.
Two runners logging a track workout during their marathon taper. PC: Dave Albo
Gradually Reduce the Long Run Volume
The long run is a big stimulus that takes a significant toll on the body each week. I usually assign my marathoners their biggest long run (both in terms of miles at marathon pace and overall distance) 3 weeks out from race day–maybe 20-22 miles. The volume of the next long run, 2 weeks out, reduces slightly, but is still a typical long run that they’ve completed multiple times before–usually 16-18 miles. The final long run the week before the race is typically 10-13 miles. This gradual reduction in the weekly long run ensures that the body is recovering well and energetic come marathon day.
Although these long runs are decreasing in volume, it is still a good idea to add some marathon pace miles in these, as well as continue practicing your race day nutrition.
Mastering the marathon taper requires treating your body well, in order to freshen up your legs and get to race day healthy. This necessitates prioritizing adequate sleep, fueling your body well with enough food, and hydrating like crazy! Even though your training volume is decreasing, this is not the time to cut back on your nutrition.
Personally, I choose to cut out all alcohol during the final 4 weeks leading into a marathon. I feel it keeps me healthy, focused on the task at hand, and makes the finish line beer all the more rewarding!
Sleep is the number one recovery tool. Your body repairs itself during sleep. Be sure to continue getting to bed at your normal hour (or earlier) is key during the taper. And perhaps your run is shorter than usual in the morning, so you can afford that extra 30 minutes to snooze.
Runner preparing for their race by journaling and hydrating. PC: Dave Albo
The most difficult part of a taper might be the apprehension that can come with reducing your training. Thoughts that you are losing fitness start to creep in. I’m here to tell you you won’t lose fitness. During the taper, your body is able to actually absorb the fitness gains from workouts you did a few weeks ago. You are as fit as you will be. Your job during the taper is to make sure you’re healthy and refreshed. That is mastering the marathon taper.
There are many cliches often said during taper week, my favorite is “the hay is in the barn.”
With the taper comes more time in your day. Instead of worrying and ruminating on your training or the upcoming race, use this extra time to visualize yourself running strong and fast. Practice your race day mantras and journal your thoughts. Reflect on all the hard work you did in this training block that will prepare you for race day. It’s nice to create some taper rituals that are unique and special to reuse ahead of future races (assuming you find them beneficial).
What’s Next?
If you are feeling lost in your training approach and want some more guidance, consider hiring a running coach! Team RunRun has a coach for every athlete. Reach out today and get started!
Evan Covell is a coach with Team RunRun based in Santa Barbara, California. He helps runners set and achieve their goals through personalized, science-based training and injury prevention.
So you might not yet be sold on finding running fun, but you can at least acknowledge the many benefits to running. It’s one of the best activities for building cardiovascular fitness and improving your physical health. Running also offers significant mental benefits such as enhancing your mood and reducing anxiety.
Despite the numerous benefits, it is not uncommon for running to feel like a drag at times, and our motivation to do it can wane. How can we ensure that we keep our running fun and fresh so that we are willing to stick with it for life?
6 ways to add fun to your running routine:
1. Change up your running routes.
Limiting yourself to running the same route day after day can become monotonous. This can interfere with motivation and engagement. Choosing a new running route can make runs feel more like an adventure than a routine. Rather than running around your neighborhood for your next long run, try venturing to a new trail or a nearby park.
For some people, finding a new route will be simple. You can simply head out the door without a plan and purposely begin running a different way than usual. For others, this approach might make them nervous. Fortunately, apps like Strava or MapMyRun can help you discover new running routes beforehand. Then you can download and follow the route on your phone or watch.
Add fun to your running by finding new routes, such as via Strava’s route planner.
2. Sign up for races that excite you.
Add fun to your running routine by training for a race. No matter if it’s a 5K, ultramarathon, or any other organized event, signing up for a race can give you something to look forward to.
Consider themed races such as color runs, mud runs, relays, hot chocolate runs, and countless others: the possibilities are nearly endless, and there is something out there for you!
Runners having fun as part of a running club. PC: Ruby Wyles
No matter your pace or finish pace, you will feed off the exciting atmosphere, and be rewarded by an incredible sense of accomplishment and camaraderie with your fellow runners. And for an added bonus, many post-race parties are an absolute blast!
3. Find a running partner or join a running group.
For some people, one of the most difficult parts of running is the solitary aspect. Finding a friend or a local group to run with can make an enormous impact. When you run with other people, there is built-in accountability at play. On a day when you may not feel like running, you know that your partner or group is waiting for you to join them.
Many communities have local running clubs that are inclusive of all levels, from complete beginners to elite marathoners. Regardless of your level, you are likely to find someone to run with. You will be surprised how this can make running fun and motivating!
4. Set challenging yet attainable goals for yourself.
Having a clear goal can make your running both more exciting and rewarding.
Again, there are endless possibilities: setting a new personal best time, increasing the length of your long run, or running a given number of miles in a week or month. The important thing is that you are challenging yourself in a way that is motivating rather than overwhelming. If you find your goal negatively affecting your desire to run, it’s time for a new one!
5. Mix up your workouts.
One of the quickest ways to reinvigorate your running routine is by keeping your body guessing. Rather than going out and running five miles per day at the same pace, try peppering tempo runs, fartleks, hill repeats, or interval workouts into your weekly running routine.
As well as making your routine feel fresh and exciting, mixing up your runs will also facilitate improvements in your performance. If you are not sure where to start with incorporating these sorts of workouts into your training, or want personalized advice on pacing for these workouts, check out TeamRunRun for coaches who are excellent at doing this.
Adding this sort of variety to your running routine may be the secret to more enjoyable training!
6. Turn your runs into a game.
Have you tried gamifying your runs? Apps like Strava or Nike Run Club allow you to participate in a variety of fun challenges and competitions. You can connect with your running buddies virtually and have friendly competitions. Some platforms hold official challenges like Strava’s “Run 50K in 30 Days” campaign.
Using apps is only one way of gamifying your running. You can also incorporate self-imposed games into your runs. For example, you could pretend that someone is about to pass you and that you need to reach the next telephone pole within fifteen seconds. Maybe your running cadence needs work, so you play a game with yourself to see how many steps you take in a given minute.
Having a scavenger hunt is another fun way to gamify your runs. You could look for different types of trees, flowers, birds, or anything you want.
Signing up for a non-traditional race or running in costume is another way to add fun like these runners are doing! PC: Howie Stern
When you get ready for your next run, remember: the best way to add fun to your running routine is one that sustains running as a lifelong habit. Don’t forget to enjoy the journey along the way!
Caleb Betton is a coach with Team RunRun based in Philadelphia. He specializes in coaching runners who are new to the sport or are coming back after a long time away.
Training for a marathon, or any long distance running event, is fairly simple: run consistently each week, mostly easy, sometimes hard. There are no magic workouts that will catapult your fitness forward, rather success comes from stringing together days, weeks, and months of solid work.
Now, although training can be that simple, I know that you clicked on this article for a bit more depth and nuance. While this post is focused on training for the marathon, these four principles of marathon training can be applied to most endurance events.
Disclaimer: there are many ways to train for a marathon, these are a few pillars that I employ in coaching my athletes.
1. Good Enough is Good Enough
A phrase I often repeat to my athletes is: “good enough is good enough.” In all training, I think it is important to improve with the minimum effective stimulus. You do not need to go deep into the well very often. Save that for race day. This principle can be applied across the board in endurance training.
For example, on a broad scale, when looking to increase running volume. If you’ve been running 40 miles per week, try increasing to 45 or 50 for your next training block. There is no need to jump to 80 miles per week when increasing to 50 will give your body the stimulus it needs to improve. Narrowly, the same principle can be applied to a specific workout. Consider progressing a 20 minute threshold run to 25 minutes for the next workout, not 40. You need to leave yourself somewhere to go in the future.
Two runners in marathon training enjoying an easy run together.
2. Easy Days Easy, Hard Days Hard
You may have heard that slowing down your easy runs is the key to getting faster. Running truly easy will help you recover, yes, but only running easy is not going to improve your speed. To improve overall you also need to incorporate some reasonably hard running in your training schedule. Remember good enough is good enough, so your hard days do not need to leave you questioning everything. Rather, they should be challenging but manageable.
Your easy days should be truly easy. Your run should be conversational and relaxed. The rest of your day should be fairly relaxing too. Be sure to take care of the small things like fueling well, foam rolling, yoga, and sleep. For a more in depth look into recovery check out Recover Harder to Run Faster by TRR Coach Miles Bennett-Smith.
Your hard days should be challenging. Your run workout is the most important piece of this puzzle: train hard enough and with enough volume to get the adaptation your body needs. You are only able to go hard on this day because the one or two days before were actually easy: your body is now ready for the next challenge. If you incorporate strength training into your routine, adding your lift after a running workout is the ideal way to schedule this in. Hard days hard.
3. Move From Less to More Specific
In training for a marathon, you want to move from less specific to more specific as you approach race day. If we zoom way out and look at training in terms of a calendar year, what you are doing 6 months away from your target marathon should not be very marathon specific. But in the 10-16 weeks before race day, training becomes increasingly more tailored to the marathon. Your long runs increase in duration, you dial in race pace and effort, and total training volume increases relative to what you were doing before.
Keys Marathon Training Workouts
Long runs
During these 10-16 weeks, I typically incorporate marathon effort (later defined by a pace once we dial things in) into athletes’ long run workouts. At first I break up marathon pace into smaller sections, then gradually, the total duration at marathon effort increases.
E.g. Starting with 4 x 2 mile repeats, then 4 mile-2 mile-2 mile, then 4 x 3 mile, then 2 x 6 mile, etc. Finally, this might culminate in 12-14 miles at marathon effort within a 20+ mile long run, usually 3-4 weeks out from race day.
Threshold workouts
I target accumulating 30-40 minutes at threshold pace in various formats.
E.g. 6 x 6 minutes with 1 minute recovery between each.
VO2 max and faster speed workouts
Done on a track (or a hill), these are speedy sessions targeting 5 km pace down to mile pace. The goal of these workouts are increasing leg turnover and changing up the stimulus.
E.g. 10 x 400 meters with 90 seconds recovery between each.
In addition to the long run workout, I usually assign another workout each week targeting threshold, VO2 max, or even faster paces, depending on the athlete, their experience, and needs. As you get closer to the marathon race, the threshold sessions get a bit bigger and the speedy stuff is emphasized a bit less.
A group of runners training for a marathon starting a speedy track workout. PC: Dave Albo
4. Running Economy is Everything
To get faster at the marathon, spend time getting faster at the mile.
If you are already signed up for a marathon and your specific marathon training period has begun, then this isn’t quite for you, yet. You need to prepare for the race that is coming up. But if your marathon is still far off, it’d be beneficial to train for a shorter event like the 5 km or mile. Increasing your speed over these short distances improves your running economy which will translate up to the longer distances when you switch training focus.
Running economy is your body’s ability to use oxygen most efficiently at a given pace. Therefore, if your mile personal best improves, you can expect your 5 km, 10 km, half marathon, and marathon to improve as well (with a specific training block of course).
Throwing different stimuli at your body throughout the year (in a structured and well-thought through manner), forces your body to adapt to a variety of challenges, and prevents your body from going stale and plateauing. I have also found this to be a very effective tool in keeping my athletes engaged and excited about running. Trying out some different race distances can be scary at first, but changing up the type of training is fun and refreshing. Not only that, it will help you in the long term when you refocus on training for a marathon.
What’s Next?
If you are feeling lost in your training approach and want some more guidance, consider hiring a running coach! Team RunRun has a coach for every athlete. Reach out today and get started!
Evan Covell is a coach with Team RunRun based in Santa Barbara, California. He helps runners set and achieve their goals through personalized, science-based training and injury prevention. TRR coaches Evan Covell, Miles Bennett-Smith, and Jamie Spruiell have also partnered with the Oakland Marathon helping runners train for their best race.
The gamification of fitness is a trend that has been gaining popularity over the past couple decades with fitness video games and virtual leaderboards. More recently, we’ve seen the marriage of fitness games with VR technology, but it goes as far back as the Nintendo Wii’s Wii Fit and Wii Sports series. Likewise, the PlayStation and Xbox consoles of the era also had their own fitness series’, and newer models have continued to follow suit. But do these have a place in a fitness regimen? The answer might surprise you as we’ll seek to explain in the following article.
The gamification of fitness using virtual reality (VR) technology. PC: Victor Bordera/Stocksy
For the Fun of the Games
For the average person, the gamification of fitness can be a powerful motivator and used to make exercise fun. If fitness isn’t enjoyable, people are far less likely to start or stick with it in the long term. People far and wide also love good healthy competition, whether online with players around the globe or with family and friends in the living room sitting next to them.
Woman doing the popular fitness game of “Wii Fit”. PC: Emmanuel Dunand
Popular fitness platforms like Peloton even have leaderboards affiliated with all their classes. Peloton have developed their own “video game mode” of riding called LaneBreak, where riders’ workouts are scored and ranked. Before starting, riders also get to choose between five difficulty levels, adding another common video game element to the experience. As explained on the Peloton Support site “along the track, you will encounter various objects, called Moments. Moments are based on the workout goals and intensity of the song and require different cadence/resistance or speed/incline values. Score points by hitting target metrics while in the Moment”. If Peloton had a crossover episode with Guitar Hero, that’s a fairly spot on assessment of LaneBreak, although you aren’t expected to press down on the pedals to the exact beat of the music for the entirety of a song.
Wii Would Like to Play!
On the classic Wii Fit, common key health metrics are also taken into account such as BMI. Believe it or not, actual research studies were conducted on the use of Wii Fit and similar fitness games. These exercise modalities showed merits in clinical settings and places such as nursing homes, where participation allows those unable to perform daily rigorous activity to still increase heart rate and improve overall health.
In a study of 30 individuals with multiple sclerosis, Wii Fit demonstrated benefits over a 7-week period. They each completed the same Wii Fit program consisting of yoga, balance, strength and aerobic training, 3 times per week. According to this 2011 article, researchers reported that “all physical assessment scores moved in a positive direction at 7 weeks, providing some indication that overall fitness levels improved” (Plow & Finlayson, 2011). Wii Fit received praise for it’s accessibility, meeting participants where they were at, no matter their functionality levels. In addition, it helped promote weight loss and weight loss self-monitoring while improving strength and balance through core stability training.
Do Fitness Games Have a Place in Athletes’ Training?
While it by no means should be a cornerstone of your fitness program, the gamification of fitness can be a useful tool for those looking for a little extra motivation (something that can be hard to come by in the winter months) or for a little variety in cross training. No matter how hard you Wii Fit, it can’t replace the specificity of training. As runners, the general principle is if you want to improve at running, you’ll need to run more. For many, having a race on the calendar provides plenty of motivation. However, if wanting to climb up a few more spots on the leaderboard, improve that high score or health metric motivates you to train consistently, use them!
TLDR: The Gamification of Fitness
Especially for newer runners or athletes, gamifying fitness can give purpose to the training and allow you to recognize the progress that you’re making. In essence, it can provide a gateway to fitness for the beginner. Whether it’s as that beginner runner’s first step, or as means to improve quality of life and health in clinical settings, these tools have a place in the world of fitness and are here to stay.
Plow, M., & Finlayson, M. (2011). Potential benefits of nintendo wii fit among people with multiple sclerosis: a longitudinal pilot study. International Journal of MS Care, 13(1), 21–30. https://doi.org/10.7224/1537-2073-13.1.21
Brian Comer is a coach with Team RunRun based out of Portland, Oregon. His goal is to help you grow as a runner and a person through consistent training.
And why recovery maybe the most underrated part of your training!
Your training plan is dialed in. You’ve got the mileage, the workouts, the long runs. But let me ask you this: Is your recovery plan just as detailed?
If your answer is something like “Uhhh… I foam roll…sometimes?”—then we need to talk.
Train Hard, Recover Harder
Most runners approach training like a badge of honor contest. More miles! More speed work! More long runs! But when it comes to recovery, they suddenly embrace chaos—late nights, junk food, and maybe a few celebratory beers after a tough run. Look, I’m all for balance, but here’s the reality:
You don’t get stronger during workouts. You get stronger during recovery.
Every hard session creates micro-tears in your muscles, depletes glycogen stores, and adds stress to your body. The real improvements happen when you allow your body to repair itself properly. If you’re not matching your recovery efforts to your training load, you’re sabotaging your own progress. Yes, the hype is real, you do need to recover harder to run faster!
So let’s fix that…
Recovery is part of the workout!
How to Recover Like a Pro (or at Least Not Like a Sleep-Deprived Maniac)
Here are five non-negotiables when it comes to maximizing your recovery:
1. Sleep Like It’s Your Job
If you do one thing right, let it be this: prioritize sleep. Sleep is when your body produces the most growth hormone, which repairs muscle and replenishes energy stores.
Goal: 8-9 hours per night, especially after long runs or workouts.
Reality check: Can’t hit 9 hours? Start by getting 30 minutes more than usual. Even small improvements help.
Kickstart your recovery with electrolytes and a quick carb source before a proper meal later.
2. Fuel Your Recovery (Just Like You Would Your Workouts)
That long run isn’t officially over until you refuel properly. Training breaks your body down—nutrition builds it back up. Think of fueling as the second half of every run, not just an afterthought.
What to do:
Within a few hours of finishing any run over 60 minutes, get a mix of carbohydrates and protein (ideally 3:1 or 4:1 ratio–but no need to overthink it). This kick-starts muscle repair and replenishes glycogen.
Don’t just eat anything—focus on high-quality, nutrient-dense foods. Think eggs and toast, yogurt and granola, or a smoothie with fruit and protein.
Hydration isn’t optional. Water is great, but after hard sessions, adding electrolytes helps replace what you lost in sweat.
3. Active Recovery is a Cheat Code
Scrolling on the couch for the rest of the day might sound nice, but active recovery helps speed up the process.
Try this instead:
Legs up the wall (seriously, it’s magical).
Easy walking or light mobility work (think yoga or dynamic stretching).
Compression gear or a quick foam rolling session—just not so aggressively that it makes you regret life.
4. Match Your Recovery to Your Training
This is where most runners mess up. They increase training loads without increasing recovery efforts.
Rule of thumb: The harder the training day, the more dialed-in your recovery should be.
Long run = prioritize sleep, hydration, and proper nutrition.
Easy day = this is when you can afford a bit more flexibility. (But dialing in your recovery will only help you!)
5. Protect Your Recovery Like You Protect Your Long Runs
You wouldn’t randomly skip a big workout, right? So don’t slack on recovery, either. If you want to actually absorb all the hard work you’re putting in, you need to plan recovery like you plan your runs.
Final Thought: Are You Training Smarter or Just Training More?
If you feel like you’re crushing workouts but underperforming on race day, this might be your missing piece. The best runners in the world don’t just train hard—they recover even harder.
So next time you finish a tough session, don’t just think about how far or fast you ran. Think about how well you’re going to recover from it. Because that—not just mileage—is what makes you a stronger runner.
Now, go get some sleep!
Miles Bennett-Smith is a coach for Team RunRun based in San Francisco. He coaches intermediate and advanced runners from 1500m to marathon on trail, track or road.
As a result of training consistently, Team RunRunner Alayna crushed multiple races!
Consistency is key. Period. Consistently caring for yourself by doing the small things to keep your mind and body happy will pay huge dividends come race day.
Practical Tip:
Prepare your environment the night before your training session to eliminate any barriers to getting out the door. Lay out your clothes, shoes, fill your bottles, have your gels on the kitchen table, etc.
Consistency is Key.
If you’re like me at all you’ve probably heard this phrase all over your social feeds in the last few months. The algorithm figured out that you’re training for a race. Now it’s bombarding you with messages telling you to get out the door for your run. No. Matter. What.
I agree that consistency is probably the most important factor in endurance training. But it extends well beyond forcing yourself out the door and ignoring any potential signals your body might be sending. Being consistent across the board is what we’re striving for here. Get out for your scheduled run, yes, but also be sure to warm up properly, refuel after your workout, do your strength and mobility training, sleep plenty, and actually take your rest days.
Now you might be saying, “Evan, you just told me to do even MORE things!”. Well…yes, showing up each day for yourself over these next 6 weeks will pay off tremendously. But only IF that consistency is about consistently caring for yourself. Doing all the small things to keep your body happy, while taking some time away from training to keep your mind happy, will lead to a successful trip around Oakland on race day. And my guess is about 2 hours after you cross that finish line, you’ll be searching for your next race to train for.
What’s Next?
If you want more structure and guidance, consider hiring a running coach! At Team RunRun, we have a coach for every athlete. Check out the training page on the Oakland Marathon website for a selection of coaches who are here to help.
Evan Covell is a coach with Team RunRun based in Santa Barbara, California. He helps runners set and achieve their goals through personalized, science-based training and injury prevention (oh, and consistency!).
Hi! Meet Toula. An eight year old, highly independent, active, and joyful soft-coated Wheaten Terrier.
Toula has been running long distance with me since she was about 14 months old. She’s run off leash, on leash, tethered, not-tethered, and wild and free through big pastures and open fields. There have been times where she’s been so muddy from a run that I worried if I would be able to get the mud out of her long, thick, fluffy hair.
One time after running in snow that was so clumpy (you know the kind you make snowballs and snowmen out of) her legs looked like the Michelin Man’s arms. This particular adventure ended with me carrying her home from the woods. Her legs were so heavy with all the snow packed in her hair, that she kept falling over when she was running. Toula is my adventure buddy, my companion on long outings in the woods, and someone who reminds me that running is supposed to be fun and joyful.
Ryan and his best training buddy, Toula. PC: Ryan Williams
Read on for the top things I’ve learned from running with Toula. There are a lot of articles out there that cover the basic steps to train your dog. I’ll leave that to the dog trainers. This is just my experience.
Lesson #1 – Sweat is a human superpower. Dogs do not cool down like humans.
To be totally honest, I’ve had many battles with Toula while running. It usually starts when I tell my wife and daughter something like: “I’ll meet you guys there and run with Toula. That way she’s exercised and I get my training in!”. Sounds like a great idea until you realize you’re on a time schedule. “Okay, I’ve got 25 minutes to move this dog along this 5 km run to meet my wife and daughter at the lake.” And it’s also July in Maryland.
One mile in, Toula decides she’s done running. With Toula lying on the trail, I decide (regretfully) I’m going to dig my heels in and battle this defiant terrier. I try reminding Toula that we have a family to meet. It’s only 3 miles, Toula, you’ve got this, and so have I! We’re not running that fast. What’s the problem?
Well, it took me some time to realize that, unlike humans, dogs cannot sweat through their skin to cool themselves. Sweating is the human superpower. Dogs rely on panting to regulate their body temperatures. Put simply, they just cannot keep on powering through in the hot temperatures. They need to stop and cool down. So when you’re running with your dog, know you’re in for a stop-start adventure.
Since this revelation, I’ve spent many runs apologizing to Toula for my ignorance and respecting that she’s more of a three season endurance runner. So, like most of us, she also doesn’t enjoy running in the swamp that is Maryland summers. Summer is her off-season, and she spends it laying under shaded trees in the backyard.
Lesson #2 – Learn your dog’s limits and respect their cues.
Toula’s longest run to date is 12 miles. It was a few Februarys ago and she was wiped afterwards. Since then, she’s still been running with me pretty consistently, averaging about 10-20 miles most weeks.
Toula showing off her speed. PC: Ryan Williams
Well, she’s eight now. As I’ve been evolving as a dog owner and runner, I’m learning to listen to my body as well as hers. Each run, I pay attention to her non-verbal communication and recognize when it’s just too much for her. She’s more of a 5-6 mile doggie nowadays. Similarly, I’ve also had to rethink my own running: how can I get my training in but still keep some miles with my training buddy?
I’ve realized that if I want Toula to run with me, I have to adjust my expectations, routes, paces, and work within her comfort area. Short, easy runs close to home are my “Toula-time”. If she’s feeling spunky, she’ll even join me for a 30-40 minute tempo run.
It’s also worth mentioning that younger dogs, especially those under 1 year, are not supposed to run very far. Always check with your vet for what they recommend. For Toula, my vet has affirmed me as a good observer of her limits. Thanks Dr. Jones, you’ve made me feel like a quality coach for humans and animals!
Lesson 3 – Have a variety of leash options.
Maybe it’s just living with an independently-minded terrier, but every month I have some new leash I’m using for Toula. I have a leather leash, a lighter pink leash, one that’s extendable, and, at one point, had another tethered leash. (Side note, the tethered leash proved a miserable experience for both Toula and me) Not that I ever talk about it with bike friends, but I liken my smorgasbord of leashes to a cycle enthusiast’s garage; they have a bike for touring, a bike for climbing, one for gravel, technical singletrack, flowing singletrack, etc. You get the picture!
For no obvious rhyme or reason, Toula takes well to the leather leash for running on the road. I can’t complain either: it’s durable, snaps tight, not too heavy, and, most importantly, I know the hook isn’t going to break.
The pink leash is my everyday leash that’s also really great if I’m going to let Toula off-leash in the woods. It’s super lightweight and easily carried in my vest or belt when she’s roaming free.
Lastly, the extendable leash. While it’s ideal for running on trails where I think I’ll encounter other people frequently, it’s slightly less ideal when it’s constantly getting caught on trees. Toula has a particular knack for darting to the left of the tree after I’ve gone to the right, and vice versa. Hopefully your life will be simple and you’ll only need the one for running with your dog. If you have a terrier, probably not.
A muddy Toula and the aforementioned pink leash. PC: Ryan Williams
Lesson 4 – Be wary of off-leash and always carry treats.
If Toula is going to go off-leash I always use a whistle/clicker combo. I’ve trained her extensively with this, and it shows. She responds to it like a border collie at a herding competition.
Not to give my dog training ability too much credit, Toula’s acutely aware that I’m running with rotisserie chicken in my vest and, if she comes back, a piece is hers. But, it took me a long time to train this. We practiced for hours at local high school baseball fields we knew were enclosed areas. I’m now confident Toula will respond and return 99.9999% of the time, again, mainly because of the chicken.
If you aren’t confident in your training, or your dog’s ability to recall, definitely avoid letting your dog off-leash. Sure, it sounds glamorous and romantic to have your dog running wild and free, but if they don’t recall, you’re in for a stressful, scary run that can put you and your dog in some dangerous situations. Also, make sure you check your local laws for restrictions on off-leash dogs.
Lesson 5 – Dogs need to fuel and hydrate too!
Just like we need to fuel our efforts, so do our canine pals. Let them join in the fueling fun and bring along their favorite treat–unless it is peanut butter because that is going to get messy, especially if your dog has a beard. You like pierogies at an ultra aid station? I’m sure your four-legged friend would be happy to indulge too! so extend the same joy to your doggie. I roll with the chicken or beef sticks and, especially in summer, always have water. With so many excellent collapsible bowl options that can easily fit into a vest or dog harness, it’s not hard to set them up for hydration success.
Lesson 5 – Set your expectations and have fun running with your dog!
Running with your dog is an amazing bonding experience. If it’s something you’re drawn to as well, here’s a reminder to just enjoy being in that space. Don’t set yourself up for stress or disappointment if you’re not hitting your paces or distances. Go out and have fun knowing that you are giving your dog some amazing exercise and a truly exciting adventure. Toula doesn’t join me for speed workout days, and I drop her off at home before I do strides. I mean, what dog wants to do 6X45 seconds hill strides? I can hear her now: “Why are we running up and down this inclined neighborhood road? There are smelly woods over there to explore. Or, better yet, an air conditioned room, comfy sofa and another episode on Animal Planet!”
Ryan Williams is a parent, proud dog dad, athlete and coach who believes running is a metaphor for life. He specializes in forming positive bonds with runners of all ages, distances, and abilities from couch-to-5k to ultramarathon.
