Tapering

By Ben Connelly At last, we come to the final phase of training: tapering. For tired runners, ready for a rest after many weeks of high mileage and hard workouts, tapering comes as a welcome relief. For other runners, tapering feels paradoxically wrong; the runs feel too short to count and the newfound ease seems strangely uncomfortable.... More

Battle Buddy Series – A Prayer for The Wallflower

By Darian McIntosh The last year and a half have seen more changes than an average year and a half for most, I suspect. I can say that that is true for me and my family. Truthfully, my average daily life began to change a little over four years ago and while the changes have mostly all been positive, a few things have been difficult. After ... More

Why Carboloading is a Mistake (and What to Do Instead)

By Ben Connelly When I was in high school, my teammates and I used to routinely gather the night before a 5k to eat enormous quantities of food – usually pasta, pizza, bread, cookies, and brownies. At the time, we actually thought this would improve our times. Luckily, we were at an age where our digestion and metabolism could keep up, ... More

Battle Buddy Series – A Prayer for the NOT So Good Sport

By Darian McIntosh That’s where excellent sportsmanship comes in. Last time, I discussed the wonderful displays of sportsmanship I was seeing during the many different Olympic events. It was motivating to see so many athletes that were truly happy for their opponent on such a large scale. There were a multitude of inspirational tales ... More

Eating Before and During a Run (Race)

By Ben Connelly It is never too late to start practicing your prerace routine. One of the most important parts of that routine is eating.  Likewise, it is never too late to start practicing eating during long runs. What and how you eat during your race can make or break it. Today, I plan to break down both of these topics and give ... More

Olympic Dreams

By Ben Connelly As I type this, the 2020 (2021) Tokyo Olympics are underway, with the United States leading the overall medal count and in third place for gold medal count. The Olympic Marathon, is about a week away (Friday, August 6th for women and Saturday, August 7th for men).  Whether or not you are watching any of this year’s ... More

Battle Buddy Series – A Prayer for the Future Olympian?

By Darian McIntosh I am not a sports fan. My husband is. When we sit down to watch TV together, I am afraid I have selfishly influenced the channels we settle on and do more than my fair share of remote-controlling. Much to my husband’s chagrin, the channel surfing never lands on ESPN or TSN (the Canadian equivalent) when we tune in as a ... More

Carbohydrates for Marathoners Part 2

By Ben Connelly I wanted to follow up last week’s post by delving deeper into some specifics on carbohydrate consumption during marathon training. Carbohydrates are crucial to fueling long runs and recovery (for every athlete, not just runners). But the average American runner probably eats enough carbohydrates to meet those needs. ... More

Battle Buddy Series – A Prayer for the Easily Distracted

By Darian McIntosh I don’t know about you, but I think that collectively speaking, we hold ourselves accountable to someone or something of a higher power. For me, it is someone: God. I am not trying to get into a religious debate but I am merely here to make a point. And the point is, that to me, God has a sense of humor.  Case in ... More

Carbohydrates for Marathoners

by Ben Connelly Even many non-runners have heard about the importance of eating carbohydrates during marathon training. But with many conflicting theories of nutrition, even seasoned veterans can feel confused. I hope to clear up some misconceptions today.  Glycogen and Tapering: Marathon runners are commonly advised to increase ... More