GutBuster time!
Are you ready for Vancouver Islands premier trail running series? Race Website The GutBuster website can be found at www.gutbustertrailrun.com Date/Time GB001::Mt Tzouhalem (May 17th, 2009) GB002::Colliery Dam (May 31st, 2009) GB003::Royal Roads (July 12th, 2009) GB004::Mt Doug (July 26th, 2009) GB005:Mt Washington (August 8th, 2009) About the Races The FRONTRUNNERS GutBuster... Read More
No Gym Necessary
A new study shows that manual-resistance exercises work just as well as weight-based exercises. Written by Matt Allyn and published on Active.com. ========= Building muscle and strength doesn’t require a gym membership, or even weights, according to a new study from the University of Texas-El Paso. In a new test of manual resistance exercises, where a training partner... Read More
Ultra Runner Classification System
If you’re an ultra runner or have at least ocasionally dabbled in the sport be sure to check out Rob Mackay’s lastest posting on his blog titled: An ultra classification system. In it he attempts to classify the different types of ultra runners one might see at your average ultra race. Here’s an excerpt: =========== Being an evil marketer I am constantly segmenting... Read More
Top 10 Toughest Races in the World
The National Geographic Adventure blog has just published their list of the Top 10 Toughest Races in the world. The races include a number of disciplines, here’s a summary (in reverse order): The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race World Bog Snorkeling Championships Furnace Creek 508 Arrowhead 135-mile Winter Ultramarathon Manhattan Island Marathon Swim Barkley Marathon Extreme... Read More
It’s Time to Make a Coffee Run
Written by Gina Kolata and published in the New York Times, March 25, 2009 =============== WELDON JOHNSON first tried caffeine as a performance enhancer in 1998. He was not a coffee drinker but had heard that caffeine could make him run faster. So he went to a convenience store before a race and drank a cup of coffee. For the first time in his life, he ran 10 kilometers in less... Read More
After the Sun Run, on to Victoria
From the Vancouver Sun: VICTORIA – Brent Fougner, race manager for the inaugural Times Colonist 10K, recalls thinking how impressive it was that 1,700 runners showed up in 1990. On April 26, a throbbing ribbon of humanity comprising more than 12,000 participants is expected to snake its way through city streets for the 20th annual Times Colonist 10K. It is the second largest... Read More
Ten Unknown Treks
Backpacker.com has recently put together an excellent list of ten undiscovered treks. They include the following: Pyrenees Traverse, France Cape Wrath Trail, Scotland Zillertal Alps, Austria Tongariro Northern Circuit and Heaphy Track, New Zealand Cordillera Apolobamba, Bolivia Overland Track, Australia Sarek National Park, Sweden Rolwaling and Khumbu Valleys, Nepal Polar Route,... Read More
Trail-running tips
Follow these tips for happy trails wherever you run. 1. Run tall. Running, especially uphill, can be exhausting, but if you bend under the effort it’s more difficult for the lungs to do their thing. On the uphill, keep an eye at the crest or a few yards ahead, not at your feet. If you’re gasping, slow down and pump your arms a little, or if you need to, walk, while keeping... Read More
Study Zeroes In on Calories, Not Diet, for Loss
From the New York Times — For people who are trying to lose weight, it does not matter if they are counting carbohydrates, protein or fat. All that matters is that they are counting something. This is what researchers from Boston have found and have reported in a recently published study in the New England Journal of Medicine. In summary, more than 800 overweight adults were... Read More
More Than 1 in 10 People Cycle in Some Vancouver Neighborhoods
The City of Vancouver has just released its 2008 / 2009 Cycling Statistics Update. The report contains a lot of details but Frances Bula on the State of Vancouver blog has summarized the important points nicely: =========== - just over 40 per cent of people who live in the Downtown or West End walk or cycle to work. (For the city as a whole, it’s 16 per cent; for all of Metro,... Read More
An Interview with Keith Livingstone, Healthy Intelligent Training
Christopher Kelsall’s latest interview is will Kiwi athlete, coach and author Keith Livingstone. Keith is a Lydiard method enthusist, and has just published a book on the famous training method titled: Healthy Intelligent Training (H.I.T). This is a long interview, but if you are a fan of the Lydiard method then it is well worth the read. Note: this interview was originally... Read More
Top 50 Adventure Books of All Time
Are you a book and adventure lover? NileGuidance , a popular travel blog, has just published its list of the top 50 adventure books of all time. The list is well-received and comprehensive, with the books covering subjects ranging from surviving mountaineering disasters to musings by the likes of Hemingway and Aldo Leopold. Following are the first 10 books, for the complete list... Read More
The Coastal Challenge 2009
In just a few days Trainharder.com’s own Donald "Jarhead" Peterson will be running the Fifth Edition of The World’s Expedition Run™ Set for February 1st through 6th in Southern Costa Rica The Coastal Challenge is the “World’s Expedition Run™,” releasing runners over approximately 225 – 250 kilometers of exotic and wild Costa Rican mountainous regions... Read More
Plan Your 2009 Race Season
It’s the new year and time to plan your 2009 training and racing scheduale. In a recent posting from Trifuel.com, triathlete coach Matt Russ offers steps for athletes to plan a successful racing year. He recommends dividing races into A, B, and C races in order to plan a calendar that won’t leave you overwhelmed… ======================= This is an excellent time... Read More
10 Active Ways to Celebrate the Holidays
Getting the modivation to exercise, smack in-between Christmas and New Years, can be challenging. But there are ways in which we can be active without beging active. In other words, forget that interval workout and try going for a hike instead. For more ideas, Mark Sisson, who blogs about fitness and nutrition on his blog, The Daily Apple , suggests 10 ways to stay active during... Read More
Don’t Starve a Cold of Exercise
New York Times fitness writer Gina Kolata writes about exercise and colds is her latest article…. ============== YOU have what seems to be a really bad cold. You are coughing and sneezing, and it is hard to breathe. Should you work out? And if you do, should you push yourself as hard as ever or take it easy? Will exercise have no effect, or make you feel better or worse? It... Read More
101 Running Books To Read Before You Die – Part 2
Its Christmas Eve! There’s still time for shopping for that runner on your list! Jesse Squire of The Final Sprint website has published the second installment of his 101 top books relating to running and track. Each listed title includes a short description of the book, ideal for helping us pick the perfect volume for that runner on our Christmas list. Here are the second... Read More
101 Running Books To Read Before You Die
Jesse Squire of The Final Sprint website has recently put together a list of 101 top books relating to running and track. Each listed title includes a short description of the book, ideal for helping us pick the perfect volume for that runner on our Christmas list. Here are the first 10 books in the list in no particular order: Lon, by Don Potts – Tafnews Press, 1993 A former... Read More
The World’s Healthiest Countries
Mark Sisson (of Mark’s Daily Apple ) has just posted a very interested article on some of the world’s healthiest countries and what we can learn from them. ====== More than anything, the Primal Blueprint is a pragmatic approach to diet and lifestyle. It is not dogma; rather, it is based on empirical evidence suggesting that following the diet and many lifestyle behaviors... Read More
Born To Run
Writer and sports geek Andrew Braithwaite’s work has appeared in The Walrus, Azure and Toro. He also maintains a blog called the Sportstrotter, from which this latest article on marathon running appears. For the full posting please visit Andrew’s blog . ======= PARIS—In 490 BC, a Greek military leader entrusted the messenger Pheidippides with an important communiqué:... Read More
