“How much should my legs hurt after a long run?” AKA: Painful legs

I mentioned in my last entry that one of the most frequently searched term that gets people to these pages goes something like this: “how much should my legs hurt after a long run?” I’ve seen this question asked in about forty different ways, including “should my legs feel like someone is cutting them off [...]

Motivation: A little bit o’ stubborn

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it takes to be a marathon runner. It’s the time of year when runners are starting to struggle with knee problems and other injuries – and this leads them to question whether they’re cut out to be marathon runners. It’s also the time of year when people [...]

Motivation: Running Reminders

I was grumpy yesterday afternoon. I admit it, I was in a bad mood. I wanted to take a nap. I kind of wanted to either yell at someone or just go to sleep. The last thing I wanted to do was go on a run. I admit it, I’ve been in the training [...]

Hagg Lake Part IV: Two trail shoes go toe-to-toe in the mud

[Part four of a four part series on Coach Joe’s experiences at the Hagg Lake 50K Ultra-marathon]
In getting ready for the Hagg Lake 50K trail run, choosing the right shoe came front and center to be a key issue for me. Shoe selection is always critical, but this race would be different for me. First [...]

Hagg Lake Part III: That’s deep man!

[Part three of a four part series on Coach Joe’s experiences at the Hagg Lake 50K Ultra-marathon, For part II, click here. To start at the beginning, click here.]
I hope that we learn things from everything we do. My first Ultra was an astonishing experience in many ways. For one thing, I’m sure there [...]

Hagg Lake 50K Part II: Bring it on!

[Part two of a four part series on Coach Joe’s experiences at the Hagg Lake 50K Ultra-marathon. For Part I, click here.]
We’ve already covered the first three miles of the race and now we’re just hitting the trail. After running down hill for the past mile and a half, the pace was considerably quicker than [...]

Hagg Lake 50K Part I: What is that beat? A tango?

[Part one of a four part series on Coach Joe’s experiences at the Hagg Lake 50K Ultra-marathon]
It’s 11:30PM and I’m sitting in the bathroom thinking “great.” I already have diarrhea. This is going to be fun. I have to be up in about four and half hours and my body is not cooperating. Not only [...]

Rules: Which side of the road should I run on?

This story starts with a little argument that broke out on a run last weekend. It wasn’t a fight between my running partners and me – although that happens at times. This one broke out between me and a driver.
The more that you run, the more you’ll run into people that dislike the fact that [...]