Racing: Kenya says air quality not a problem in Beijing; will field a team for the Olympics

NAIROBI, March 21 (Xinhua) — Kenya will send a team to participate in the marathon competition of the Beijing Olympic Games, said the head of the Kenya National Olympic Committee following a statement from the Ethipoian world marathon record holder Haile Gebrselassie that he intends to opt out of the marathon in Beijing.
[...]

Racing: Hitting the wall and late mile motivation (part I)

A reader in Australia asked me great question today. Here’s a bit of the e-mail:
“. . .how do I get myself to finish a marathon after hitting the 20 mile wall when there are minimal spectators to cheer me on? The two times I ran [marathons in Chicago] I found out how significant the crowd’s [...]

Racing: Hitting the wall and late mile motivation (part II)

[This is part II of a two-part article. Click here to go to the start.]
It’s on the brain
With all of that said, there are mental aspects to the late miles of the race as well. If you think carefully about what I just wrote, I said that it should be getting progressively harder to run [...]

Motivation: Without fanfare

Yesterday afternoon I received the most amazing text from my friend Karl Johnson. The message read:
“40 miles, 8 hours and 16 minutes. Time to taper and binge drink for a month . . . just not in that order. Work is going to be awesome in the morning.”
What is amazing about this message is not [...]

Motivation: Pushing beyond your comfort zone

What does it feel like to run a marathon? I’ve often said that I can’t put it into words or describe it. That it’s just something that you have to experience to understand.
Anyone that has ever run a marathon understands this immediately. It’s something that you can’t put your finger on.
Running a marathon [...]

Motivation: A great literary reference

I always love it when I find something that would be inspiring to runners in a movie or book. Here’s something that I think is fitting for both veteran and beginners marathon runners out there. I love how it speaks to our long adventure and the fact that we are seeking something - and perhaps [...]

Training and Motivation: dealing with pre-race anxiety

I have a number of athletes that are getting ready for the Marathons this weekend. With the race on Sunday, I’m thinking about what’s going through their minds. If I had a way to peek into their brains and read their thoughts, this is probably what I’d hear:
“OOOOOHHHHH XXXX!!!!”
You pick the explicative to fill in [...]

Motivation: Get right back up and run again

Every once in awhile I get a reminder. A reminder that things are not going to go as well as I planned.
Yesterday morning I was running along a quite trail in the woods. I have to admit, I wasn’t really enjoying myself. I was a little tight, and hot, and maybe a bit grumpy. [...]