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Lead Stories: Sunday, September 7, 2008

97th ING Bay to Breakers Returns on Sunday in San Francisco

Posted May 14th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

Part parade, part fashion show, and part road race, the 97th ING Bay to Breakers returns to the streets of San Francisco on Sunday, and organizers expect some 70,000 runners and walkers (about half of them unregistered) to take part.

Up front, the race is serious business. Elite athlete coordinator Josh Muxen has assembled a strong field to chase a $74,000 prize money purse, including a special $25,000 ING Battle to the Breakers bonus which will be awarded to the first athlete to cross the finish line. That could be a man or it could be a woman; women are given a four minute and 40 second headstart based on the difference between the male (33:42) and female (38:22) course records.

In addition, there is a $5000 bonus for the first man and first woman to reach the top of Hayes Street Hill, a beast of a climb which begins at the two mile mark on Franklin Street, rises 201 feet, and covers a distance of 0.69 miles. Athletes can pocket the bonus as long as they also finish in the top-20.
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Beat the Running Blahs

Posted April 18th, 2008 at 9:00 AM by Katie Drummond

Section: Running & Training, Training Tips, Cross Training, Health & Fitness, Exercise

Sometimes, it feels like nothing could be more rewarding than a long run in the fresh spring air. Your legs are weightless, the day is windless, and the minutes seem to fly by.

But what about those other days? You know, when you feel like you crawled out of bed to fall flat on the road, or your same old route feels blah and you can’t stop checking your watch. How do you to combat boredom in your running routine, keep things interesting, and sustain a challenging fitness lifestyle that leaves you wondering what’s next, instead of counting the seconds until you can hit the showers and grab a coffee?

Read the rest of this entry at our partner site: HerActiveLife.com

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Hill Repeats vs. Weight Training: Which training workout is more important?

Posted March 16th, 2007 at 11:30 AM by Jim Fortner

Section: Running & Training, Training Tips

Jim Fortner is a weekly, guest contributor to TFS. Also check out his own personal running and advice site: “Jim2’s Running Page”.

I wholeheartedly agree with the value of hill repeats. Too many runners overlook them and focus almost entirely on intervals and tempo runs. Hard hill repeats provide both strength and cardio-respiratory development; making them an essential ingredient of any serious runner’s regimen. In addition, as many easy and long runs as possible should include some hills, rather than being completely flat.

Hills are a great resistance training tool for strength development … and not just in the form of structured hill repeats. Let me explain:
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Switch it up and challenge yourself with a trail running adventure!

Posted January 22nd, 2007 at 2:30 PM by Kathryn Magro

Section: Running & Training, Training Tips, Cross Training, Health & Fitness, Exercise

We’ve all experienced that day when we finally grow tired of seeing the same houses and landmarks along our running route. What’s a runner to do? Fear no more! Add some excitement, change your scenery, enjoy nature and increase your workout intensity by trying: Trail Running!

Trail running typically takes place on hills, mountains, hiking paths, etc - and is exponentially growing in popularity among runners, triathletes, hikers and other athletes. As a matter of fact, there are now approximately 6.5 million regular trail runners in the United States. The main allures of trail running comes from the more challenging and scenic courses. Constant changes in terrain are common; therefore, proper training and equipment are recommended before participating in any sort of formal races or events.
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Other stories of interest: January 9, 2007

Posted January 9th, 2007 at 4:00 AM by Allyson Rosen

Section: News & Results

From time to time TFS will try and highlight other stories that you might find of interest:

Free the Mind and Fewer Injuries May Follow — NY Times

Feel the anger (why snow is good for you)… — YourRunning.com

World Record Eludes Amputee Marathoner – CanadianRunner.com

Karnazes: All About Passion — RunAthena.com

Running sites you should visit — JustYourAverageJoggler.com

GPS addiction with Motionbased & Everytrail – Trail Runner’s Blog

Five Ways to Stay Motivated — EndurancePlanet.com

Why don’t people join running clubs anymore? — Gary Moller Online

Head for the hills — ThatsFit.com

A Bitter Pill to Swallow — Washington Post
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Benefits of hill training & inclined runs

Posted December 2nd, 2006 at 11:00 AM by Jenna Sumara

Section: Running & Training, Training Tips

Many runners avoid hills like the plague. When mapping out routes for training runs or even races to run in, runners will stay as far away as possible from anything that even remotely resembles an incline. Often, if faced with no choice but to run the hill, runners will choose to walk it and reserve energy for the remainder (and flatter!) position of the route or course. While it’s true that hills can provide difficult, and even sometimes dangerous, challenges - runners can also derive tremendous benefits from the occasional hill workout. Read the rest of this entry »

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Adjusting Your Race Plan: How to Battle the Elements & Other Unexpected Obstacles

Posted August 31st, 2006 at 4:00 AM by Jim Fortner

Section: Running & Training, Motivation, Training Tips

A note from TFS: Jim Fortner is a weekly, guest contributor to The Final Sprint. Make sure to also check out “Jim2’s Running Page”, his own personal running and advice site.

Below you will find his latest post about adjusting your race plan when you are faced with issues of weather, hills and crowded starts. I think you will find it to be extremely helpful.

Generally, all of my comments about race strategy and pacing assume ideal race conditions. Specifically, good marathoning weather, an unencumbered start and a flat course. However, it is necessary to adjust or tailor a race plan to allow for any of these conditions being less than ideal…..and you can almost count on one or more of them happening. Your question gives me an opportunity to look at them. Hope you don’t mind.

Weather
Like the old saying says, you can’t do anything about bad weather, except complain. Good marathon conditions require no higher than 50 degrees temperature and 50 percent humidity (the marathoner’s 50-50 rule of thumb). Anything over 60 degrees or 60 percent is considered “red or yellow flag conditions” or a “hot weather marathon” for most marathoners. Read the rest of this entry »

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