To get faster or stronger or even to build endurance, every experienced runner needs speedwork. This is the first of a series of episodes on speedwork for runners, what is a speedworkout, who should do it, how to add it to your running schedule, how often, types of speed training, how to maximize benefits, and what not to do.

The month of December tests every runner's resolve like no other. Plenty of reasons not to run, plenty of other activities, pulling in other directions, but runners must resist the tendency to give up running training with the idea of starting anew in the new year. That is always a bad idea. In this episode, Deb explains the mindset of realism and compromise and announces a challenge for all listeners that provides both motivation and accountability for running through year end.

Let's go back to the basics of how to move when you run, head to toe, from where to look, to the nuances of effective arm technique, what not to do and physical cues to help with practicing good running form. While everyone's form will be unique, based on their body, minor adjustments will still pay off with greater comfort, improved endurance, greater speed, and fewer running injuries, all good reasons to focus on running form during every mile of every run.

Fartleks are unstructured speed workouts that can be incorporated into any running workout. Infinitely variable, fartlek workouts are running fun. Long-popular with experienced runners, these segmented runs don't require a track, and can be done by any runner or group of runners, of any level at any location, without a watch.

A successful training cycle, one that ends in a successful goal race, depends on two things, an effective training schedule, and careful execution of that schedule, but all that starts with finding the right schedule, one that fits with the runner's fitness level, lifestyle, experience, and preferences. It's easy to find a running plan; the trick is to pick the one best suited to you.

The almighty taper is a thing of beauty. Most experienced runners, and certainly any runner who's trained with a coach, knows about this masterpiece of training theory. No amount or type of training, no training regimen, however well executed, will fulfill its potential unless it ends with the appropriate taper period. If you're not familiar with the idea of tapering for a goal race, this episode will convince you never to omit this from another training cycle. If you are familiar with...

Every runner will benefit from learning these basic running training principles, the ones that have proven the test of time. These guidelines provide the framework for virtually all running training schedules. Understanding them will provide any runner with the knowledge to analyze various schedules or to create a simple and basic one, and that understanding will also help any runner make minor adjustments when they're following a schedule.

Some runners love their treadmills, doing most of their running, inside, and others call them 'dreadmills.' Find out the various benefits, while discovering ways to make your treadmill workout both entertaining and beneficial.

Running on a rebounder, also known as a mini trampoline, is a great option for enhancing running fitness in a way that complements running outdoors and provides a low cost, convenient means of training indoors during bad weather or just for a fun change. The soft surface will allow for adding more miles with no pounding, and when it's hot out, being inside will likely result in more overall training. The plyometric element strengthens muscles, tendons, and ligaments in a different way from...

Coach Deb Voiles announces topics for many upcoming episodes and asks listeners to use the Record button on the new Mojo for Running website to send questions. Then, she expands on one particularly important upcoming topic, one of the most pressing problems for most running communities, the issue of runners being locked out of public tracks in many cities across the nation.

Running trails is more demanding than road running, but it's also more satisfying in many ways, not the least of which is that it improves road running performance. Running trails requires strong feet and ankles, and it demands a whole different technique. It's more different from road running than most people expect.

Every runner will find tremendous satisfaction, benefit, and fulfillment from running off road, preferably, on wooded trails with varied surfaces and a bit of undulation. The benefits are many and varied. Improve your 'on road' running, build endurance, and reduce injuries. Learn to run trails, and those will likely be your favorite, most treasured miles from now on.

Your running training will be most effective when you correctly apply the hard easy principle, but too many runners don't fully understand how to apply it, and as a result, they run their easy runs too fast, preventing recovery, and thereby, preventing the adaptation needed for improvement.

It’s that time again, time to carefully consider what we should do in 2020 to take our running and our lives to the next level. Since the options for running resolutions are almost infinite, I thought I’d provide some insight into the advantages of some types of resolutions and the pitfalls of others. In this episode of the Mojo for Running Podcast, I discuss goal of more miles than you’ve done before, the goal of a longer distance than you’ve ever run before, the goal of maintaining a...

No time of the year challenges your commitment to running more than the holidays, the weeks between Thanksgiving and the new year. For that reason, I thought I’d share some my perspective in the hope that it will motivate you to stay the course. You, of course, may not run ‘all the miles,’ and I sure get that, as I explain, but you don’t want to let go of too many of your planned miles.  Let’s talk about that. To help with accountability, to give you just a little bit more of a nudge to...

Whether you are new to running or you’ve been running for years, there will be times when you stop running weeks or even months. Matybe you have a health issue, and maybe you had an injury. My runners miss long periods, sometimes, maybe due to caring for elderly parents, maybe due their own medical problems, and sometimes a running injury or some other injury that requires a long recovery period. Sometimes, it’s weeks of overtime or school. Three of my runners in the last half dozen years,...

Recently, Hubby and I actually went to a theater, which we hadn’t done in over a year, to see the movie, Brittany Runs a Marathon. In this episode I discuss that film, and, knowing that it will inspire many, that leads to the topic of running goals and running your first marathon. No worries, I don’t give away the plot. I hope you’ll listen, and in this episode, since I talk about running ‘your’ first marathon, I also suggest that you listen to the four-part series I did on running your...

Even before you were a runner, you had probably heard the oft repeated line, “Running is 90% mental.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard any long-time runner argue against this, because you realize pretty quickly that this is true. iF your mind wills it, if your heart is in it, if you have the necessary grit, the you will become a runner, and you will achieve the goals you set. It may take time, and it will certain require more mental tenacity than physical. This is what non-runners do not...

How is your running base coming along? This is one of the most critical considerations for any runner’s success, but in my experience, the great majority of recreational runners ignore it. With this episode of the Mojo for Running Podcast, I hope to raise awareness to motivate every listener to give this area of their running life the attention it deserves. A great percentage of your running success – or failure – will be due to a properly executed training, but if you miss a key area of...

Boston. That word inspires emotion in every runner, as it does with me. I’ve always been a word person, which is just part of the reason I was an English teacher for 15 years. I think about words. Those six letters move me. They have for years but much more, now. Six letters that, to me, carry a level of emotion just below the word, family, and that is saying a lot. Whether you’ve only watched the race on TV, been one of the thousands lining the race course on marathon race day, or you’re...

If you just do one exercise for your core, this should be it. Planks have many benefits for runners. In this episode, I explain the various ways of modifying the standard plank for even more benefit.  Adding this exercise to your cross training, will, I guarantee, impact your running performance and go a long way toward preventing injuries.  With publication of this episode, I’m launching a Plank Challenge. Instructions in the podcast. I hope you’ll participate. It starts on Sunday, May 26th.

I know very few runners not focused on getting better, improving their running performance, scoring PR’s, but sometimes there are ways to improve, even quite basic ways, that never become common knowledge to non-elite runners, certainly not common knowledge to people who aren’t working with a coach. One of the most basic concepts is periodization, which means, in case you didn’t listen to Episode 134, the period of training, usually several months, leading up to your goal race, and that...

Most runners run because they know it keeps them fit and because it’s a great hobby. For some, it’s mainly the camaraderie. Others are attracted by the endorphin rush, but virtually all runners also want to get faster.  Is that you? Even if you only do the occasional race, you may want to keep improving, set a new PR at least once in a while. Then there are also the hard core runners that mainly enjoy the competitive aspect. Whichever group you fall into, you will benefit from some basic...