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Archive | Health and Wellness

How to Prevent and Self-Treat Shin Splints

By on September 12, 2015 in Guest Perspective, Health and Wellness, Injury

ShinSplints_ArrowsThe term shin splints, also known as an anterior compartment syndrome, refers to pain along the shinbone (tibia), the large bone in the front of your lower leg.

Shin splints can be excruciatingly painful to the point that you may struggle to walk or run. They are typically caused by inflammation in the anterior muscle of the lower leg known as the anterior tibialis muscle.

This is the primary muscle needed to lift your foot. Shin splints are often considered an over use injury and unfortunately, are relatively common in runners.

Discover the common causes for shin splints and implement these strategies to prevent and self-treat shin splints. Continue Reading →

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12 Strategies to Prevent and Self-Treat Muscle Cramping

By on June 16, 2015 in Guest Perspective, Health and Wellness, Injury

RunningInjuryOnCalfMuscle cramping and spasming can significantly derail your best intentioned race plans.

A muscle cramp or spasm is a sudden, involuntary, and typically severe muscle contraction.

Thankfully, it’s very rare for a muscle spasm or cramp to permanently damage the muscle. However, the cramp or spasm can produce mild to excruciating pain. The pain can be very short lived or linger for days after a severe episode.

Unfortunately, muscle cramping can affect your performance. Common causes of muscle cramping include overexertion, prolonged immobility, dehydration, and electrolyte imbalances. Continue Reading →

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Low Back Pain Prevention for Runners

By on May 14, 2015 in Guest Perspective, Health and Wellness, Injury

StandingBackExtensionsLow back pain (LBP) is one of the most prevalent medical conditions treated in the United States and throughout the western world.

It is also the most common source of pain for runners. Runners often suffer from low back pain due to prolonged sitting and weak core muscles.

LBP can be safely self-treated if you handle your pain and symptoms quickly. In this post you will learn how to implement prevention strategies during exercise in order to avoid episodes of LBP. Continue Reading →

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10 Questions About Pregnancy and Marathon Training

By on March 31, 2015 in Health and Wellness, Safety

photo credit: Michael Hollander; Flickr Creative Commons

photo credit: Michael Hollander; Flickr Creative Commons

Many women have asked me if it’s possible to safely run and train for a marathon while pregnant.

This is a very important question and I’ve thought about dedicating a whole podcast episode to this topic.

Well, lo and behold I was recently invited to speak about this on the Run Run Live podcast. A big thanks to Chris Russell for having me on the show! You can hear me on episode 4-308.

Chris sent over 10 really great questions about pregnancy and running that he wanted me to tackle during the interview.

Here are the answers I gave based on my own experience of running through two pregnancies and the science I’ve read on this topic. Continue Reading →

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Run More and Recover Better

By on December 20, 2014 in Beginner, Health and Wellness

IMG_2443Here’s a question from our Academy Facebook group:

“Ran my first marathon yesterday at the Dallas Marathon. One thought I had often “how the heck does Angie do back to back marathons without falling apart?!” –Ashley

First of all a big congratulations goes out to Ashley for running her first marathon! I certainly wasn’t thinking about running multiple marathons before or during my first marathon in 2008. It was just one of those big challenges that I had to do.

At the time I didn’t have any friends who were runners and didn’t know anyone personally who’d ever run a marathon. Despite making lots of mistakes in training I crossed the finish line in 4:10 and knew that I’d run another marathon.

However, ITBS (iliotibial band syndrome) forced me to lay off running for the next several months. But I knew that I’d learn from my mistakes and come back stronger. I recovered properly, trained smarter and ran a marathon in 2009 breaking four hours. From there it was a process of learning more, setting bigger goals and running more marathons.

Now I’ve run 29 marathons and know that there are many, many more in my future. Here are my tips for running more and recovering more quickly whether your goal is to run more 5ks or marathons: Continue Reading →

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Still Running after Parkinson’s and Brain Surgery – Interview with Rhonda Foulds

By on December 13, 2014 in Health and Wellness, Motivation, Podcasts

Rhonda Lee Foulds

Rhonda Lee Foulds

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I met Rhonda Foulds at the starting line of the A2A Marathon in Ardmore, Oklahoma, earlier this this year. We later became Facebook friends and she has become one of my biggest sources of inspiration.

In this podcast episode you will hear how Rhonda, a mother of three boys, witnessed her health and fitness deteriorate due to early onset Parkinson’s Disease and was forced to stop running and doing other things she loved.

In the years that followed she became very tired and depressed, gained weight, and needed wheelchair assistance.

In 2003 Rhonda underwent a procedure called “DBS” (Deep Brain Stimulation) which places electrodes in certain areas of the brain to block the signals of Parkinson’s.

The surgery was a success and she began to reclaim her health and fitness one mile at a time. She has lost close to 100 pounds, gone from thirty-three medications to zero and has now completed over eighty half marathons, eighteen full marathons and two ultras.

Rhonda is proof that you really do have what it takes to run a marathon and change your life!

Continue Reading →

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The Aging Marathoner – How Getting Older Affects Your Running

By on October 7, 2014 in Health and Wellness, Masters Runner, Podcasts

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I envision myself running my whole life but I’d never really thought about how the “mechanics” of aging would affect my running.

Hopefully by digging into this topic now those of us who are younger can be mentally prepared and able to gracefully adjust to the natural slow-down that comes with age.

This should also be a help and encouragement to those runners who are noticing an age related slow-down in their running.
Continue Reading →

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Tips For Improving Your Sleep

By on July 19, 2014 in Health and Wellness

In a previous post I talked about the importance of getting quality sleep during your marathon training.

If you have not read this post or heard the accompanying podcast episode, the main take-a-way is this: Sleep has a huge impact on your athletic performance!

Now I want to give you nine tips on how to improve the quantity and quality of your sleep so you can be a stronger, happier runner. Continue Reading →

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Getting Quality Sleep During Your Marathon Training

By on July 5, 2014 in Health and Wellness, Podcasts

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I must admit that I love to sleep. I was this way even as a child where I could sleep nearly anywhere. Even in my teenage years I would happily sleep 10 hours a night.

This started to change when I had to work 12 hour night shifts in my early years as a nurse. Then, unfortunately our oldest son did not share my sentiments about sleep and his babyhood was literally a rude awakening for me.

The first year of his life made me doubt if I’d ever sleep through the night again. Parents of young children can probably relate to this.

Now maybe you’re not as fixated on sleep as I am but most people underestimate its importance and many struggle with sleep difficulties. Continue Reading →

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I Should Not Be a Runner

By on June 18, 2014 in Guest Perspective, Health and Wellness, Motivation

Eyrn_LynumGuest blogger Eryn Lynum shares her epic journey of finding life, health, and running after Addison’s disease and anorexia.

I should not be a runner.

In fact, there are a lot of things I should not be. I should not be a mother. I should not be a writer. I should not be healthy. I should not even be alive.

When I was fourteen years old my adrenal glands gave up on me. Or rather they put up one heck of a fight yet lost their arduous battle against my very confused immune system, which attacked them until they were completely destroyed.

Never again would I feel the heart throbbing thrill that rushes through your veins as you peak the top of a roller coaster, and then let gravity have its way as you race back to the bottom. Never again would I take a simple ride in an elevator without an inevitable and debilitating dizzy spell at the end. Never again could I trust my body to come to my rescue with its “fight or flight” response when I was in a bind and needed just that extra bit of super strength or endurance. Continue Reading →

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Taking Care of Your Amazing Feet

By on April 1, 2014 in Health and Wellness, Podcasts

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During the course of a marathon the average runner will take between 30,000-40,000 steps so it’s obvious we rely on our feet a lot!

I’ve read that the running motion causes impact forces on a runner’s feet 2-3 times his/her body weight.

This episode and blog post is all about taking care of your amazing feet that survive 26.2 miles of pavement pounding each marathon.

I will give you a little anatomy lesson about the foot, and information on how to deal with problems like blisters, arch pain, plantar fasciitis and more. Your feet will love it! Continue Reading →

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How Running Improves Your Body Image

By on May 31, 2013 in Health and Wellness, Podcasts, Weight Loss

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I‘ve been thinking a lot about body image in recent weeks. Why do so many of us struggle to love our bodies?

The more I studied the topic of negative body image and the never ending attempt to attain physical “perfection” the more disturbed I became. It is sad that a large marjority of people are dissatisfied with their bodies and often go to dangerous lengths to change it. I admit that I’ve been guilty of body dissatisfaction and I have purposed in my mind to start changing that.

This episode is all about body image. I want to show you how the Western concept of beauty is influencing the world and suggest three ways to improve your body image. You will also be inspired to hear how real people from the MTA community are using running to change the way they look at their bodies.

Continue Reading →

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