An example:

MISSION COMPLETE: How to Become a Better Runner in 30 Days Series

runners blog

#30 Mission Complete

SNAPSHOT

I must be honest, 30 days of writing in a row contained some struggles but after completion, just like training and racing, I am a changed person, more experienced and I hope a better writer. It was a positive experience and I feel a sense of accomplishment. I set out a challenge, stuck with it, and had fun along the way.

Minnesota running blog

DIGGING DEEPER

At first, it was easy to find topics to write about. Oh, course I had to cover female training, sleeping, shoes (part 1 and 2), winter running, gear (including watches), treadmills, training plans, and sitting. But then came the inspirations day by day, like listing my runner’s phone uses, and when to stop or start running. The polar freeze brought topics of training partners, motivation, Minnesota play, and strength training. I love reading so I naturally shared favorite authors and books, as in Fatigue Tolerance, Fast or Slow, Older Runners, Runners Stretch. Topics close to my heart crept into the blog with Run Like a Kid, No Pretty Runners, A Runner’s Will, and Rest Days. My training partners brainstormed and uncovered a few gems like Runners Vacation and Running Friends.

Through all of these posts I shared knowledge and experiences along with links to articles and shopping. I hope this 30 day series is a resource for you and your training partners for many years. An added SEARCH BAR at the bottom of the page will aid you in finding the information you seek. Please share the posts in order to help others find joy in running.

How to be a better runner as a writer

Although my 30 days are up, I am not powering down the computer, since I have plans for weekly blog posts. And I am excited to bring into the discussion guest bloggers whose experience and viewpoint can enlighten us all. I am hoping to find another blog that will give me the chance to share my love for running with their community as a guest blogger. Perhaps these first ventures into select topics can continue to mature into published articles.

SOLUTION

Tomorrow when I wake up and don’t need to complete a blog, I will be sad, for I will miss our time together.

I am a learner, wanting to grow and grow. If you have ANY feedback for me as a writer and coach, please contact me. I value your thoughts. Thanks, friends!

LAST POST — This 30-day series is a quest for me as a writer, coach, and runner. I promise to write about running for 30 days in a row. In doing so I intend to gain in knowledge and expression of running and daily life. My hope is that we all grow together.

passionate running bloger

Older Runners: How to Become a Better Runner in 30 Days Series

older runners

#29 Older Runners

SNAPSHOT

OLD, a word I dislike. The word old takes away all the beneficial qualities of years of experience, knowledge, and mastery. I prefer the word MASTERS. In running once you pass your 40th birthday you are officially a masters runner. The men and women masters runners that I have trained and raced with throughout the years have colored my world, broken glass ceilings, and taught me the value of patience. THANK YOU!

older runner

DIGGING DEEPER

#1 You’re not old! You are still a growing developing individual seeking new challenges and experiences.

#2 You’re not who you use to be. Your mind is stronger, your actions wiser, and your experiences are more vast. However, your body has changed along with time. Don’t try to relive the past, instead forge a new future.

#3 Your past mileage counts for a lot! You have this wide foundation in which to draw upon. Don’t train like a beginner, train like an experienced runner.

Run Less Run Faster by Bill Pierce is my favorite book (I even have a signed copy from meeting him at a coaching seminar) detailing how to train as a masters runner. The combination of Pierce and training with the Willow Street Athletic Club’s masters runners I have shown me you can be an impressive runner into your master years.

masters running

HOW TO BE A MASTERS RUNNER

Strive For Realistic Goals and Progressions - Be your current YOU. You are impressive. I admire you. I want to be a masters runner chasing current personal records, just like you. As you progress through your training season give yourself flexibility in your training. You may have more traveling to navigate around or need extra time to recover from illness. Lower your expectations in training and racing and enjoy the experience and friendship community you have grown.

Complete Three Quality Runs- Quick, Steady, and Long. Hit these three paces most weeks of your training season and you will be set for toeing the line at your favorite races. The workouts don’t need to be long, just consistent. Your body has a great memory, able to rebuild central nervous, metabolic, and muscular systems quicker than in your early years of running.

Do Critical Cross-Training - Cash in all your years of mileage and replace some of your easy runs with cross-training activities. Recovery is critical for all runners, but especially for you. You need a few more days of recovery than in your early years. Enjoy cross-training and less pressure for weekly mileage goals.

Be Strong - You loose muscle each birthday year, shore up your muscle fiber count with a couple of short strengthen sessions a week, bodyweight training is quick and effective.

Stay Flexible - Be bendable. With the flexibility will come better mobility (a key to fewer injuries)

Be Adventurous- Yes, completing your 20th Thanksgiving Turkey Trot is admirable but you may find joy in trying a new distance, location, or terrain. Shake up your racing schedule and try a new race.

masters racing

SOLUTION

Masters runner, YOU AMAZE ME!

ONE DAY LEFT in my QUEST —This 30-day series is a quest for me as a writer, coach, and runner. I promise to write about running for 30 days in a row. In doing so I intend to gain in knowledge and expression of running and daily life. My hope is that we all grow together.

Runner's Vacation: How to Become a Better Runner in 30 Days Series

runners vacation running coach shelly Minnesota

#27 Runner’s Vacation

SNAPSHOT

Vacationing while training for a race can put a runner between a rock and a hard spot. No worries, I am here to help!

runners vacation running coach shelly Minnesota

DIGGING DEEPER

WHAT IS YOUR SITUATION?

NO TIME TO RUN

You may not have time to run during your trip because your trip calendar is packed to the max. Ok, plan a harder week before you leave and a harder week afterward. Caution: Don’t lose your flexibility. Stretch often.

TOO HOT TO RUN

Texas in the summer requires 4 am runs. Vacation and 4 am don’t mix well. So venture out in the morning hours for walks. Visit an indoor facility in order to fit in cardio training.

NO ONE TO RUN WITH

Be a guest with the local running club. Select a new purpose in running, like a destination, pace, or even make a shape out of your route (view afterward on a map, fun to instagram).

UNSAFE TO RUN ALONE

Safety is the most important. Research ahead of embarking on your trip to see if there are any alternatives like a local running group, indoor facilities, or safer neighborhoods.

LOTS OF TIME AND NEW PLACES TO RUN

Live it up, to a degree. Keep within the max 10% increase of weekly mileage, reduced weight training on your first try, and recover well. Aim for a solid week of training. Remember all your work won’t pay off if you don’t allow for recovery or end up injured. Be smart and enjoy!

ONLY SMALL OPPORTUNITIES TO RUN

Grab even the short windows of time to get in 20-30 minutes of running. It will make your vacation even better since you will feel refreshed and accomplished. Those short runs really can keep you from losing fitness and flexibility. You don’t need to run every day. Alternate walking and running days, perhaps family or friends can join you on the walk days. Add in yoga to your bedtime routine.

TIPS: Remember to drink water often, sleep as well as possible, and soak in the vacation experience.

runners vacation running coach shelly Minnesota

ONE LAST THING

Stay healthy and don’t return with an illness. Getting sick after a trip is usually when a runner gets off track and ends up losing a total of 2 weeks of training. So if you don’t get any running in during your vacation at least try to come back healthy and happier!

runners vacation running coach shelly Minnesota

SOLUTION

Play is good for the soul!

This 30-day series is a quest for me as a writer, coach, and runner. I promise to write about running for 30 days in a row. In doing so I intend to gain in knowledge and expression of running and daily life. My hope is that we all grow together.

Rest Days: How to Become a Better Runner in 30 Days Series

runners rest days running coach shelly Minnesota

#26 Rest Days

SNAPSHOT

Did you hear the silence?

DIGGING DEEPER

One of the most valuable insights to being an experienced runner is knowing when to take a rest day.

During the training season, I already have motivation, direction, and hopes. This includes a usual rhythm of six days a week of running with one day of rest from running. Yet knowing just when to take this day of rest is the result of years of successes and failures.

Perhaps the day of rest needs to come on the same day as a day of skiing or perhaps it doesn’t. Sometimes the rest day needs to wait until a busy day when finding a chance to run within my schedule is impossible, therefore decreasing mental stress. A rest day may come on the onset of symptoms of a past injury. As I am reaching closer to the masters age level (40), I touch upon a brink where without a rest day, the training can’t be accomplished. Now, I am not getting old, just playing the training dance with my current body.

So when to take a rest day is not about a planned 7th-day rotation. It is about listening and being aware.

runners rest days cross training biking running coach shelly Minnesota

Rest days to me can mean anything from laying on the couch for several hours to cross training by kayaking, biking, or skiing. Most rest days during the training season need to be a full rest day with several hours of no grand movements. This is a time that I imagine my muscles restoring energy, nutrition, and repairing. The next day I can feel like a new person with an extra push in my running.

runners rest days running coach shelly Minnesota

Most of all be flexible when planning and taking rest days in your training. When a rest day is needed, it is only going to hurt you to put it off. For 95% of the population, it is unrealistic to run every day, understand the value of a 48-hour regeneration window.

Newer runners - 3 rest days a week

Intermediate runners - 2 rest days a week

Advanced runners - 1 -2 rest days per 14 days

Replace a run day with a walk day to restore your body

Replace a run day with a walk day to restore your body

SOLUTION

In 2016 I wrote a post about NO DAYS OFF and what that meant to me as a runner. Check it out.

This 30-day series is a quest for me as a writer, coach, and runner. I promise to write about running for 30 days in a row. In doing so I intend to gain in knowledge and expression of running and daily life. My hope is that we all grow together.

Runners Stretch: How to Become a Better Runner in 30 Days Series

runners stretches running coach shelly Minnesota

#24 Runners Stretch

SNAPSHOT

PLEASE STRETCH

DIGGING DEEPER

runners stretches running coach shelly Minnesota

The swinging pendulum has made its way from Stretching is Bad to Stretching is Good. I hover at about 20% from center on the Stretching is Good side. Those that don’t stretch before, during, or after running look stiff with shorter strides. Without full range of motion you can not use your body to its fullest potential.

Physical Therapists are going to instruct you to regularly stretch. They get to visit with many runners who are injured and see the effect of not stretching, injury. So why not stretch your muscles and increase mobility instead of getting injured and then hearing from your PT that your muscles are too tight to allow your body to work well.

My Cheat Sheet on Stretching

runners stretches running coach shelly Minnesota

Before a Run - Dynamic (moving) stretches like leg swings, torso twists, arm swings, lunges, and squats.

During a Run - Dynamic (moving) stretches like leg swings, torso twists, arm swings, lunges, and squats.. PLUS, strides (short sprints where you build up the speed and then slow down all within 50 meters, striving for good form and quick turnover)

After a Run - Static (holding stretches for 30 seconds) stretches like toe touches, figure four, pigeon, cross body shoulder stretch, etc. In Addition Active Release stretching ( movement stretch with a pause), massage through foam rolling, Yoga, and Pilates.

DO NOT DO

  • NO Static stretching right before a race or speed workout. Your muscles act like springs and if you stretch the spring out, they won’t get their tension back in time to run well. Instead use dynamic stretching before racing or speed workouts.

  • NO Stretch when you have a pulled muscle. A damaged muscle doesn’t need damaged more. Rest injuries!

  • NO Aggressive stretching can damage a tendon or muscle (yep, can happen easier than you think)

YES DO THIS

runners stretches running coach shelly Minnesota
runners stretches running coach shelly Minnesota

SOLUTION

In order to run happy, your body needs its full range of motion, therefore stretch throughout the day.

runners stretches running coach shelly Minnesota


This 30-day series is a quest for me as a writer, coach, and runner. I promise to write about running for 30 days in a row. In doing so I intend to gain in knowledge and expression of running and daily life. My hope is that we all grow together.