Cadence and the Magic Number of 180

It seems that everyone has been told that the ideal cadence is 180 steps per minute. The great Jack Daniels himself has stated that a slow cadence is associated with overstriding and increased injury rates. For a long time, this has been undisputed. A cadence of 180 was king. However, lately this magic number seems to be something people are questioning. Is a cadence of 180 really ideal for every person at every pace?

Gear Review: Running Books (Training)

In a past post, I mentioned the value of having a coach guiding your training. Unfortunately, that is not a possibility for everyone, for various reasons. Luckily, there are several books on the market today that can help provide guidelines for structuring a training program. These books are even useful for those runners who have a coach, since it never hurts to understand why you're doing certain things, and depending on your coach, the knowledge will give you an opportunity to ask questions and make suggestions concerning your training. Different books, of course, are for different purposes and different audiences. The person who would be best served by No Need for Speed: A Beginner's Guide to the Joy of Running would be completely overwhelmed by Lore of Running, while someone who eats up the latter would be bored to tears by the former. In this post, I will lay out some of the more popular running books in order to help you decide which books might be most appropriate for you.

Gear Review: Daniels' Running Formula

Say the name "Jack Daniels" to any serious runner, and they'll assume you're talking about the world-renowned coach and exercise physiologist, not the whiskey. While Daniels himself is only able to coach a limited number of athletes, he has written a book to make his training philosophy available to world. I've read a lot of running books, yet one of my absolute favorites is Daniels' Running Formula.

Strength Training for Distance Runners

Doing some strength training is an important part of a training program. Strength training helps to correct muscle imbalances created by running, which in turn, helps to prevent injury. It also builds muscle that can allow you to handle a greater workload. However, it can also take valuable energy and time away from running training, and actual running is, without a doubt, the best way to get better at running. Additionally, putting on a lot of muscle weight in areas that don't directly aid running equates to dead weight that you have to drag through your races (and while a certain amount of body fat is crucial for fat-soluble vitamin absorption and maintaining body function, body builder arms are not). Therefore, the key to effective strength training is, like any other aspect of running, specificity of training.