Upcoming Issues

Check out what to look for in the next issues

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OCTOBER 2010

A Complicated Exercise: Coach Jay Johnson
You would expect runners such as 2010 indoor national 3K champ Renee Metivier Baillie and 1:02 half marathoner Brent Vaughn to run long and hard. And they do. But what’s with the shot puts, the medicine balls, the kettlebells, the hurdles? Why do they spend nearly as much time doing what look like baseball spring training exercises as they do running? Senior editor Scott Douglas profiles their coach, Jay Johnson, and reports on what it takes to reach the top in 21st-century distance running. Plus: How runners who don’t have all day to train can learn from Johnson’s system.

FALL SHOE REVIEW
For serious runners who train to run fast, there’s no debating the fact that most of the time they’re running in lightweight shoes that match the dynamic flex and agility of your feet. We review 10 new light and fast shoes that fit the bill. (We’ll still include more traditional shoes in our extended review at RunningTimes.com.)

Tradition in the Woodlands
The hot and humid suburbs of Houston hardly seem like the ideal location to build a distance running juggernaut, yet that's the unlikely home of the Woodlands High School, which has dominated the Texas scholastic athletic world for nearly two decades as well as becoming a perennial powerhouse on the national scene. Juris Geen is the young coach who has stepped into his father's legendary shoes and assumed the prestige and pressure that comes with being the top dog in the increasingly competitive world of high school running. Read how he and his athletes train not just to stay on top but to take their running to the next level.

School Break: High School Phenom Abbey Leonardi
Abbey Leonardi, of Kennebunk, Maine, placed fourth at this year’s national 3200m high school championship as a sophomore. She’s so good so young that she and her parents have had to look beyond her school’s resources to more fully develop her potential. We report on the unique relationship the Leonardis have formed with Maine native Kristin Barry, a 2:40 marathoner more than twice Abbey’s age with no formal coaching experience. Can Barry’s guidance take Leonardi to a national cross country title as a junior? PLUS: Five other high schoolers to watch in the coming school year.

ABC’s of XC
High school cross-country runners and their parents often have myriad of questions surrounding their sport, from what to eat to what to wear to how best to talk to the coach. We interviewed a number of top coaches, and enlisted several experts on nutrition and injuries to develop a short, essential primer on the sport.

Owner’s Manual
 “The best workout is a race,” goes the old coaching adage. Senior writer and American record-holder Pete Magill details the benefits of tune-up races before a goal race, and describes the best series of tune-up races for peaking at the most popular road race distances. Also, Cathy Fieseler, M.D., educates us on how our blood changes as a result of distance running, and how to use that information to make sense of results from medical examinations.

Shorts
In this issue, we catch up with a couple of American distance legends, one who has been in the limelight for years coaching at the highest level (Alberto Salazar), the other who has been out of the spotlight for years (Craig Virgin) but recently helped to re-build a high school cross country program and lead it to a state championship. We also tease our fall shoe review with a chart that highlights what a few elite athletes wear for various types of workouts and races, plus an overview of a race that sends runners through four national parks.

College
We catch up with Jordan Hasay, who will be a sophomore at the University of Oregon this fall and figures to be in the mix at this fall’s NCAA championships. Hasay talks candidly about her difficult transition from a record-setting high schooler who rarely lost to a freshman who rarely won.

Trails
It’s not uncommon for ultrarunners to don headlamps as they run through the night in a 100-mile run. But the act of racing fast over short distances after dark is a completely different experience. We profile two races in this small but growing trend. Plus, we offer up tips for running after dark and an overview of three of the best top running headlamps at stores this fall.

High School
Teamwork in Twos: Working together, two athletes, on the cross-country course are often more than the sum of their individual abilities. While coaches always try and develop a tight pack among the whole varsity, that’s rare: many teams, however, have two runners who are able to stick close and work together. How should they work together for optimal benefit? Starting with the sensational Rosa twins of NJ, Marc Bloom offers advice to athletes and coaches.

Masters
A profile of the Athena Track Club, a geographically dispersed group of masters women who nonetheless are a force in national racing. Also, meet Terry McCluskey, who is trying to break 2:50 in the marathon as a 62-year-old.

Racing
Thirty years ago, road racing was almost entirely a guy thing. Now, the field at many big events is more than half women, with the female 25-29 age group one of the fastest growing. How are races reacting to this demographic shift, and what does that mean for long-time runners (of both genders) in terms of the distances and types of events offered? We also check in with Canadian 10,000m national record-holder Simon Bairu, a NCAA champ while at the University of Wisconsin, as he prepares for his marathon debut at New York City in November.

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NOVEMBER 2010

Sports Med Special
A Very Close Look at Your Gait
A profile of the SPEED Laboratory at the University of Virginia, specifically focusing on the 3D Motion Analysis System that has been set up to identify running gait problems with runners of all abilities. The lab is one of the leaders in the world at examining and looking at running injuries and form flaws.
Simple Surgery
Athletes tend to think of surgery as a death sentence, or at minimum, the last option in treatment, one that will sideline them for a season or more. Improvements in surgical techniques, however, often make surgeries less invasive and more successful in solving long-term problems. Podiatrist Brian Fullem looks at a number of common foot ailments that runners are finding relief from through surgery and how to know if you’re a candidate.
Space Age Tech for Age-Old Therapies
Top runners are the same as the rest of us, they just run faster, and farther, and they have more toys. We look at some of the toys used for recovery and training enhancements by sponsored athletes for whom price, time and inconvenience is irrelevant: all that matters is recovering faster and running better. Richard Lovett talks to coaches, athletes, trainers and inventors about the newest and best technology designed to improve the process of running better, and asks if they are worth it.

My Place At the Front of the Pack
Justin Nyberg is fast, but not quite elite. Fortunately for him, the New York City Marathon has a place for runners like him, a special program that gives top level amateurs who qualify similar treatment to the invited runners going for the dollars up front. Nyberg gives us a first-hand, insiders account of what it is like to run New York among the elite.

Fast Working Women
Many runners say they can’t relate to the front of the pack because they don’t have the freedom to run full-time. Welcome to a group of women fast enough to run in the national championships and still hold down fulltime jobs plus keep up with their families. Meet Heidi Westover, elementary school teacher, Wendi Ray, speech therapist, and Laurie Knowles, construction executive. Just try keeping up with them, in life or on the roads.

Four Workouts To Become a Body Whisperer
Olympic medalist Lorraine Moller explains the importance of weaning ourselves from an over-abundance of external feedback and tuning in to our body’s feedback if we are to become top runners. Moller then details four workouts that will help you tune your body whispering skills.

Shorts
A profile of emerging American distance runner Stephan Shay on the 3-year anniversary of the untimely death of his late brother, Ryan Shay, at the 2008 Olympic trials race in New York City. Stephan talks about how his brother has inspired him to become a professional runner, but admits he feels his brother with him every time he runs. We catch up with up-and-coming American runner Paige Higgins as she approaches the New York City Marathon, offering a variety of insights and tips to readers based on her own training and racing experience. There’s also a short piece about Academy of Art University, the only dedicated art school to field a cross country and track program in the U.S., a review of a British documentary called “Running to the Limits” and a funny story about how an American race shirt wound up in Uganda.   
 
College
We catch up with Sam Chelanga from Liberty University, the defending NCAA champion. He tells us about his training, a summer trip to Alaska and how he started running as a teen with pro runners (including his brother) in his native Kenya.

High School
Teamwork in Twos: Working together, two athletes, on the cross-country course are often more than the sum of their individual abilities. While coaches always try and develop a tight pack among the whole varsity, that’s rare: many teams, however, have two runners who are able to stick close and work together. How should they work together for optimal benefit? With examples including the sensational Rosa twins of NJ, Marc Bloom offers advice to athletes and coaches.

Owner’s Manual
What’s the secret to American 10K record-holder Chris Solinsky’s success? One key element is what he calls “rhythm runs” and what other elites refer to as long tempos. Oregon Track Club member Julia Lucas describes what these runs are and why they’re so effective regardless of what distance you’ll be racing. Also, American age-group record-holder Pete Magill tells us how to safely (and legally) produce beneficial boosts in helpful hormone levels so that we can recover faster and train harder.

Masters
We meet Tamara Karrh, one of several masters women who have already qualified for the 2012 Olympic marathon trials. Plus, get to know age-group ace Christine Kennedy, who is still breaking 3 hours in the marathon in her late 50s.

Racing
There’s nothing else like the summer American road racing circuit. Every year, veterans try to stand their ground against a seemingly endless influx of talented, brash rookies. We introduce you to this year’s leading lights and identify the ones to watch for in coming years. Also, a profile of Molly Huddle, now 4th on the all-time U.S. 5K list, Gordon Bakoulis’ racing advice and Roger Robinson’s historical analysis.