Upcoming Issues
Check out what to look for in the next issues
As featured in the Web Only issue of Running Times Magazine
SEPTEMBER 2010
Short, Fast and Accesible Trail Races
Say “trail racing” and many conjure an image of Scott Jurek-like ultramarathoners running over extreme western terrains. Trail running is something done “out there” in the big national parks. But trails are as close as your neighborhood woods, and trail races come in all distances and technical levels. We visit a fun, challenging urban trail 10K and half marathon held in the heart of Richmond,VA, plus get first-hand reports from other short, accessible trail races from around the country — races you can do in a morning but provide a world apart from the tame, paved 5K road race.
Adding Fiber to your Running Diet
We runners don't generally think of ourselves as muscle-bound, but masters champion Pete Magill and exercise scientist Tom Schwartz argue that training all our muscle fibers is the key to developing both aerobic and anaerobic fitness. In this new approach to optimizing workout selection and pace, we learn how building a better running body will lead to better race performances. Plus: a simple, do-it-yourself test for determining running pace at VO2 max.
Elana: Still Leading
Elana Meyer led South Africa out of sporting isolation in the 1992 Olympics, in a race that ended with the unforgettable image of Meyer and Ethiopia's Derartu Tulu sharing the victory lap. Now Meyer leads South Africa again, as head of a sports and education foundation that takes running to underprivileged children, on the model of the acclaimed New York Road Runners Foundation. Roger Robinson tells the story of a South African sporting legend.
Coach Jay Johnson: The Devil in the Details
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 what 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.
Owner’s Manual
How long after a long run are you fitter from it? How about after a tempo run or track workout? We talk with top coaches and physiologists to learn how long it takes for the benefits of a single workout to show up in your body and, therefore, what’s the best way to arrange your training. Also, national-class 5K runner Julia Lucas describes what she and her peers do between hard workouts to maximize their recovery and be able to train harder.
McMillan’s Performance Page
Coach McMillan details his favorite workout for preparing for the half marathon, and how it fits into a training program.
Shorts
We visit the unique high-altitude training ground of Magnolia Road near Boulder, Colo. Thousands of elite, sub-elite and college All-Americans have trained on its rolling dirt hills during the last 30 years, making it one of the most storied training grounds in the U.S. We also profile Alana Haldey, a young middle-school runner who is running fast times in some surprising places. And we look at new shoe designs on the horizon plus “What the Elites Wear” (chart showing what elites wear for long runs, fast workouts and longer races). Plus: Showcase Race: Imogene Pass Run
College
Starting from scratch: The story of Kennesaw State. This story profiles the rise of Kennesaw State as a program that started from scratch just a few years ago but is now program that is competing at the highest levels in Division I track and cross country.
High School
Marc Bloom discusses how runners and coaches can best evaluate the training completed by the team over the summer, and how to best build on different types of training to work toward the quick peak needed for the short fall cross country season.
Masters
Get to know Fred Zuleger, a 72-year-old retired bank executive who has run more than 2,000 races since his first in 1977. That’s an average of 66 per year! Also, meet top 50-and-over runner Doug Winn, who won a national age-group title at 25K in May.
Racing
There’s no “I” in “team,” but there can be a lot of fun. We look at why team-oriented events for adult runners, such as relays and club cross country races, are increasingly popular. Also, a profile of 2:27 American marathoner Desiree Davila, who’ll be looking to go much faster than that at Chicago in October, and how to overcome mid-race doubts.
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.