As runners, we are constantly setting new goals, whether it is signing up for a race or just moving our feet a bit more each day. Regardless if you’re a newbie or a 100-mile race finisher, there is always a new goal in sight. Maybe it is simply to start running, beat your last marathon time or best your brother’s or coworkers’ mile record. Now comes the work to make sure you achieve your goal. Gear Patrol tapped nine ultra-runners professionals to learn their secrets for setting big goals, and achieving them.

sports, runNicki Lange20 June 2019trainingComment

RUNNING 101

This might be your first try at running or an attempt to improve on what you already do. The less sport you have done recently, the more you can expect to improve your distances and speeds. The following words should give you a little overview of the importance of the heart rate to your training and give you an introduction to different training types.

sports, runNicki Lange25 January 2019running, training Comment

THE IMPORTANCE OF TAKING A BREAK FROM TRAINING

It only takes a few days to get out of shape. When you stop running for just a week, your maximal aerobic capacity (max. VO2), one of the key running dynamics and physiological measurements, starts to decrease. Two to three weeks without training, and you will add a minute or more to your 5K time. More so, the stroke volume, which is the amount of blood pumped per heartbeat can drop by 10 percent and your muscles' aerobic enzymes may fall by 25 percent.

run, sportsNicki Lange28 September 2017trainingComment

TRAINING IN THE SNOW LIKE A YETI

Except from a short stint in London last weekend, I have spent the last three weeks in the Austrian alps. I am a passionate skier, and I believe that such is the sport that I have been carrying out the longest. Whilst people are talking about global warming and changing seasons, I can most certainly see a difference in the amount of snow from when I first came to Lech am Arlberg around 20 years ago in comparison to today. Anyways, I will keep the discussion about nature and our world for another post.

runNicki Lange20 January 2017austria, lech am arlberg, training, der weisse ringComment