by Brennan Hale | Jun 7, 2026 | Training & Racing
Coming back after time off is not the same as starting from zero, but your body will try to convince you it is. Go out at your old pace and you will blow up within a mile and spend the next day sore and discouraged. The comeback is its own skill, and rushing it is the...
by Brennan Hale | Jun 6, 2026 | Training & Racing
The hardest part of your first month of running is not the running. It is believing you are allowed to be slow, take walk breaks, and still count. And the thing that trips up almost everyone is pace: going too fast, too soon. That is the most common beginner mistake,...
by Brennan Hale | Jul 29, 2019 | Training & Racing
My first 5K, I walked four times and still got a little teary crossing the line. It is still one of my favorite running memories. A 5K is 3.1 miles, and it makes a perfect first race goal. The hard part is not the distance. It is knowing when you are ready to sign up....
by Brennan Hale | May 7, 2019 | Training & Racing
Building up to longer runs is mostly patience, not toughness. Go slow enough, run often enough, and add distance gradually enough that your body keeps up, and the miles take care of themselves. Distance running does not ask much in the way of gear or talent. The real...
by Brennan Hale | Oct 6, 2017 | Training & Racing
The day before a marathon, there is nothing left to train. The fitness is already banked from weeks of work, so the only job now is to not undo it. That is the whole mindset for the day before a race. You are not building anything new now. You are protecting the work...
