On Tuesday, January 7th, as tens of thousands of runners descended on Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, many were carefully watching their social media feeds for new merchandise, crowd lines, photos of stuffed suitcases, and flat costumes. What they got was news entirely unexpected, and arguably, something no one was asking for. RunDisney released…
Read MoreEvery once in a while, a race comes along that creates its own collective culture — a memory shared by everyone involved in that event. The Walt Disney World Marathon of 2020 is such an event, and one that will be remembered for years. Many of us who ran that January Sunday will always have…
Read MoreThe older I get, the more I look forward to Taper. It has been over 120 days since I began my training for the 2020 Goofy Race and a Half Challenge, and in this Fifth block of my self-designed plan, I continue with Taper, Race Days, and Recovery. First, a quick look back The holidays…
Read MoreThey say that any attorney that represents himself has a fool for a client. I’m not sure if the same applies to a coach who designs her own training plan, but sometimes I feel that way. As I finish off week 14 out of 20 with the Goofy Race and a Half Challenge training plan,…
Read MoreOne of the greatest rewards I, Heather, have found through this running journey is sharing my passions with the world. You have been part of this journey, and I am humbled by your kindness, encouragement, and generosity. Which is why my podcast co-host, Jen and I have created the #GoGIVEYourAwesome Event. The Idea — Jen’s…
Read MoreAround this time during marathon training — about the halfway point — many of us ask, “Why am I doing this?” Regardless of the plan you follow or how often you are running, this question just seems part of our daily routine. Because by now, the novelty of a fresh, new plan has worn off.…
Read MoreNow that we are well into our Goofy Challenge Training plan, let’s take a look back before we look ahead to the next month. You can find the Block 1 here, along with the explanation of why I’m building my own training plan. Month One — August 26-September 29: I embraced Heart Rate training this…
Read MoreIn 15 years of this athletic journey, I’ve always understood that nutrition is an important piece of fitness. As I built myself up to becoming an Ironman, I spent a lot of time in training, coming back from those long sessions starving. My belief, like many other amateur athletes, was run all the miles so…
Read More15 years of this running journey, and I find myself at a new point. In 2004, I was making it up as I went along, trying to figure out how to train for a my first triathlon (basically, I didn’t). Learned the lessons. Made mistakes. Learned more lessons. As I went along, I discovered the…
Read MoreHey RunJunkies, it’s a big day around here, because we are launching the GO FIND YOUR AWESOME PODCAST!! So, who’s we? My very dear friend, Jen Sorensen and I are teaming up as a Coach/Athlete duo to talk about our running journey from two different perspectives — as a coach with over a decade of…
Read MoreRecently, the 26th Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend wrapped up, with tens of thousands of runners covering anything from 5k all the way up to 48.6 miles. And that’s just for the races — forget park time! To those of you who participated, a very special Congratulations on finishing the Marathon, Goofy, Dopey…any of the…
Read MoreIt’s safe to say that many first-time marathoners take on this daunting challenge with trepidation. 26.2 miles is a long way to go. Even the fastest among us take 3-hours or so to finish a marathon (and some even faster than that…I don’t talk about those superhumans). Then we do the research and choose a…
Read MoreAbout the Blog
Here you will find a deeper dive into gear reviews and recommendations, training tips, and other running advice from Coach Heather as well as other guest writers.