First things first, grab a calendar and a big ol' marker. Or a small one. Your choice. Mark the race day and work backward. Now, be honest with yourself. Are you a morning runner or a night owl? Do you have kids' soccer games on Saturdays? Plan your runs around YOUR life, not the other way around.

Running Economy: The relationship between your energy consumption and your running speed.   Let's talk about running economy (RE) with ZOOMA Run Club's Coach Carola! In simple terms running economy is how much energy it takes for you to run a certain speed.     Think of a car's fuel efficiency. Runners who...

As runners we often associate our progress with our pace, but there are MANY signs of increased fitness that have nothing to do with speed. Let's take a look at a few of them with Coach Carola from ZOOMA Run Club: You can run LONGER. You can run for a...

Many running workouts include recovery repetitions, especially when you're running intervals, but how do you know what type of recovery is best? You should start by asking yourself, "What is the goal of this workout?"   Working on high end speed? Are you doing very short, very fast repeats or intervals...

You are following your training program, taking rest days, and keeping your easy runs easy, but ARE YOU GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP?    Why is sleep so important? Not getting enough sleep is associated with: Faster "Time to Exhaustion" during activity Increased Perceived Effort during activity Increased risk of Overtraining Syndrome Impaired...

It's getting hot out! Time to drink ALL THE WATER right? Before you chug that gallon of water, you should ask yourself: Am I hydrating properly? Improper hydration can lead to something called hyponatremia.   Hyponatremia literally means low sodium and refers to too-dilute levels of sodium in our body.  ...

If you're reading this, you're probably contemplating running a half marathon while traveling. And not just any half marathon, but the ZOOMA Amelia Island Half Marathon, a race that's been voted a Top 20 Half Marathon by BibRave for five years in a row! And if you're not, well, stick...

Exploring Heart Rate Zones   Coach Carola from Zooma Run Club is back with us today to explain heart rate zones!    Zone 1 Zone 1 is used primarily for: Warming up Cooling down Resting between intervals Recovering   Zone 1 should feel almost effortless. It is a very easy,...

Good running form exists at all paces! It is possible to run with good form on your easiest of easy days all the way to your hardest, fastest runs. Coach Carola is back to help us hone our form so that we can increase efficiency and avoid injury.    Let's break...

ZOOMA Run Club's Coach Carola is here with more details on improving your running form! Last time she talked about proper running form including where your foot should land in relation to your body, but stride can be confusing. Overstriding is when your foot lands and loads IN FRONT of your body...

Running cadence (also known as stride rate) refers to the number of steps per minute (spm) you take as you run.   In other words, it’s the speed at which your legs turn over as you are running.   For years the number 180 has been thrown around as the...

Easy running is what builds up your endurance and aerobic capacity. It is the foundation to being a FITTER, STRONGER, FASTER runner!