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Review: Bag Balm anti-chafing cream keeps you running smoothly

Who wants bloody nipples and huge blisters on their feet?  Everyone has seen that guy (usually a guy) run across the finish line with blood streaming down his shirt from his nipple region.  If you have seen him, or been him, then you know that the pain that will ensue for at least the next week is well worth the investment of a product to stop that from happening again.

Ever take a nice warm shower after a half marathon or olympic triathlon only to realize your groin region didn’t get the protection you needed?  That raw skin sure feels like a cheese grater is running over it.  Stings a little, doesn’t it?

After 1.2 miles of swimming, 56 miles of biking and 13.1 miles of running or more, most every triathlete can relate to mild blisters or the monster deep blood blisters that take weeks to recover from.

How to Run like an Olympian: Top 5 excercises to make you Run Faster (Part 4)

In this part 4 video  we show you how to run like an Olympian by teaching how to do well executed arm totations. Joanna Zeiger is a former professional triathlete, Olympian and Ironman 70.3 World Champion. In other words, she's not only crazy fast but she's spent countless hours training and running. In this third video JZ along with her training partner Brandon discuss and demonstrate the Top five exercises for runners and triathletes who want to run faster like an Olympian.

BTW: You can visit Joanna's blog HERE for a complete explination of these running excercise videos.

How to Run like an Olympian: Top 5 excercises to make you Run Faster (Part 1)

Joanna Zeiger is a former professional triathlete, Olympian and Ironman 70.3 World Champion. In other words, she's not only crazy fast but she's spent countless hours training and running. In this first video JZ along with her training partner Brandon discuss and demonstrate the Top five exorcises for runners and triathletes who want to run faster like an Olympian.

How to make a portable and inexpensive ice bath for your feet

Two recent studies including THIS one recently published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport have both proved the benefits of an ice bath to air recovery.

But how do you take advantage of what the pros having been doing all along when you are traveling? Below is an informative Runner's World video that demonstrates how to create a portable and inexpensive ice bath.

Top Ten Tips to to make pool running (aqua jogging) fun and effective

Here it is, fall!  Marathon season for a lot of endurance junkies is upon us.  Sure, there are a few Ironman races left (Kona) and outlier triathlons, but for the majority of us in states that experience a change in season, fall means a transition from triathlons to running.
 
Some see it as a welcomed refocus, others see entering a marathon as a carrot to keep running through the fall and winter months.  Whatever your reason, be careful of the injury bug.  Marathon training and loading up on running miles will amplify any deficiencies your running form has and will lead to a faster deterioration of biomechanics and lead to “taking time off to recover”.
 
If taking time off isn’t in your vocabulary, you might look at alternatives to keep fitness up while your body recovers in time to make that marathon.  Often times, the pool is the ticket.  If you have never had a run in the pool, from first-hand experience, it can be mind numbing.  The scenery really doesn’t change and it’s just not the same sensation and suffering at road running.
 
If you are relegated to the deep end, consider these top 10 tips to keep on the straight line.
 
1.       Bring something to listen to.  Grab your H2O audio and bring the iPod.  It’s going to be a long day and if your pool is anything like the normal gym warm therapy pool, kids and inappropriate adults will be aplenty.  If H2O is a little high priced for you, consider a plastic baggie taped around your iPod and stuck in a swim cap.  Don’t submerge it, but it will work in a pink if you keep your head above water.

EverymanTRI Top Ten Questions with North Face Endurance athlete Michael Wardian

Michael Wardian, a North Face Endurance athlete and Ultra Runner, was kind enough to answer the top ten questions for endurance athletes.
 
Wardian started running and competing in triathlons in 1996 after finishing his lacrosse career at Michigan State University, where he played attack for the Division 1 team.  Michael’s first marathon was the 1996 Marine Corps Marathon. With a time of 3:08, Wardian qualified for the Boston Marathon and has since completed more than 150 marathons, 60+ Ultra Marathons on three continents, twenty triathlons, including Iron Man Lake Placid.
 
Without further delay, top ten questions and answers with Wardian below.
 
1.  Who was your Childhood inspiration?  MRW: My Childhood inspiration was my Mom.  I love my Dad too but I am a Mom's boy at heart and my Mom was an amazing athlete (my Dad was really good too though) and I wanted to be as good as she was at things.  She was competitive too, so we had a lot of great games of Tennis, Ping-Pong, Racquetball, Golf, board-games, etc....She never would let us win so I was always driven to beat her fair and square.

A run and a chat with Ultra-marathon man Dean Karnazes

You can’t ask for a better day on any August 18 in Kansas City.  The high temperatures reached low 80’s and the morning was cool and crisp.  It also brought out Ultramarathon man Dean Karnazes to the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City for a fun run to kick off the festivities for the 2nd annual North Face Kansas City Endurance Challenge.
 
The North Face Store held sales and the North Face Endurance Challenge in Kansas City offered 40% for the brave souls that would try to keep up with Karnazes on the 10k course set up to take off from the store.
 
Dean Karnazes dived into training, traveling while staying in shape, diet and supplements.

Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia wins Olympic Marathon as American Flanagan & Goucher finish 10th & 11th

Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia won today's London Olympic Marathon in dramatic style after she fell and crashed on the course at a water station. Gelana scraped her elbow but got back up and kept running to set an Olympic record of 2 hours, 23.07 minutes.

“I said, ‘Oh wow, I’m not going to finish,’ ” Gelana said. “I just concentrated on running. All of a sudden I made it.”

American medal hope-fulls Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher finished in 10th and 11th in a all out effort to win Olympic gold.

Watch Deena Kastor take on the 2012 Bolder Boulder 10K race

39-year-old Deena Kastor knows how to win the annual memorial day Bolder Boulder 10K. She's won the race from 2001-2003. The 2004 Olympic Marathon Bronze Medalist from Athens is in the twilight of her elite racing career, but she's working as hard as ever to qualify for the 10K at this year's London Olympics.

So how did she do on her return to Boulder, Colorado to race one of the biggest 10K running races in America?

Check out this video of the 2012 Bolder Boulder to find out.

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Photo of the day: 2012 Bolder Boulder Men's Elite race winner Kenyan Allan Kiprono

Kenyan Allan Kiprono on his way to winning the 2012 Men's Elite Bolder Boulder 10K in a time of 29:53.

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Kara Goucher wins her home state Rock ‘n’ Roll Portland Half Marathon

Portland, Ore. – May 20, 2012 – It was an Oregon sweep Sunday as two in-state residents took home titles at the first ever Rock ‘n’ Roll Portland Half Marathon. Ryan Bak of Bend and American marathon star Kara Goucher, who trains locally with the Oregon Track Club, each prevailed in dramatically different fashions.

Beneath a steady Portland mist along the scenic Willamette River adjacent to Tom McCall Waterfront Park, runners from 49 states and 16 countries kicked off Portland’s annual Rose Festival. The lead pack of 6 men, who all owned half-marathon personal bests within one minute, ran an opening mile of 4:57 through the downtown streets, before crossing the Hawthorne Bridge into east Portland.

Photo of the day: Kenyans totally dominate London Marathon

Kenyans Wilson Kipsang and Mary Keitany sailed to a decisive victory win at the London Marathon today.  By winning the race both Kipsang and Keitany virtually assured themselves of selection for the Olympic  games on the national team.

Kipsang took control of the race at about six miles from the finishline, and ran alone to the finish to win in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 44 seconds.

"I knew when I went away they have to work very, very hard to beat me as I was feeling very good in myself," he said. "I am sorry I didn't (break) the record but winning is the most important thing for me. I feel a little tired now, but I am happy and tired."

Photo of the day: Boston Marathon winners celebrate with a kiss

Kenyan citizen and permanent resident of the United States Wesley Korir and Sharon Cherop celebrate their win today at the Boston Marathon with a kiss.

Korir won the race in a time of 2 hours, 12 minutes, 40 seconds, which was the second slowest race time since 1995...as temperatures soared into the low 80's.

Cherop, also from Kenya, won the race in 2:31:50 in a dramatic sprint down Boylston Street to the finishline beating second place finisher Jemima Jelagat Sumgong by 2 seconds.

A total of 22,426 runners braved the very hot condition today out of a total of 27,000 registered runners with as many as 4,300 entrants opting to take up the race organizers on their offer of a one year deferred entry due to the high temperatures.

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The top six tips for triathletes who want to a run a marathon

Sure, you may be thinking swim, bike and run, but if you are anything like 85% of triathletes, running just isn't your bag.  That and swimming seem to be the "necessities" of triathlon.  Sure, you'd love to rocket past everyone on the run at 6 minute miles and take the win, but in reality, running gets little attention and sometimes is just outright mundane.

There's the theory that if you sign up for running races, it forces the triathlete to train more intentionally for the run.  Personally, I'm a mix on the idea.  I'm ok with running, but it does help my training to have goal runs in between to break up the "just training" mentality if running.  If you are like me and sign up for a few marathons or halfs, then read on for some tips and ideas on what to look for when venturing into the quest for a long distance running race.

Runner, turned triathlete, turned runner Desiree Ficker...announces her engagement on Twitter

Texas based pro-runner and of course longtime professional triathlete Desiree Ficker just announced her engagement on Twitter with this tweet, "We are engaged!!" and the photo above.

Congrats Desiree!

Who's the lucky guy?

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Coaches Corner - BRD Achilles Ankle Brace Review

If you have been training and participating in triathlons for any length of time, you undoubtedly have had injuries or been hurt. Personally, I’ve always had my issues. 

A pulled hamstring plagued me for 2 months one year.  I pulled groin muscle plagued me for the better part of a year.  And, the most lingering problem is an achy achilles tendons.  I stretch, I do strength work and I see a massage therapist for it, but throughout the year I can have flare-ups here and there.

That’s where the product review of the day comes in. BRD Sports braces had the exact brace for my achilles condition, The Achilles Ankle Brace.

In the past, I’ve just grinned and bared it.  Maybe I’d make an extra massage appointment to get it worked on or RICE it.  (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation).  Lets get real, though.  Massage therapy is not cheap.  Most of us cannot afford to put up our feet all day.  Ice isn’t always accessible and you can’t wear  an ice pack on your body all day.  And rest, what’s that?

But now I had a brace to help me out and from my time with it, here’s what I learned: