Author: Rhys Desmond
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High ambition, high caution: my new running motto
As I enter a new phase in my running career and take on a cautious approach to dedicated training, I find myself balancing the line between all of these crazy ambitions I have within my running career, and accomplishing those ambitions in the most cautious ways possible.
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Around the Bay & the quest for intentional training
Since March has rolled in, it’s been all the more imperative me to slightly adapt my approach to what’s coming at the end of March – Around the Bay 30k. Around the Bay is one of Canada’s most famous races, and is often stacked with a deep field of runners from a variety of categories…
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My best mistake was plantar fasciitis
As much as the past three months have been somewhat brutal from both a physical and mental perspective (I even thought I’d have to retire at one point!), plantar fasciitis has been one of the greatest learning experiences I could have asked for in my running journey. I now feel like I’m setting myself up…
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How to run faster downhill
From high school running experiences, I’ve long known the secrets to not only successful uphill running, but successful downhill running from watching my friend. The secret sauce is this: lose control. Like Eminem, you just have to lose yourself in the movement. Ben would stop at the end of the downhills and wait for the…
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Bandera, Black Canyon, and the future of ultrarunning
Golden Ticket races have kicked off with a bang this year, with both Black Canyon and Bandera reaching the two largest audiences Aravaipa Running has ever produced. As far as live streaming of running goes, both events also hit some serious highs (even despite some patchy footage at Bandera), with much in the way of…
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Busting the 10% rule in endurance sports
It’s long been hypothesized that athletes like runners should increase their training volume by no more than 10% a week. This is generally considered to be one of the golden rules to injury prevention. But as I’ve constantly revised my own return from injury training plan, and religiously studied the training of elite athletes on…
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Why performance is dependent on optimizing your own training needs
Last weekend, the second Golden Ticket race of the year kicked off with a bang in the Arizona Black Canyon 100K. The day saw five runners (three men and two women) beat the previous course records, firmly establishing the race as one of the most competitive Golden Ticket races in years. But the most intriguing…
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How to run on icy terrain
running on ice and snow can be worthwhile if taken with caution. For one, it’s more of a strength-based exercise. For another, you can often get some technical terrain training prep in large forests at times when no one else will be out on the trails! Here is how to run on ice safely -…
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Why it’s okay to run slow on technical terrain
After a few months out with plantar fasciitis, today was my first day running on “technical terrain”. One thing that stood out was just how much slower I ran on the trails than on the roads, whilst exerting the exact same amount of energy. This is completely okay in so many ways.
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Why you need a therapist
Last year, at the lowest point in my life, I finally took the leap to do something that I should have done long ago, and seek out therapy. I had often shied away from therapy out of fear of the price, the time, and whether or not things were truly “bad enough” to “need therapy.”…
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