Registration for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon opened yesterday. Be sure you register for the race today to ensure your spot on the course October 7th!

If you're looking for a training plan for the Chicago Marathon, WalkJogRun has them for runners of all experience levels!

Beginners

Walk The Chicago Marathon

Run-Walk The Chicago Marathon

Run The Chicago Marathon

Intermediate

Intermediate Run The Chicago Marathon

Advanced

Advanced Run The Chicago Marathon

Have you registered for the Chicago Marathon yet?

I read this article from ABC News about the dangers of wearing high heels. I think this study is definitely something runners should think about before putting on high heels!

"A first-of-its-kind study published last week in the The Journal of Applied Physiology found that wearing high heels could lead to permanent damage of the calf muscles by increasing the mechanical strain on the muscles and shortening the muscles' fibers, all thanks to the flexed, toes-pointed position of the feet that remains even after you kick off those stilettos...The findings suggest that the women in high heels walked with "shorter, more forceful strides" and engaged their muscles as opposed to their tendons, leaving them vulnerable to injury and prone to muscle fatigue, the Times reported"

I think I finally have an excuse not to wear high heels! I cringe at the words, "permanent damage of the calf muscles."

How often do you wear high heels? Have you ever thought about health risks they can cause? I'm curious how many runners actually wear high heels.

What is Joggling?

Joggling combines running and juggling. Joggling requires the competitor to juggle at least 3 balls while running. The rules require that a juggling pattern must be maintained whilst running, and if an object is dropped, the joggler must return to the point where the object fell and continue from there.

-International Jugglers' Association

The Joggler

Perry Romanowski, The Joggler, started a run streak on November 18, 2008. He runs every day. For more information on run streaking, check out our blog post.

Perry has made an intriguing twist to his runs by incorporating juggling. This phenomena is called joggling.

Many of us have a hard enough time getting our regular training runs in. Could you imagine not only getting all those runs in, but juggling the entire time?

Perry began joggling in 2006. Since 2003, he has not gone for a run that he didn't "joggle." Perry feels joggling adds to his runs, making them more enjoyable. If you watch his video below, you'll see he is very good at juggling, and rarely ever drops his bean bags.

Can you imagine hitting the wall in the marathon and juggling through it? Well, Perry can manage a 3:21 marathon, juggling the entire time. He also holds the 50 mile joggling world record.

Tune in

Tune into this episode of TalkJogRun to hear all about joggling, and how Perry got started by clicking play on the audio player below. You can also click "Download" below the player.

You can also subscribe in iTunes for free.

Let's face it. Some songs pump you up more than others. For those of you who like to run to music, I have some great recommendations. We've done a previous blog post with a marathon playlist, but this is a little different.

Sometimes a good song will make me run faster no matter how I'm feeling that day.

I'll admit I'm extremely weird when it comes to music. I've listened to the same 100 song playlist for at least a year. Yes, I add new songs occasionally, but for the most part it's the same songs I listen to. Since I've listened to so many of these songs more than once, I notice the specific songs that make me run faster. These songs are all I need to get the motivation to push the treadmill speed up.

I recommend checking out these songs! Do they help you run faster?

• Till the World Ends-Britney Spears
• 6 Foot 7 Foot-Lil Wayne ft. Cory Gunz
• Getting Away With Murder-Papa Roach
• Where Them Girls At-David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj & Flo Rida
• All I Ever Wanted-Basshunter
• Blue and Yellow-The Used
• It's Dangerous Business Walking Through Your Front Door-Underoath
• We Found Love-Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris
• Ni**as in Paris-Kanye West & JAY-Z
• Turn Me On-David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj
• Gettin' Over You-David Guetta ft. Fergie & LMFAO
• All The Way Turnt Up-Travis Porter ft. YT and ATL
• Diary of Jane-Breaking Benjamin
• Disconnected-The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
• Hey Baby (Drop It To The Floor)-Pitbull
• Just a Girl-No Doubt
• That's What You Get-Paramore

I'm not sure what the science is behind certain songs making you run faster, but I'd definitely recommend these songs if you're having trouble getting through your run and need some pump-up jams. I think I need to separate these songs from my main playlist, and into one of their own. It would definitely help me run faster throughout an entire workout!

I'd love to hear any of your song recommendations. Do you think certain songs have the ability to make you run faster?

I recently read an article from the New York Times, about how for the first time in over 15 years, the National School Lunch Program has raised nutrition standards. I have a few comments to make about this article, and would love to hear your own thoughts as well.

"As parents, we try to prepare decent meals, limit how much junk food our kids eat and ensure that they have a reasonable balanced diet," Mrs. Obama said in a statement. "And when we are putting in all that effort the last thing we want is for our hard work to be undone each day in the school cafeteria."

Source

It is important to note how many calories come from school lunches. These new solutions, however, are not going to solve the real issue at hand. These new lunch program rules are a great step, but there needs to be a balance between nutrition changes and programs encouraging physical activity.

The Obama Administration, Jamie Oliver, and many other organizations have made great strides in spreading awareness about the importance of these issues.

Reforming school lunches is definitely a start to the obesity epidemic. In my opinion, kids just don't play outside as much as they did 15 years ago. I believe it's crucial that funding is also aimed towards encouraging exercise and physical fitness.

What do you see as solutions to some of these issues? What steps do you take that encourage your kids to ride their bikes and run around the neighborhood?

Check out WalkJogRun's events page, and search for a family 5K in your area!

Sometimes it's hard to find motivation to run when you really don't feel like it. There's always excuses that you can think of to put it off. I don't consider myself particularly lazy, since I am a marathon runner. I'm sure most of you can relate to knowing you need to complete a run, but really wanting to rest instead. In this blog I will explore different excuses I use myself, and solutions that can help solve them.

Putting off the runs can really effect your weekly mileage. I've been running every day since January 1st, but sometimes I'll just run a mile because I'm busy or I feel it's too cold outside.

Excuses

• I can't go to the gym or I'll lose my parking spot
• It's too cold to take the bus to the gym
• It's too cold to run more than a mile outside
• I really want to spend time with my roommate
• I want to go out and I won't have enough time to get ready if I run now
• I can't get up early enough in the morning to workout
• I'm battling a cold
• I'm still sore from last week's long run
• I don't have any clean laundry to go running in
• I'm too sad to run
• I run enough already

You've all heard these excuses before. Maybe you've said a form of them to yourself at some point. The reason I truly believe these excuses are avoidable, is because I've been working on solutions all month. Some of you just may not be morning runners. In the winter, I'm definitely not a morning runner. I've noticed that going to the gym after work before I go home helps a lot. If you stop at home before running, it's harder to get more motivation to leave the house again.

Sometimes some of your excuses can be the very reason you should go run.

In 2009, my daddy passed away from cancer. My biggest excuse at the time was being "too sad to run." However, I also felt guilty because he made me promise I wouldn't stop running. I managed to trudge outside somehow, and finish training for my first marathon. I trained with my friend, Shanelle, and ended up having a great summer. All those endorphins can really do a body and mind good! I also know how great Shanelle and I felt (& looked! :-p ) from all the miles we put in.

Last weekend, I wasn't sure if I would participate in the Chicago Polar Dash Half Marathon. I signed up for the race at the 2011 Chicago Marathon Expo. I knew the race was months away, but I was lured to sign up by the awesome fleece pullovers they handed out at registration.

My friend sent me a video (see below) that really made me stop to think. It's a Nike ad that really should push you to just get out there. I think the video is extremely motivational for any aspect of life, not just running. After watching the video, I knew I was going to at least try the race. I ended up not only finishing the race, but getting a 6 minute PR in the half-marathon at 2:18:10. Adam also finished the race with an impressive PR of 1:39:51, coming in 35th place overall. As for myself, I came in 494th place overall, and I'm okay with that :). Ha!

Solutions

• Track your training on WalkJogRun, with the free training diaries

I enter my training entries daily, and I love how you can see your progress over time

• Share those training diary entries to your Facebook and Twitter

It's an easy way to get motivation and encouragement from your friends and family members

• Follow a specific training plan

I follow the WalkJogRun training plans because I know how important it is to follow a plan to stay motivated. If you are constantly striving towards a goal, you're more likely to make it happen.

• Don't skip meals!

It's so important to eat regular healthy meals. If you don't eat right before a run, you're less likely to go out there and complete it. Sometimes I'll skip breakfast and it affects the rest of my day. Don't do that!'



• Run with a friend

As I mentioned above, running with my friend really helped me get motivation. If I didn't feel like running one day, I knew I had to anyway because my friend had planned it in her schedule

What are some excuses you've had for not running in the past? What solutions did you come up with to solve the problem? Go for a run today, and let us know how it goes!

Introducing Andy Bowen: trail and ultra marathon runner

Andy Bowen is a trail and ultra marathon runner. Training for ultra marathons has helped him realize what running is all about. He isn't interested in constantly breaking records or beating his previous times. He enjoys testing his self preservation and truly finding out how long his body can last.

We often talk about marathons and half marathons on TalkJogRun. We were interested in hearing from someone who had experience running ultra marathons and running on trails. Trail running is quite a different experience than running on the streets, and we wanted to find out why!

In this podcast

• Andy shares what it's like to run on trails as well as participating and training for ultra marathons.

I'm sure many of you can't imagine running for over 8 hours at a time, which is something Andy does regularly!

• Andy explains how you don't need any special equipment to get started training

According to him, trail shoes aren't necessary at the very beginning of your training.

• Find out why Andy prefers running on the trails and not the streets!

Although you may be afraid of running through trails because of animals, the streets may be even more dangerous.

• Learn how far an "ultra" marathon is

It's not just 50K, if that's what you are thinking!

• Learn why you don't have to be afraid of trail running

Andy has never been injured trail running

Do you prefer running on trails, or streets and sidewalks? Do you have any interest in running an ultra marathon, or have you completed one in the past? We'd love to hear from you! If you go out for your first trail run to experience the beauty of nature, let us know! We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Tune in

Are you curious about ultra marathon running? Are you unsure how to start running on the trail? Tune into this podcast by clicking the start button on the audio player below.

You can also subscribe in iTunes

We are so excited to be hosting a live chat with Coach Jenny Hadfield

We'd love to have you join us! This Q&A is the perfect opportunity for you to get answers to your training questions. Have you started using the WalkJogRun Training Plans and have a few questions? Perhaps you have a general question about training that you would like Coach Jenny to answer. Be sure to participate in our live Q&A!

Time of Event

• CST Friday February 3rd, 2012 at 12:00 PM
• PST Friday February 3rd, 2012 at 10:00 AM
• EST Friday February 3rd, 2012 at 1:00 PM
• If you live in the UK: Friday February 3rd, 2012 6:00 PM

Time Zone Converter

If you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Set an e-mail reminder and come back to this page at the time of the event to post your questions live!

I've thought a lot lately about how much laundry runners go through in a week's time. I recently went about a week and a half without doing any laundry. I try to do it every week. I got pretty busy, and an extra half a week of laundry built up before I got around to washing it this weekend.

Now before I'm lectured on not being "green" and doing too many loads of laundry, I just want to say that there are times when I'll wear running tights, sweatshirts, spandex, etc. more than once. I'll often wear the two pairs of running tights I own all week before washing them. For a non-runner, this may seem disgusting. However, you runners must understand that if I didn't do that, there would be much more than 4 loads of laundry every week and a half.

According to Consumer Report, and the California Energy Commission Consumer Energy Center, about 40-45 gallons of water are used per load of laundry.

This means that this weekend, with my 4 loads of laundry, I went through 160-180 gallons of water to wash my clothes.

These numbers really put things in perspective. As runners, we are going to do a lot more loads of laundry than people who don't workout. Knowing this, I try to think about whether the non-running clothes I wear throughout the week are actually dirty before I wash them. This helps me feel a little less guilty for wearing two outfits every day (regular clothes, and running clothes).

How much laundry do you go through a week? I'm curious to know how many loads of laundry you do, especially families washing clothes for people other than just themselves. The numbers have to add up very fast!

Are there any solutions to doing so many loads of laundry? I have yet to find a solution, but it's definitely fact that runners go through way more loads of laundry every week than the average person.

Have you ever wondered what it was like to run...naked?

Well, The Naked Runners have! They started a movement hoping to get people to ditch the distractions, and get out there to run! I'm sure many of you can relate to always needing to carry an iPod or mp3 player on your runs. Maybe you can't go out for a run without a Garmin on your wrist, or always feel the need to wear shoes. This is the case for many runners today. I was enlightened talking to The Naked Runners about the freedom that can come from running naked!

Dave Robertson and Silas Moss of the Naked Runners want to encourage people to let go of their dependence on these things, and just run! They do most of their runs "naked" and fully support running with the least amount of gear and clothing as possible.

Mapping your routes before a run on WalkJogRun is a great start on your way to naked running. It can be a great feeling to get out there and not have to look at your watch, especially with your route already mapped.

Tune into this episode of TalkJogRun to hear why this may be something you should try! I was definitely interested in hearing their views on barefoot running, and may give it a try when it gets warmer outside! Do they get completely naked when they run? Listen in to find out!

The Naked Runners feel that the more you can ditch the distractions and just run, the better. You will look better, feel better, and perform better. Listen in to find out how!

Have you ever gone for a naked run?