Running Tips

I'm writing this blog to give all of you out there a few tips on how to get better quality runs, get faster, and overall feel better about your running.


If you are in a slump and find yourself slowing down in runs, you might try running on a treadmill for 2 - 3 days. 


The benefits of running on a treadmill are...
-You can't slow down without actually pushing the button to slow down. 
 "Running outside with no sense of pace you sometimes slow down without mentally knowing it, running on a treadmill you are always mentally aware of what you are running, it is easier to push yourself and hit those goals!"
 -You will have better quality runs, and begin to feel what pace is like.
-When it is 110 degrees outside it is nice to run in a room where it is 70 degrees. 
-Running in a cooler temp is easier on your body and you will recover faster.
-If you go to the YMCA to run or a fit club you will be around people. It is nice to get off the country roads and be in a social setting where you have extra motivators.
-You can track your milage and pace, this makes it easier mentally to take things a mile at a time or a half mile at a time.
-Just focus on completing the next half mile, pick a point and get there. .5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0...
-Before you know it you have rolled off 3 or 4 miles.
-After your run take advantage of what your gym has to offer. Do some core workouts with a med ball, make sure you STRETCH.


Improving your flexibility and your core strength will give your running a super boost.
Stretching and Core are things you can do everyday, and you can do as much of it as you want! The more the better. It will only benefit you.

Have a clear goal in your mind of what you want to complete that day. Take things one day at a time and before you know it you will be blowing your personal records out of the water!

After spending a few days at the gym running the paces you want to run for your entire run's, go back out on the roads and be CONFIDENT in yourself. You know what you can do, you just proved it on the treadmill! You physically did it! So get back out on those roads, enjoy the scenery, and let the miles fly by!


good running, god bless

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What is your Why?

5:45 a.m. my alarm on my phone goes off and I slowly try to find it and shut it off. I lay in bed for a minute to analyze my thoughts, and have the same debate I have with myself every morning. My body tells me to go back to sleep, but my mind tells me something else. It yells GET UP! WORKOUT! FEEL GOOD! remember your WHY!


Many of you probably have this same debate every morning. Some of you may give in and sleep, others overcome their inner voice and workout to start their day off right! We all have different why's. From the athlete training for the olympics, to the mother or father who want to stay healthy, and the grandparents who want to live healthy lives and watch their grandchildren grow.


Why is it so important to discover your why? Without your "why" what do you have? Think about that question for a second. What is your reason for doing anything without a why? We all have motivations whether they be internal or external. Before I discovered my "why" I went through the motions in almost everything I did. I was average at everything and never really lived up to my standards. Let me tell you a story about what discovering my "why" has done for me.


It was the Cross Country State Championship race of my junior year. I wanted to win extremely bad! To make a long story short, I lost the race! I got 7th, I wasn't even close! Losing that race was the best thing that every happened to me. I may not have realized it at the time, but it was. When I sat down after that race and analyzed what I did wrong, I came away with a few simple facts. I did not work hard enough, I did not commit, and I did not succeed. I ended that season with regrets, and decided I never wanted to end anything with regrets again.  On that October day I found my "why". I completely threw myself into all aspects of my training 100%. I had one goal in mind. "Be a Kansas State Track and Field Champion in the 1-mile." That was all that went through my mind from November till May.

How big is your WHY?

I committed and did the hard things when no one was watching, so I could do the fun things when everyone was watching. Exceed my goals. That track season I didn't lose a race. I was beating people I never beat before and running faster then I had ever believed I could. I won three gold medals at state track, and would repeat that the following year, along with a cross country crown. If someone would have told me I would achieve this during my junior year of cross country, I would have asked them what they were smoking. 

Decide, Commit, Succeed

What I want you to take away from this post is the importance of discovering your why. The important thing was not winning the state championships, the important thing was I discovered my why. A why that I could apply to all aspects of my life. I discovered how to work towards my goals with no excuses. Usually the things that we do to achieve our goals are very easy to do with commitment. The problem is these things are even easier not to do. If you want to be successful find your why, do the little things, and repeat what works for you. I now have many knew "why's" that I am striving for. I would love to hear from you, and hear what your "why's" are. A good support system can go a long way. God Bless my friends.




Coach Porter

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