Stories by Cory

Runner's World •

You Don’t Need to Negative Split Every Race

The idea of running negative splits has been so ingrained in us, it’s as rudimentary of a skill for runners as tying your shoes. At some point, every runner needs to learn how to run negative splits or figuratively die trying. By definition, a negative split is when the second half of your run or race is faster than your first half. The ability to run negative splits teaches you how to manage your energy and pace yourself properly throughout a race or training run. This is ideal because you lea
PodiumRunner •

Improve My Training: Stacking Triathlons and the Marathon –

We’re offering Outside+ members and PodiumRunner subscribers the chance for a personal coaching consultation. Submit two weeks of your training and answer a few questions about your running history and goals, and we’ll publish selected logs along with suggestions from an expert coach for improving your training. To be eligible to submit your training, sign up for Outside+ or Podium Runner. If you’re already a member and would like your training evaluated by an expert running coach you can submit
GearJunkie •

Nail Your Race Pace: Six Workouts to Hit Your 5K Running Goal

When it comes to training for a specific 5K time goal, it’s best to do workouts at your goal 5K pace. The more time you spend running at your goal pace, the more confident and comfortable you’ll feel at that pace. By practicing your goal pace, your body will become more efficient at that pace, leading to a better running economy. The best way to practice running your goal 5K is to incorporate a series of goal-paced workouts throughout your training. The key is progressing the workload of each
PodiumRunner •

Improve My Training: Work All Paces — Easy, Fast, and the Middle –

We’re offering Outside+ members and PodiumRunner subscribers the chance for a personal coaching consultation. Submit two weeks of your training and answer a few questions about your running history and goals, and we’ll publish selected logs along with suggestions from an expert coach for improving your training. To be eligible to submit your training, sign up for Outside+ or Podium Runner. If you’re already a member and would like your training evaluated by an expert running coach you can submit
PodiumRunner •

Improve My Training: Reduce the Density, Double the Chance of a PR –

We’re offering Outside+ members and PodiumRunner subscribers the chance for a personal coaching consultation. Submit two weeks of your training and answer a few questions about your running history and goals, and we’ll publish selected logs along with suggestions from an expert coach for improving your training. To be eligible to submit your training, sign up for Outside+ or Podium Runner. If you’re already a member and would like your training evaluated by an expert running coach you can submit
PodiumRunner •

Improve My Training: Gearing Up for a Marathon After Injury –

We’re offering Active Pass and PodiumRunner Pass members the chance for a personal coaching consultation. Submit two weeks of your training and answer a few questions about your running history and goals, and we’ll publish selected logs along with three suggestions from an expert coach for improving your training. To be eligible to submit your training, sign up for Active Pass or Podium Runner Pass. If you’re already a member and would like your training evaluated by an expert running coach you
GearJunkie •

Most Famous 5K Run Workout: Prefontaine’s 30-40

In the world of elite 5K runners, very few workouts are as famous as Prefontaine’s 30-40 workout. With one adjustment, anyone can tailor this famous 5K workout to improve their running. For those who are unfamiliar, Steve Prefontaine is somewhat of a god with track nerds. Regarded as one of the best American distance runners ever, Pre (short for “Prefontaine”) set American records in every distance from 2,000 to 10,000 m before his life was cut short at the age of 24 in a car accident. Despite
PodiumRunner •

Improve My Training: Add Doubles, Don’t Go As Long, Schedule a Break –

We’re offering PodiumRunner and Active Pass members the chance for a personal coaching consultation. Submit two weeks of your training and answer a few questions about your running history and goals, and we’ll publish selected logs along with three suggestions from an expert coach for improving your training. To be eligible to submit your training, sign up for Active Pass or Podium Runner Pass. If you’re already a member and would like your training evaluated by an expert running coach you can s
GearJunkie •

Spice Up Your Interval Training With This 'One-Minute Cutdown' Workout

Fartleks can be a fun, stress-free way to get really fit — and they require nothing more than a stopwatch. Whether you’re an ultra-runner, road racer, or track athlete, fartleks offer an effective training tool that you can do over any terrain. By design, fartleks aren’t prescribed with specific running paces. They’re meant to be run completely by feel. This lack of a strict designated pace allows you to really pay attention to how you feel, something I find a lot of runners lose when they get
PodiumRunner •

Improve My Training: Optimize Timing of Strength Work, Tune-up Races and High Load Days –

We’re offering PodiumRunner and Active Pass members the chance for a personal coaching consultation. Submit two weeks of your training and answer a few questions about your running history and goals, and we’ll publish selected logs along with three suggestions from an expert coach for improving your training. To be eligible to submit your training, sign up for Active Pass or Podium Runner Pass. If you’re already a member and would like your training evaluated by an expert running coach you can s
GearJunkie •

This 'Legs of Steel' Workout Will Make You a Faster Downhill Runner

I learned very quickly it takes a lot more than a big aerobic engine to be a good trail runner — it takes legs of steel. These backward hill repeats are your ticket for rock-solid, downhill-running mountain legs. My running career originated in high school and college as a cross-country and track athlete. Running was purely competitive for me. After college, I started to enter more road races and occasionally ventured onto the local trails and state parks outside Philadelphia. At that time, tra
GearJunkie •

The Best Elliptical Workout for Runners: Rolling Hill Simulator

You may not believe me, but the elliptical can be a whole lot of fun if you know what to do. Read on and you may just want to hop on one today. When it comes to cross-training on the elliptical, most runners would probably rather watch paint dry. It’s a form of torture reserved for injured runners. But as boring as it may be, there’s no denying the effectiveness elliptical training can bring to maintaining or even improving a runner’s fitness without the hard pounding that comes with running.
GearJunkie •

Best 5K Run Plan: Rhythm Interval Training

Whether you’re looking to up your 5K time or need to prepare for the best race of your life, this workout will improve your pace. If you’ve read my articles on the alternating long run and tempo surges, you know I’m a fan of incorporating workouts designed to break up your running rhythm and make you feel uncomfortable. By incorporating surges or keeping the rest intervals at moderately quick paces, you’re prevented from falling into that space where you can settle in, zone out, and just cruis
GearJunkie •

'Float' Workouts: How to Become a Mentally Stronger Runner

If you want to improve your running, you must add a healthy dose of interval training. This is an undisputed fact. However, as a running coach, there’s one thing I don’t like about interval training: the rest. I’m not saying you shouldn’t include rests, and I don’t discount the value of traditional interval training. But I suggest including a different form of speed work, one where the recovery is not so much an actual rest, but rather a continuation of the speed interval. Most interval workou
GearJunkie •

'Igloi' Run Workout: Intense Sprints for Distance Runners

Once you understand how to manipulate pace, rep distance, recovery interval, and volume to solicit the type of training adaptation you want, the possibilities for running workouts are endless. The fun thing about being a running coach is the ability to get creative with workouts. You can think outside the box and create fun and perhaps extraordinary workouts for your clients. No other coach has understood this better than Mihaly Igloi, renowned Hungarian coach of Bob Schul, the 1964 Olympic 5,0
GearJunkie •

Distance Runners: Here's the Best Treadmill Workout You Can Do This Winter

Being stuck on the treadmill isn’t all bad news. Spend the winter months getting fitter and stronger than you ever have with this killer treadmill workout. ‘Tis the season — treadmill season, that is! As the days get shorter and colder, more runners are retreating to the treadmill for their running fix. And as a running coach, I get asked all the time how treadmill running compares to running outside. One study found that from a physiological perspective, heart rate and oxygen uptake are simil
GearJunkie •

Run Faster: Prime Your Nervous System With Power Hill Sprints

Brooks Johnson, the famous former Stanford track and field coach, once said, ‘It’s true that speed kills in distance running. It kills anyone who doesn’t have it.’ You will need it. Here’s how to get it. If you’ve ever watched a track event or elite-level road race, when two or more runners are together with 400 m to go, the race inevitably comes down to a short final sprint for the finish line. And the victor is the one who’s fastest in that sprint. This is not by accident. These elite-level
GearJunkie •

Some Love It, Most Hate It: The Best Running Workout You Can Do

Over my 5-year career as a runner at Villanova University, I must have logged over 500 interval sessions. Most have since left my memory, but there’s one workout that has been burned in my memory forever — threshold repeats. Once a week during cross-country season, we would jog over to a local high school and run grueling 1km grass repeats. The pace was determined from a VO2 max test but usually fell somewhere between our 8K and 10K pace. It wasn’t the pace that made it such a grueling workout
GearJunkie •

Hill Run Workout: The Secret to More Speed on the Vert

Hills can make or break a runner. Some love them, others despise them. When it comes to road or trail, the runner who trained on hills is usually the stronger, more prepared runner. The best way to boost your climbing legs and lungs is to add a healthy dose of elevation gain to your training. I’m talking hill repeats, long hilly runs, and vert-focused climbs — they’ll all do the trick. However, if you really want to crush your competition, it’s not only the hill you should train for, but also w
GearJunkie •

Spice Up the Your Run Workout: Tempo With a Twist

Of all running workouts, perhaps the most popular is the tempo run. It also happens to be one of the most boring workouts. We can fix that. Holding a steady pace that is often described as “comfortably uncomfortable” for 20 to 60 minutes can feel like a monotonous chore. However, there’s no denying that if done properly, tempo runs can help you run faster. They make you better because you maintain a pace where your lactic acid levels remain steady, so your body’s ability to deal with lactic aci
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