Run With Coach Fischer

Now that school is almost  back in session it is time for us teachers to get back to our school routine and derail all of the healthy habits we built up over the summer. Busy nights mean quick takeout dinners instead of making something at home or instead of hitting the gym we go home and crash into the couch with a bag of potato chips. I've been there. When I started teaching I have no idea how to manage my stress and eating habits. After signing up for a half marathon with a couple of co-workers I painfully got back into running. I went from being able to run a 5:20 mile to dying after running 3 miles at 10 minute pace. It was horrible, humbling and painful but from that point on I was focused on getting better. My first half marathon was 1:59 and in the most recent marathon I ran in April I crossed the half marathon point in 1:39. So now that I have had four years of better habits I thought I might share my insight with you. Let's start with excuses. I would but....

What do you do for running in between training cycles? If you have read my other blog post you might get sick of this answer... It depends. Mainly it comes down to what you want to accomplish and what your future training goals are. I mostly hear this question come up in marathon and half marathon runners so this blog post will address people in that situation. When you go through an 18 week training cycle and dedicate your LIFE to early bedtimes, hydration, nutrition and core work then at the end of the cycle after you complete your race you may end up feeling that you have lost a friend. So if you have decided to start the journey of chipping away at your full/half marathon time then this is for you. Welcome to being a year-round runner! Each year you really only get about one or two aerobic training peaks. With that, if you really want to see improvement then I would strongly recommend one marathon maybe two  each year that you want to peak for. Running multiple marat...

Overpronate, supinate, neutral, flat feet, high arches, wide feet, trail, EVO Foam, lightweight, zero drop, barefoot, heel drop...you've probably seen most of these when trying to find a pair of running shoes. Finding a new pair of running shoes can be like trying to find a pair of dress pants that fit perfectly (if you are a woman this is an extremely frustrating process!) There are so many factors to consider as well as the variety of brands, colors and prices that are out there. This is my take on finding the perfect running shoe for YOU. First of all, if you have some medical condition with your feet/knees/hips/back you should consult your doctor about what kind of shoe to wear. For the rest of you, let's start with some terms you might see while out shopping Heel Drop The Hoka Arahi 3 has a heel drop of 5 mm This is the difference in the height of your heel to the height of your toe. On a shoe like Asics or Brooks this is typically in the 12 mm range. On...

As a coach, a lot of the education that I focus on is focused on physiology, periodization, training structure, nutrition and strength training. One that that I have been missing both in my coaching and in my personal life is education on the mind. Things like decision making, perspective, moving forward, leadership and habit formation are all important things that bring together a successful training cycle. This can be seen as important on an individual coaching level or at a team level and what I like about these books is that you can apply these mentalities and strategies to any part of your life; I've just adapted them to coaching, training and teaching in my case. I have been reading/listening to four books this summer that are all written by different perspectives. The authors are all very different people but their strategies and methods tied together seamlessly to get a few different points across. This was initiated by a particularly rough year in my teaching. Everything...

I'm an ultra marathoner for a second time! Here's a recap of the weekend: The race was scheduled for Sunday with packet pickup on Saturday so I took advantage of the free camping at Belleville Community Park that night. I packed my car up and drove the 2 hours down towards Belleville, WI, a small but quaint little town just Southwest of Madison. I was determined to have a good experience this round. My first 50k was at Dances With Dirt in Baraboo, WI. I camped the night before, it poured rain all night, my tent got wet, I brought my old GPS watch (which had a dead battery and no charger), my phone died in the middle of the night and the course was extremely challenging (took me 6 hours and 41 minutes!). When my phone died my alarm also died and I woke up the next morning 10 minutes prior to the start of the race. I filled my water bag, put my running clothes on and drove to the 2 minutes to the start line with my shoes in my hand. They let me start as I was only about 4 m...