The 1st Annual Run S.M.A.R.T. Project Retreat will take place in Flagstaff, AZ on July 19th - July 25th. The following is our first unveiling of the retreat's itinerary. Minor revisions will be made over the next few weeks but for the most part this provides a close look at what we have planned and how each day is structured. Email vince@runsmartproject.com if you have any questions or would like to sign up for the retreat.

 

SUNDAY P.M. / MONDAY A.M.

Campers arrive in Flagstaff. Run S.M.A.R.T. coaches will assist     .... more

Don't overlook the importance of Magnesium in your diet.

"In many nerve cells, magnesium serves as a chemical gate blocker - as long as there is enough magnesium around, calcium can't rush into the nerve cell and activate the nerve. This gate blocking by magnesium helps keep the nerve relaxed. If our diet provides us with too little magnesium, this gate blocking can fail and the nerve cell can become over-activated. When some nerve cells are over-activated, they can send too many messages to the muscles and cause the     .... more

We all have different reasons for running, but I've heard very few as inspiring as Everett's.  When I began coaching Everett in October of '07 I had no idea he had been on life support less than 4 years prior.  He didn't mention anything but "occasional back pain", under the medical related section of the Run SMART Project profile form.  So, I was a little surprised when Everett finally told me his reason for running, after the PF Chang's Rock & Roll Marathon.  Everett managed to drop his marathon PR by 24 minutes in     .... more

Chris Miltenberg, a 2 time All-American at Georgetown University is now offering private coaching services for The Run S.M.A.R.T. Project. Chris is currently the head women’s cross country and distance coach at Georgetown University. He believes strongly in an individualized approach to each athlete and is commited to helping our clients reach their goals.

Chris' profile can be found on our coaches page here. To begin working with Chris send an email to coach@runsmartproject.com.

Brian

brian@runsmartproject.com

The 1st Annual Run S.M.A.R.T. Project Retreat will take place in Flagstaff, AZ on July 19th - July 25th. Check out all the details on our new page dedicated to the retreat. 

Brian

brian@runsmartproject.com

Run S.M.A.R.T. coach Blake Boldon wrote his first installment for the new series on Running Times titled, Sub 4:00. Check it out on Running Times' website.

Around a year ago Phil Manning lined up for the St. Malachi 5 Miler with only a vague idea of what he was capable of.  It was after all only his third footrace (Phil is a former cyclist).  He finished a very respectable 36:43.  When Phil lined up for the same race again on March 14th he had a much better idea of what he could run and planned for a PR.  Phil not only set a new PR, but shattered his time from last year by running 34:15.  This was 30 seconds per mile faster than last years race!  This is a testament of     .... more

This past weekend Alex dropped her 5k PR another 21 seconds!  Her time of 22:17 was good enough to win her age group by over 2 minutes.  In her quest to break 22 minutes Alex has bettered her 5k time by over a minute since last year.  For details on the race and Alex's training, check out her blog at http://www.run350.blogspot.com/. 

Vince Sherry

Run S.M.A.R.T Project Coach

Listening to the interview that Coach Daniels gave Flotrack made me think about how goal setting relates to every athlete.  He primarily discussed high school athletes but goals serve as the compass for every athlete from recreational joggers to world record holding elites.  So much has already been said about this topic that many runners and coaches forget the basics in goal setting.  A few years ago Pete Pfitzinger wrote a great article for Running Times on the subject and it's worth rereading.  Here is a link to the     .... more

Flotrack.org has been doing a series of interviews with Jack called Thirsty Thursdays. Each interview covers a different facet of training and racing so I encourage everyone to check the videos out at Flotrack. Here's the latest, which covers the importance of having purpose in your training and the idea that all runners should have an individualized approach.

 

Just added a two new photo albums: Run S.M.A.R.T. Clients and Run S.M.A.R.T. Advisory Board. We'll slowly be adding photos to these albums over the next few weeks, so if you have a nice shot send me one and I'll add it. You can check out our facebook page here. 

Later,

brian

brian@runsmartproject.com

On Friday evening I found myself questioning my sanity.  I was driving a 12 passenger van through the desert of northern AZ.  Sitting to my right and behind me were 5 other guys, I'm assuming, in the same state of mind.  We were in the second of two vans from our team, partaking in the Ragnar Del Sol Relay.  The event started as early as 10AM that morning, and consisted of 200 teams of 12 runners each (assuming you could field a full team and weren't an "ultra" team of 6).  Since we were on paper as one of the faster     .... more

Running coaches are social media geeks too. Follow Run S.M.A.R.T. updates on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/runsmartproject

 

Run S.M.A.R.T. coach Blake Boldon won the Iowa St Classic 5k in 14:00. His time qualified him for the USA Indoor Championships in Boston tonight. You can see the startlist here.

The race starts in 10 minutes, so I'll update soon.

***Update, Blake finished 6th overall in a time of 8:00.97. Results here.

Great insight here from Coach Dr. Jack Daniels.

 

Run S.M.A.R.T. Project Advisory Board member, Dr. Brian Fullem, wrote a cool article in Running Times recently. It's titled, Improve Your Running by Improving Your Balance. We recommend you check it out.

The Run S.M.A.R.T. Project is now offering runners across the country an opportunity to be coached by a living legend. We are honored and humbled to announce that Dr. Jack Daniels has joined The Run S.M.A.R.T. Project and is now offering his private coaching services through our website.

Named The World's Best Coach� by Runner's World magazine, he led Cortland runners to eight NCAA Division III National Championships, 31 individual national titles, and more than 130 All-America awards. He is famous for writing Daniels     .... more

Anyone who's ever set out to PR in 5k knows how difficult it can be to shave a few seconds off. How about a minute or more? Alex Gardner did just that at the Groundhog 5k, yesterday. In Alex's quest to transform herself form marathoner to 5k runner for a season, she has started out with a very respectable time of 22:37 for the distance (crushing her old PR of 23:38). It will be fun to see what Alex can run when spring rolls around.